From: gary@cdthq.UUCP (Gary Heston)
Date: Wed, 06 Jan 93 20:26:51 CST
Organization: Garys' Home for Obsolete Computers

cbaxter5@mach1.wlu.ca (colin baxter F) writes:

> One more vote for rec.food.breadmachines, I'd be quite interested
> in seeing this newsgroup go ahead.
> Colin Baxter - Plattsville, Ontario!
> 

Before this gets much further, I'd better put on my newsadmin
hat and pontificate....

First, there is a set of Guidelines outlining the proceedures for
forming a new newsgroup in the seven main hierarchies. I *strongly*
(repeat: *STRONGLY*) recommend that anyone wanting to start a new
group get these (check news.announce.newsgroups or news.groups) and
read them, then bend over backwards to follow them in all details.
While reading the Guidelines, also slog through news.groups (about
60 articles/day right now; I've seen over 200/day when heated 
flamefests break out) and get some idea of what's involved, and 
what a vote-taker has to go through. It's not an easy job in most
cases!

Here is a brief summary of the steps to creating a new group:

        Posting a RFD (Request For Discussion) in news.groups,
          news.announce.newgroups, and all groups that may be
          affected *in any way* by the group creation. (Lots of
          the flamewars start over complaints that a group wasn't
          told about the proposal.)

        Discussion period, 3 to 4 weeks, *held in news.groups*.
          Discussing elsewhere and then popping up in n.g with the
          comment "we decided that in rec.blarf" will *certainly*
          draw flames. This is to resolve details about the groups'
          name and charter. 

        Post a CFV (Call For Votes). Once again, in news.groups,
          news.announce.newgroups, and all affected groups. This
          must show *exactly* what the group name is, and provide
          a valid email (repeat EMAIL; posted votes do *not* count)
          address for the vote-taker. Voting lasts about 30 days,
          and the CFV should be reposted a couple of times. The
          repeat postings should include mass acknowledgements of
          who votes have been received from (but cannot include any
          information about how the vote is doing--no totals, etc.).

        Announcement of voting closed; this indicates exactly when
          votes are no longer accepted.

        Announcement of results, posted the same places that the 
          RFD and CFV were, with a 5-day period for corrections
          (the results include a list of all votes, grouped as
          for or against, and the voters' mail id). 

        If the vote passed (at least 100 more yes than no, and 
          yes at least 2/3 of the total, per the Guidelines), then
          the news.announce.newgroup moderator (a hard-working guy,
          be nice to him!) will post the control articles to create
          the group. Tell your admin you want it.

Things that help a group get created are being able to show interest
(the late mailing list having 600 subscribers is a *big* plus), having
a non-controversial subject (which I think this is), and being *very*
careful to follow the Guidelines. There are a lot of people who will
vote against any group whos' creation efforts don't follow the Guidelines
in every way. The vote-taker should not campaign during the voting 
period; the mass-acknowledgements are not considered campaigning.

I think a group for breadmakers is a good idea, and it should pass
easily; but, *please* take care to follow the Guidelines. There's
a reason I always capitalize that word....  :-)

Gary Heston, at home....                ...I'm a news admin at work...
gary@cdthq.uucp
Newsgroups: rec.food.cooking