LDS-Gems Announces Major Change
Dave Crockett 7Jan99

ANNOUNCING LDS-GEMS IMPROVEMENTS! From David Crockett and David Kenison

We started LDS-Gems in 1996 with the vision of helping members and friends of the Church receive information and stay in touch with each other through inspirational stories, historical information, and news. In the three years that have passed since that time, we've grown from a hundred initial subscribers to almost 30,000; and our growth rate continues to accelerate. We're thrilled with the progress the list has made, and the chance it's afforded us to share the joy of the Gospel via the Internet. However, the time and energy to operate and maintain a list of this size also increased dramatically making it more and more difficult for us to do it as a "hobby" while supporting our families in our full-time jobs. In addition, the "growing pains" of the list have introduced problems in operation that have at times been frustrating for our subscribers, such as duplicated messages.

Recently, we've been presented with an opportunity that will enable us not only to continue the work we started with LDS-Gems, but also to greatly expand and improve the service we offer. And we'll have the chance to be a part of a larger effort which we believe will contribute even more significantly to an inspiring, gospel-centered environment on the Internet.

As you may know, Infobase (pioneer of electronic Gospel publishing) joined with Bookcraft (prominent LDS book publisher) in 1997 with Alan Ashton (founder of WordPerfect) as the Chairman and principal owner of the combined company. The Infobase division of Bookcraft is now launching one of the most exciting efforts on the Web, called "LDSWorld.com" - committed to extending worldwide the legacy of gospel knowledge pioneered by Bookcraft and Infobase. As we discussed that vision with Alan Ashton and other key people in the companies, we were excited to see ways that LDS-Gems would fit in with their vision. They were very interested in helping us expand and accelerate our efforts with LDS-Gems as well as involving us in other aspects of the LDSWorld.com plans. Over a period of several weeks, we carefully discussed a relationship that would enable us to continue to offer the service we've given to LDS-Gems, while at the same time being involved in further development beneficial to LDS members. The arrangements are now formalized; both of us have left our previous employment and are working full-time with Alan and his team at LDSWorld.com, which now includes LDS-Gems.

WHAT WILL *NOT* CHANGE

The impact of this change should be very minor to you, our subscribers. In particular, know that these things will NOT change:

- - Your cost. LDS-Gems was founded as a FREE service to subscribers, and it will stay that way; there will be no charge for LDS-Gems, and you're not required to purchase any product or subscribe to any other information.

- - Our quality. We started the list with the mission to provide positive, uplifting, inspiring information related to the Church. We will continue to do that. The quality and content of our messages will not decline; in fact, we have plans for many improvements. For example, the columnists we are introducing are a result of our new relationship.

- - Your privacy. When you sign up for LDS-Gems, that's all you're getting. Your e-mail address will not be used for any other purpose by us or by our sponsors. Our subscriber list will never be sold to any other company or advertiser, and will not be used by the new company for any other purpose. We'll carefully safeguard your privacy!

WHAT WILL CHANGE

As you may have noticed from this message, LDS-Gems has moved from the "xmission.com" server where we have been hosted for almost three years, to a new home at the "LDSWorld.com" server. Our new name will be "LDSWorld-Gems." There are some significant benefits for us and our subscribers that will come from our new host:

- - Efficiency of delivery. The software we'll be using, called "listserv," is more robust and reliable than the "majordomo" that we've been using up to now. This should take care of delays in delivery, duplicated messages, etc.

- - Improved functionality: The new software will enable you to "personalize" the mail delivery - one of the most requested enhancements to LDS-Gems. In the near future, you'll be able to specify which of our messages you want to receive. Further info coming soon!

- - Increased security: We've always been careful to guard the privacy of our subscribers, and assure that our list of names is not "stolen" or "borrowed" to be used for unsolicited mail or unwanted advertising. The new server improves our ability to safeguard the list.

We'll be sharing more information in the near future about the benefits of our new environment - please stay tuned! If you are receiving LDSWorld-Gems mail normally, you do NOT need to respond to this message. More information will be coming soon.

ADMINISTRATION COMMANDS

You're already subscribed to the new list; you don't need to change a thing. These are the commands for joining or leaving the list, for your information:

- - To join LDSWorld-Gems on the new server, send a message to "listserv@lists.ldsworld.com" with the words "subscribe ldsworld-gems" (without quotes) in the message body.

- - To leave LDSWorld-Gems on the new server, send a message to "listserv@lists.ldsworld.com" with the words "unsubscribe ldsworld-gems" (without quotes) in the message body.

Thanks for your support and encouragement!

Dave Kenison and Dave Crockett