This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/JRB.2ACE/1518 Message Board Post: I spoke to Mr. Harris today and he was looking into the problem. He then emailed me a little while ago to convey what exactly what happened. Keep in mind, I only posted that message to the County Boards in NYS, figuring that a good percentage of NY'ers have some roots in NYC. Who could I offend? Right? Here is his response: Tony, It was great to speak with you today - thanks for making the time for my call. I again apologize for the misunderstandings that caused the problems last week. Here's what I have learned today that may be helpful to you: - your messages were reported by others to the person that manages that message board (complaints were received - our manager did not take action on it until complaints were received) - in the complaints received, it was stated that the postings were off topic and that there were so many of the same message sent to many people and locations (like spam) - it was not clear in the message that the volunteers would be working on a project whose results would then be provided free to others - that is important - anything that could be commercial-related is not allowed at the site - it is ok to post such messages as you sent at the new Volunteer Project location - it is ok to post such messages as you sent at the Organizations and Societies location, under your organization name (such as Italian Genealogical Society) - IF you still wish to send out a message similar to what was sent last week, using some of the same message boards, please do so following the above guidelines, the rules of the message board, and then please only send it to a maximum of 5 locations. Of course, you can use the two message board locations listed to ask for volunteers as much as you'd like. I hope you understand that our intent is not to cause problems for you or to damper or discourage your efforts nor the efforts of other volunteers. Our intent is to use the message boards for their intended purposes. My understanding is that in this case, the message boards you used are intended for family history research purposes only. Though your messages are related to family history, they were not asking for a family name or some other research-related information. It is obvious to me that your intents were not negative nor bad nor problematic in the general sense. You were only hoping to promote more good - more help in getting some worthwhile projects accomplished. However, some of the message board users were complaining because the messages were not in keeping with the intended use of those message boards. I hope you understand. And I wish you success in all your work. Best regards, Don