The Massachusetts League has launched an email list called LWVMA Leaders that can help. The LWVMA Leaders listserv gives you the power to communicate with other local League members online. Subscribing to this list is free and open to all League members. All topics of League interest are open for discussion.

It’s simple to use. Once you’ve signed up, just send an email message to the list address and it is sent immediately to all others who have also subscribed. Anyone else on the list can then reply, and the discussion is off and running!

You can use the listserv to:

1. ask for help and advice on issues that other Leagues have faced
2. share your experience and knowledge on a variety of League topics
3. discuss League program and action issues
4. publicize your important meetings and events quickly & easily

To sign up for the list, send an empty email (no subject, nothing in the text area) to:
LWVMAleaders-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

After you receive a brief welcome message which should give you a password and ID, you can post your questions, concerns, announcements, and other League requests to everyone on the list by sending your message to:
LWVMAleaders@yahoogroups.com

Please let all your members know they can sign up for the LWVMA Leaders listserv too!
Questions? Contact Lynn Cohen, LWVM Technology Committee Chair, at cohen@prospeed.net or 978-692-0261.

Another national League list that covers the whole country and works much the same way.

If you would like to subscribe to this group:

1. visit http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LWVTopics/join
   -OR-
2. send an empty email (no subject, nothing in the text> to:
   lwvtopics-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

HOWEVER, a warning about Yahoo's listservs:

Mary Howarth of the LWVwebmasters list writes:
Yahoo is tracking its members' surfing habits outside the Yahoo network through the use of what they call "Web Beacons." http://privacy.yahoo.com/privacy/us/pixels/details.html

You can opt out of this, but there's no big friendly button making it obvious. Read the text carefully, though, and you'll see it. (it's a small blue link)
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With apologies to Freddie Mercury & Company, I offer this important news about recent changes to Yahoo's privacy policy. If you created a Yahoo account in the past, and set your marketing preferences to "don't email me", you need to take action soon, or your inbox, mailbox and voicemail could start filling up with "special offers" from Yahoo and their business partners.

Prior to this change, Yahoo had just one option to either accept or reject sales pitches. Although they're not changing your setting for the existing "Yahoo! Delivers" marketing preference, they DID create thirteen NEW categories with the "YES, PLEASE SEND ME LOTS OF JUNK MAIL" selection pre-checked. If you don't take explicit action, soon the little man inside your computer will be saying "You've Got Spam!" when you check your email.

Clearly this move by Yahoo is intended to help their bottom line, by giving them the opportunity to sell marketing services to outside firms. I've never had a beef with Yahoo in the past. In fact, I always thought they played rather nicely, given their pre-eminence in the search/directory arena. But this move has some people saying that Yahoo's got mud on their face, it's a big disgrace, and somebody betta put 'em back into their place. Fortunately, that's easy to do. To change your marketing preferences back to "no spam, please" just click here: http://subscribe.yahoo.com/showaccount

Login with your Yahoo ID and password, then set all the preference to "No". Also be sure to check the boxes that say "Do not contact me via postal address" and "Do not contact me via telephone". Yahoo users have 60 days to opt out of these promotions.