What is nw-b5?



nw-b5 is a mailing list devoted to bringing critical information to the Vancouver Island, Lower Mainland, and Northern Washington areas. More specifically, anyone north of Seattle. B5 is broadcast on SPACE:TIS in Canada, and Sci-Fi channel in the US. By subscribing to nw-b5, you'll be able to know info bringing you up to date on the current scheduling and events happening in the community related to B5. You'll also be subscribed to the list itself, which means that you'll receive email when there is a scheduling change or critical information needs to go out to you (for example, if we need to start another mailing campaign).

nw-b5 is a discussion group relating to local B5 issues. nw-b5 is not a discussion group about the show itself (we have the USENET group rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5 for that). nw-b5-info used to be our sister list. It has been shut down due to attrition. I now only maintain one subscriber list as there has not been enough demand to warrant the extra time in maintaining 2 of everything.

Basically, we discuss mailing strategies, timeslot changes, cable problems, events we plan and pretty much everything having to do with B5 local to Vancouver and not related to the actual episodes themselves.


History

The nw-b5-info and nw-b5 lists were created by Trevor Bradley around October, 1995 because at the time, CHEK-6 Victoria had not made the decision to renew B5 for season 3, and was playing wonderful games with the timeslot. nw-b5 successfully helped in bringing the show back to CHEK by running a petition. After KVOS lost the right to show Babylon 5 in 1997 when TNT got the US exclusive, we ran an unsuccessful petition that still garnered more than a 1000 signatures that did indeed show that there was an audience for the show here. This garnered us three mentions in the press within a short period, one of which can be found here.

In 1998 we did a letter writing campaign that helped get Season 5 in the local market on BCTV. nw-b5 brought the show to the local market during the fifth season in the form of showings at 2 to 3 venues around town in addition to our Gatherings at SFU Images Theatre that attracted some 200-450 people depending on the occasion.

While the current focus of the list is to keep people informed to scheduling changes and to organize informal meetings of Babylon 5 fans (called "Gatherings"), The list still remains an effective way to keep informed about the show on a local basis for the viewing area we serve.

John Francis, myself, designed the nw-b5 website in 1996 to help in disseminating the news given out on the lists. I have organized or at least done a lot of the legwork for the Gatherings since mid 1997. I took over list administration duties when Trevor Bradley retired to family and working life in 1998.

Dennis Kristos has been the heart and soul of this list though through his tireless work with the Ad-Hoc Committee to Save B5 in the Northwest. His limitless knowledge on the show and surrounding issues in fandom has been enlightening to all to say the least. Johnny Gee is our contributor for merchandising in the local market.

Many other people have contributed to nw-b5 over the years including Travers Naran, Frank Garcia of CFQ Magazine, and many others too numerous to mention here.

Email Addresses

There are three important email addresses to remember:

afugelgrup@nw-b5.com: Me. The list owner. Mail me if you would like to post some information to the mailing list, or if you have any questions in general. I'll answer your message promptly. :)

If you think you might have been bumped from one of, or both of the lists, follow the instructions below to send a "who" message to the applicable "request" list. You will be returned a list of subscribers. Check for your e-mail address. If it is not there, then re-subscribe by following the instructions below. Otherwise, e-mail me.

Subscribe/Unsubscribe Info

The list has moved to Yahoo! Groups effective May 1st, 2001 because of continued unreliability with the babcom server. All subscription info is handled through the page I have set up there.

Remember, if you're lost or confused, just mail me (afugelgrup@nw-b5.com), and I'll help you sort out the problem.

If I get mail bounced from your system, I'll try to contact you. If the problem persists, I will have to delete you from the mailing list. (Having my mailbox flooded with "user does not exist" posts is not fun!). If your account will be deleted soon, please warn me! If you haven't received mail from nw-b5 in a while, and feel you might have been deleted from the list, just email me and we can sort it out.