[New-imc] more features for contact db?

[anna]

sorry for crossposting - 
i picked all addresses mentioned underneath the contact data base
documentation http://docs.indymedia.org/view/Global/ImcDatabaseEn

i'd like to know how good chances are to get some additional features
added to the contact data base.

==========
i know that it would be extremely helpful, not only from my own
experience but from several other people's as well to be able to use the
contact db for

- sending out emails
- to filter for specific characteristics.

e.g. it would have been very useful to be able to send out emails to all
european imc's and those groups that are forming but not an accepted imc
yet.

or to send out email with (e.g. with a notification about a new working
group such as translations) to all public contacts.

maybe to be able to autimatically filter for either the public or the
non-public contacts.

=========
i have spend A LOT of time going through lots of imc homepages searching
for addresses - many are really good at "hiding" them - and the contact
page and the new imc page and twiki page looking for addresses. just to
send out some simple information that concerns the network or parts of
the network. 

i think a lot of knowledge doesn't reach local activists because they
never have the chance to find out. we all know that a lot of imc's don't
have the capacities to follow the global lists and i think sending out
emails every know and then can improve some of this. no, i'm not talking
about spamming local lists ;).

but for example being able to send out an email to local groups would
have made it a lot easier to organize regional meetings and being sure
everybody knew about them. since no one of us has a priority in internal
communication so far this means either sending out such emails is easy -
then it happens, or it involves a lot of time searching addresses - then
it will very likely not happen.

in short: i'd be very happy if more people agreed on the necessity of
having this improvement and of course if someone spent he time to
realize it!

thanks

Anna
berlin



-- 
http://keys.indymedia.org/showkey.py?key=0x08E90385