Re: [LUG] Running a big mailing list

[Gordon Henderson <gordon+dcglug@xxxxxxxxxx>]

On Fri, 25 Sep 2009, Simon Williams wrote:

> I'm trying to sort out the IT system mess for a small charity. The biggest 
> problem at the moment is their mailing list. The current setup is horrible 
> repetitive Exchange/Outlook and macro mess.
> The charity is the Bristol International Student Centre (BISC). The total 
> size of the mailing list system is around 2000 people on a weekly basis (it's 
> an announce-only mailing list, not one like this).
> Unfortunately it's not as simple as just a big mailing list that people 
> subscribe and unsubscribe from. When peope sign up they specify an end date 
> for their course. Once their course has ended they are emailed to ask if they 
> want to be moved to the 'overseas' mailing list or removed altogether.
> There are currently 2 options:
>
> 1. Pay for an external mailing list service and somehow get a date-based 
> automated subscription/unsubscription system working with it.
> 2. Put the mailing list on the fileserver at the BISC centre. The problem is 
> that it's a residential connection. At the moment it's probably dynamic IP, 
> which isn't really desirable for mass mailing. Assuming I can get a static 
> IP, I've still got to make sure we aren't going to get blacklisted as 
> spammers. Plus this sort of thing isn't that simple, which is a problem 
> considering that the IT system is maintained entirely by casual volunteers 
> who usually don't have any experience with servers at all.
> Any suggestions? Could anyone recommend a mailing list service?
I run mailling list services for myself and customers, but I don't have 
the timed/date facilities you need.
However, given a control mechanism, you could subscribe/unsubscribe people 
to/from the list yourself, as required.
Bit too Friday nighted'd to think about it more, but drop me an email if 
you like. I'm generally charity friendly. Note I'm on holiday from Sunday 
for the best part of a week though and will be reliant on mobile roaming 
internet for email.
Gordon

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