Thank you, Matt! This is a very helpful background story and comparison to other states. It's a big part of the many conversations we've had over the past four-five months about how to streamline communications about Connecticut birds. One of the great things about text-based alerts that they promote real-time information to people who are interested in notable birds. The feedback that Chase, Joe, and I have gotten on the text-based alerts are almost entirely positive. People find it extremely useful to get real-time information about what they're interested in. I do understand that not everyone is on board with text-based solutions, but there seem to be some misunderstandings with the objections. 1) Nobody is forcing anyone to join or download anything. 2) The GroupMe app is totally free. 3) anyone who has an email to participate in this list can join GroupMe or any other text service. Even those with a flip phone! This email list does deserve a lot of credit. For a long time, it has been a popular method of communicating information about birds, and it held on for being the primary rarity reporting tool much longer than other states' email lists. But, birding has been moving in a different direction. The birders who are focused on notable birds do not want to have to sort through emails on hummingbirds, Downy Woodpeckers, and orioles to get updates on rare birds. This listserv used to have a much higher ratio of rarity reports to common bird emails, which made it an informative place to find out about notable birds. However, as Chuck, Chris, and others have pointed out, that ratio has drastically changed, and this list has become primarily a discussion forum and place to post about backyard birds, rather than rarity reporting. That sort of common bird news and general discussion does is welcome to stay here, as Chuck notes. But this list is simply not useful anymore for people whose primary interest is rarities and notable birds. The goal of our project is consolidation and an explanation of what's available. We want to make sure that everyone has visibility about all the types of communication which are available to anyone interested. Each birder can join and/or participate in any communication method that he or she wishes. As a total aside, if you are on GroupMe alerts and are also getting those messages as regular SMS texts to your phone and don't want to, you can change that. Click on your profile picture on the bottom right of the app home screen, click settings, and under Message Delivery, turn off Enable SMS delivery. You can also turn off Like Notifications if you don't want to be notified when someone "likes" your message. Also, if you get GroupMe messages as regular texts, please do not do any of the "reactions" there, like the heart, thumbs up, emphasis, etc.. Doing that sends a message to everyone on the GroupMe alert. Thanks to all who have given any feedback on this discussion. I hope that we can all work to create a helpful environment for Connecticut birders where we can all get the information we want to! Aidan Kiley Fairfield