• How did the SiPlist get started? (or: A Not-So-Short history of the SiPlist)
• How many people are on the SiPlist?
• What do the list owner and mods do?
• Why is everybody always off-topic?
• What is the average number of posts a day?
• What's all this about Kevin's Pants, and other inside jokes?
• What is a SiPlist Minister exactly and how do I become one?
• SiPlist Etiquette: Includes the SiPlist rules and how to subscribe and unsubscribe.

      The Strangers in Paradise mailing list began in August of 1995. Ron Powell posted a message to the rec.arts.comics.misc newsgroup asking if there was any interest in forming a mailing list devoted to the new, self-published comic, Strangers in Paradise. A few people on that newsgroup who had been communicating privately, namely Maida Carpio, George John, and Kevin Beyer, responded and the list was created.

      During its infancy the list functioned by emailing members and CC:ing the messages to the others. It wasn't until Andrea Cavalluzzo, a.k.a Indigo, offered to maintain a server that would forward messages to a distribution list that the first automation for the SiPlist occurred. This list had to be manually edited by Indy, which she selflessly maintained. Finally, there was a call for total automation by the members and Niklas Mathies offered to host the SiPlist on his server out of Germany. Later, the list switched to a Novatech server, and was run by Ann McMeekin. Most recently the list moved to Yahoo! Groups. It is now run by Jeremiah Ames, with help from moderators Gem Farris and John Celio.

      In addition to the story of its creation, the following is a brief history of some of the SiPlist's activities:

      In the early days membership was sparse. The list started with barely ten members. Those ten members told friends, emailed newsgroups, and generally spread the word about the SiPlist's existence. The list grew in membership from ten to twenty eight by Christmas of that year. At that time Kevin Beyer posted a request for donations to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund as a Christmas gift to Terry Moore from the members of the SiPlist. Kevin managed to collect $100.00 from those members and thus created the annual tradition of collecting money for this charitable organization. Each year the contribution by the SiPlist's members has grown to surpass the donation from the year prior. As membership grows, it is hoped that this tradition will continue.

      From this point the list grew in membership to approximately forty five. Membership hovered there until the SiPlist's existence was mentioned in the letter column of SiP. Once people read about the list within the pages of SiP the membership doubled! The flood of people was incredible. The list experienced some growing pains at that time and a manner of conduct was needed. The members who posted regularly proposed the five rules that have come to govern the conduct of people who are a part of this list. Early on it was decided that this was to be a place where people could come and discuss comics (and, as it turns out, almost anything under the sun) and not be judged negatively by the community at large (a common occurrence on the newsgroups of the day).

      It was around this time that Kevin Beyer proposed that the members of the SiPlist meet one another and have dinner. Terry Moore was scheduled to appear at the 1996 Chicago ComiCon. With Chicago being centrally located, Kevin thought that it would be a good location for the SiPlist's members to converge upon to meet one another and to meet Terry Moore himself. Arrangements were made and thirty five members, friends, and family met up with Terry Moore at Giannotti's Restaurant in Norridge, Illinois. This was followed by a smaller gathering of members of the SiPlist including Indigo, Mark "Monty" Montegue, Vinh Phu, Kelvin Mao, Chris Clogston and Terry Moore at the San Diego Comic Convention.

      The following year found Terry Moore returning to Chicago for the 1997 Chicago ComiCon. Arrangements were made and the Second Annual SiPlist get together in Chicago was hosted. Dinner was at Morton's Steakhouse in Rosemont, Illinois. Members from all over the U.S. and some from Canada made the trip to meet one another. One member at the time, "Kid Shaolin", took an eighteen hour bus trip just to be part of the fesitivities. Terry and his wife, Robyn, who were the guests of honor at dinner, brought as gifts for everyone mousepads depicting Francine and Katchoo on them. They were cherished by all in attendance and coveted by those who weren't. There have been a few more dinner gatherings with Terry and list members, but they don't happen these days for various reasons.

      There have also been get-togethers in which Terry has not attended. There have been several of them hosted by the UK contingent of the SIPlist, the UK listers. Eleanor Martin, Ian Gear and Grant Denkinson were in attendance at one and Paul Wood has been known to show at others. Any future occurrences of UK get-togethers is solely at the discretion of those members across the pond, and there hasn't been one for quite some time now.

      As well as the gatherings, fun occurrences on the list have been, but aren't limited to, question and answer surveys about its members, art contests, and Scavenger Hunts.

      The list continues to grow and change as time rolls by. Who knows what will happen next?

      The membership tends to hover around or above one hundred, with a high percentage of members lurking (not contributing to the discussions). There are usually a few people who post multiple times every day, but for the most part the rest of the list is made of people who post occasionally.

      While the list members as a whole generally governs the manner of conduct, there have been times where some mediation has been needed. As such the list owner and/or moderators act as that mediator. Most issues are settled by general consensus, however. Problems are easily resolved with an e-mail to the owner or a mod explaining the situation.

      The owner and mods also take care of technical issues, such as helping members subscribe or unsubscribe, and general list maintenance.

      Who are the owner and mods? Our esteemed owner is Jeremiah, and our two current moderators are Gem and John. If you have any questions, comments, complaints, or compliments, feel free to write to any or all three of the above mentioned people.

      The SIPlist is a very friendly place. We may have found this friendship through our shared love of SiP, but many of us share a love of other things, too. Comic books, sports, TV shows, science fiction, toys, movies, sports, etc. Discussing other topics in a place you feel comfortable can be fun, and it has become a sort of integral part of the SiPlist. If something is so off-topic that only 2 or 3 people are talking about it, or if list traffic is high already, it is common practice for that discussion to be taken off list. But otherwise, off-topic is still considered on-topic as long as the members are interested in discussing it. There seems to be a general concensus that since we're all "Strangers in Paradise" anyway, almost anything goes.

      On a slow day the SiPlist might have as few as 2 or 3 posts (sometimes none!). On other days, when a new issue comes out or, something of interest happens to one of its members, traffic can be as high as 20 to 30 posts or more (though those high numbers tend to be very rare). The number of postings is also a reflection of the seasons. When people leave for the summer from college there is typically a drop in the number of active members. In that same vein, when the fall arrives, the membership increases as does the email traffic.

      There are quite a few inside jokes floating around the SiPlist. As with any group of people, jokes get started and references become rooted in the past. The longest-running inside joke deals with Kevin's Pants, a pair of trousers that mysteriously gained sentience and disappeared while founding member Kevin Beyer was going through the stress of planning the first SiPlist gathering many years ago. List members sometimes blame misfortunes on the pants, or claim to have seen them around the globe, involved in shady dealings and nefarious plots. The pants, along with other inside jokes and references, are sometimes hard to explain to new members, and while some members may try to explain them, others believe it better to let the newer members create their own references and add their own aspects to the melting pot of the list.

      It's easy! The trend was started by signing your post as the Minister of [Whatever Subject You Just Discussed]. For instance, if a member was to write about how much they think they look like Francine, they could call themselves "SiPlist Minister of Francine Lookalikes." Mostly, they're just cute things tacked onto the ends of posts, and no one really keeps track of them. They don't grant any sovereign power over whatever you're making yourself a minister of, and they won't get you a tax break. They're just for fun.

      There are only a few rules in our list. They come with the first email you get from the list when you subscribe, and are merely the most basic rules to govern by. Before we had a set list of rules, people were polite, friendly, etc. Still, after a while, it was felt by some that we needed some definite rules, but only the most basic rules so that people could still say what they wanted. The following is from that first email from the listserv.

Rules on the SiPlist

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

      First, and foremost there is NO FLAMING on the Siplist. You are welcome to debate opinions, but do not attack someone in any way, shape or form.

      Second, don't quote 50 lines of text if you are only responding to the last line. Our goal is all signal and no noise, help us make it a reality.

      Thirdly, do not send binaries or attachments to the list. The server will automatically trash any attachments anyway.

      Fourthly, keep the public messages on the list, and the private ones amongst yourselves. In particular, respect the other members' privacy, DO NOT post something to the list that someone sent you privately without first getting that person's permission to do so. Likewise, if you have a problem with another list member, leave it OFF the list, and work it out privately with that member or the list owners.

      Fifthly, TMSiPlist is not just about the comic. We spend the weeks in between new issues talking about almost everything. We get to know each other as people and we become part of one another's lives...and we wouldn't have it any other way. =)

      Sixthly, have fun and enjoy the SiPlist!

      Them's the rules! Pretty simple, no?

      And now, how to subscribe and unsubscribe to the list:

      Simply visit the Yahoo! Groups web page for the list, technically known as "tmsiplist". In case you're wondering, no, you do not need a Yahoo! ID to join the list. Subscribing is simple -- just visit the site and you're almost done!

        Thus ends the SiPlistFAQ. Please e-mail me if you have any suggestions or requests for the FAQ. Please don't ask about info on the actual Strangers in Paradise comic, as there is an official website that you can surf for answers to those questions at StrangersInParadise.com.