IMPORTANT issue regarding the DCWW List!
If you subscribe to the DCWW list using a GMAIL address you may have been impacted!
Some DCWW members may have received an email stating they have been removed from the DCWW list.
The issue mostly affects members who subscribed using a GMAIL account.
If this has happened to you, please contact us at info@dcwebwomen.org and we will resubscribe you.
The Tech List
The Tech List is moderated forum DC Web Women members. It’s a mailing list that focuses on issues related to tech and career development. The Tech List is open to all DCWW members, male or female.
Before you post, please make sure the Tech List is the most appropriate list for your message. If you are not sure, please contact a list moderator. Do not post the same message to both the Tech and Social the lists! Only Steering Committee members are allowed to post the same message to both lists.
- Quick! What are the rules? I want to get started!
- So, who reads these lists, anyway?
- General list etiquette
- Guidelines for recruiters
- Guidelines for classes/training
- Guidelines for bloggers/writers
1 | Quick! What are the rules? I want to get started!
A. No negative remarks about businesses or members
The DCWW list is meant to be productive and helpful. It is not a forum for bashing a person or company you do not like. Please keep your posts positive. Don’t insult others.
B. No pricing discussions
DCWW operates as a not-for-profit organization, so we are prohibited from discussing pricing on the mailing lists. Pricing includes, costs for services, costs for products, and industry rates. For more information regarding the legal issues pertaining to pricing and price fixing, please review our Pricing Discussion Policy. For additional resources, visit:
- http://www.webdeveloper.com/forum/pricing_faq.html
- http://www.usdoj.gov/atr/public/guidelines/211578.htm
C. No email harvesting
Harvesting emails for spam or spam-like purposes, data mining, or any type of mass mailing or bulk email is prohibited. Email harvesting violates DCWW’s privacy policy and damages the integrity of the DCWW community. Violation of this rule will result in immediate and permanent expulsion from the list.
D. Always use an ALL CAPS header
Each post to the list should contain an all-caps header in the subject line. Using a capitalized header makes it easier for members to either scan/read or to delete posts.
Appropriate headers include:
- ISO: You’re looking for a particular thing or a particular person.
- Q or QUESTION: You have a question about any tech topic related to jobs, software, hardware, a problem you’re having with any of the above, etc.
- JOB or JOBS: A post with full information or contact information about a paying position.
- INTERNSHIP: A post with complete information about a paid or unpaid internship.
- SITESEEING: Pass along a interesting/cool/useful web site — but not your own!
- EVENT: A workshop/webinar/etc. that you or your company is hosting or presenting. The subject headers: WORKSHOP and MEETING are for DCWW’s use only.
- SUMMARY: Be a good neighbor and post answers to questions you’ve asked – others may also be looking for the same thing. Always remove the responders’ names and contact information from the summary – post only the information that was sent to you.
- DISCUSSION: These are more like editorials to talk about a tech-related subject. Please: No personal attacks. Don’t make the listmom (aka Community Manager) pull this car over.
- INFO
Look at the headings used in posts on the list and you’ll get the idea.
The headers ADMIN, WORKSHOP, and MEETING are reserved for Steering Committee members only.
E. Post a summary
When you receive answers to a question you posted, it is good list etiquette to post a summary of the answers. Use the capitalized header SUMMARY (first be sure to remove the responders’ names and contact information).
F. No email attachments
The DCWW lists are set to strip all attachments. Instead, provide the data as text within your post, offer to provide the data to those who request it, or put it up on the Web and insert a link within your post.
G. Limited marketing
Owing to the size of our membership, DCWW will allow only limited marketing on the Tech List. This practice is designed not only to keep the list from being inundated with spam but also to encourage the building of professional relationships within the DCWW community.
Here are some ways you can market to DCWW on the Tech List:
- Promote your blog: Members can promote their personal and company blogs and blog articles as long as the topic is related to technology, human resources, career development, and other issues relevant to this list.
- Post trainings, workshops, and events. Members can promote tech-related trainings on the list.
- Announce sponsorship of DCWW and non-DCWW programs, workshops, or networking events.
- Include your website or blog URL, Twitter account, and/or a brief description of your services beneath your signature line when you post a question, comment, or response.
Prohibited forms of marketing on the Tech list include the following:
- Requesting a job, job leads, or freelance gigs (i.e., don’t send a post to the list that says – “I need a job” or “my sister [or boyfriend] needs a job”).
- Independently posting your résumé (or anyone else’s).
- Mentioning a charity or requesting donations. Clothing donations, animal rescues/adoptions, pledges for charity drives, and the like should be posted on the Social List.
- Direct selling of products and services, spam, or promoting services or products to the list. Trainings and programs that benefit the DCWW communityare permitted.
Because it is patently unfair to all members who follow the marketing rule, anyone who violates this policy and receives a reminder from a list moderator twice within one month will be put on probation for two weeks. During this time, you may lurk, but you may not post.
H. No software sharing
Sharing of software, including fonts, without permission from the publisher is a violation of copyright law. We do not allow sharing of any software on DCWW lists. For more information please read: http://www.adobe.com/aboutadobe/antipiracy/fonts.html.
I. No out-of-town job postings
Although we appreciate job offers, we limit job postings to employment or contract work located within an hour or two of Washington, D.C. – or to jobs or freelance opportunities that can be performed remotely.
J. No chain letters/junk mail/off-topic discussions
K. No virus warnings
Send suspected “scare mail” to our list administrator who will verify and forward legitimate threats.
L. Limits on subjects that generate more heat than light
Occasionally, a subject comes up that generates a great many posts because of its controversial nature. If the discussion threatens to overwhelm our mailboxes or becomes exceedingly nasty, the list moderators may ask those interested in discussing it further to take the discussion off the list.
M. Keep your posts short and trimmed
When replying to a post, quote only what is absolutely necessary to help readers understand your response and delete the rest. If sharing an article or other publication, post a brief excerpt (anything more would violate copyright law anyway), and then provide the URL where those who are interested may view the rest. On all replies, eliminate automatically generated footers (DCWW, Yahoo, Hotmail, and others) from the quoted previous post. In addition, please trim email system headers and extra signature lines.
2 | So, who else reads these lists, anyway?
A permanent record
The DCWW list archive is a permanent record of email communications within DCWW and of the group’s activities and functions. We do not remove or edit archived posts.
Your post could be forwarded to a non-member. The nature of the DCWW lists means that anything you post can be viewed by any DCWW member or be forwarded by a member off-list to anyone on the Internet. DCWW cannot delete posts. You post at your own risk. If a DCWW member chooses to volunteer any personal information, she is doing so at her own discretion.
When you first join the list, we encourage you to “lurk” for a week or two before posting. That way you can get to know the list and the type of posts that are acceptable.
Here are some quick tips:
- Please post your event to the list only once. The exception to this rule is for DCWW-sponsored events that are posted by Steering Committee members.
- Include the date, time and location of the event, along with a brief description
- Target your post to the correct list. Industry events related to technology, new media, and design should be posted to the Tech List; non-industry events should be posted to the Social List.
- Don’t send subscription commands to the list. Please visit the Subscriber’s Corner to make changes to your subscription settings and to unsubscribe from the list. If you have questions or experience a problem, email the list administrator.
- A great deal of communication on the list can be accomplished through personal email. Don’t reply to the list unless you think your email would be helpful and of interest to the majority. It’s the responsibility of the recipient to post a summary of the answers she receives.
- Take time to make your message clear.
- Be civil and polite.
- Do not forward any posts to this list without the permission of the person posting the original email. This list is confidential and the topics discussed on the list are meant only for DCWW members. However, when you do post, please realize that although we don’t condone forwarding, you are posting to a large group of women and we can’t control who else will see your note.
- We encourage you to post a summary of responses to the questions you posted!
One of the goals of the list is to help women find exciting tech-related jobs. Therefore, we do permit recruiting on the list if a specific job opportunity is presented. However, we ask that recruiters follow the following guidelines:
- To avoid the list from being inundated with recruiters’ postings, please post no more often than once every two weeks.
- Follow other posting guidelines such as including a header (e.g., JOB: HTML coder).
- Keep the posting as short as possible. If you have other jobs, list your URL so members can visit your site for more information.
- Try to participate in our community in other ways as well, such as by sponsoring a DCWW event.
5 | Guidelines for classes/training
Training benefits the list in the same way that recruiters benefit the list so it is one of the types of marketing we allow. Please follow these guidelines:
- Try to participate in the community in other ways as well (e.g., attend meetings, answer questions).
- Use a capitalized header such as TRAINING. Do not use WORKSHOP or MEETING in your header; these are reserved for use by the Steering Committee.
- Make it clear that DCWW does NOT support or endorse the class.
- We encourage you to offer a discount for DCWW members.
6 | Guidelines for bloggers/writers
The rise of online publishing in the form of blogs, articles, and streams of timely information from social media sources has enabled all of our members to readily share their professional knowledge with the world at large. This knowledge benefits the list because it helps to further education and sharing of information. Please follow these guidelines:
- Try to participate in the community in other ways as well (attend meetings, answer questions, become a mentor, etc.).
- Use a capitalized header, such as BLOG or ARTICLE.
- For articles and blog posts, do not include your entire article in the post. Instead, include your title and one or two sentences to provide background, along with a URL to the full publication.
- Target your post to the correct list. Industry topics such as technology, new media, and design should be posted to the Tech List; non-industry topics should be posted to the Social List.