What is Avid-l?

by Steven Cohen

Most of you know about the Avid on-line service and the Avid web site. The web site (Avid.com) is a useful source of Avid information. Avid On-line provides discussion groups on various topics. But there's another independent Avid discussion group that you may not be familiar with called Avid-l (pronounced "Avid-el" - l for list). It's hosted by Calvin College in Michigan and is a 'mail list' which means that it's a discussion that appears in your internet mailbox (every posting from every person on the list gets e-mailed to everyone else on the list). The advantage is that it's easy to operate and requires no special software beyond your e-mail reader. The disadvantage is that you'll receive a couple of dozen e-mails a day, many of which won't be interesting to you. You'll need to check your mail and clear out your mailbox frequently. As a result, however, most of the people who subscribe to the list are serious Avid editors and owners and the discussions are never frivolous (though they have been quite energetic at times).

To join Avid-l send an e-mail message to:

Majordomo@udomo.calvin.edu

the text of the message should read:

subscribe avid-l
end

The next time you check your email you'll receive a confirmation and a security code. To join the list simply send the security code back to Majordomo. The email will tell you how.

You'll soon be receiving a lot of mail and, hopefully, engaging in some interesting discussions. To make managing your mail simpler you may want to set up a 'mail filter' (aka 'mail rule') that will segregate all the Avid-l mail into a separate folder in your mail program. Most modern mail software, including Netscape Communicator, Microsoft Outlook Express and Eudora will do this. See your intruction manual for details.

To get off the list, send this message to Majordomo@udomo.calvin.edu:

unsubscribe avid-l
end

Whether you join the list or not, you may be interested in a the following link. It's a searchable online archive of all the messages posted to the list so far--a valuable resource for all kinds of Avid tips and techniques.

Avid Mailing-List Archive

Editors Note (9/23/00):
Avid-l has been absorbed by Avid Technology and is now a part of AvidProNet. Steve Koster, who administed the list at Calvin College is now an Avid employee. For more information, see the AvidProNet site or the Avid-l info page on that site. To subscribe to the list, send an email to: subscribe-Avid-L@AvidProNet.com. To unsubscribe, send to this address: unsubscribe-Avid-L@AvidProNet.com