The introductory page on their Web site reads, in part, this way:

"Who We Are

"Boston SPIN (Software Process Improvement Network) is a forum for the free and open exchange of software process improvement experiences and ideas. The organization serves as a source of educational and scientific information for its members, other SPIN organizations, and the general software community. Members of Boston SPIN come from academic, government, and industry. Meetings are always open to all.

"Boston SPIN holds a meeting on the third Tuesday of every month, except July and August. This meeting is free and open to the public. We also publish an electronic newsletter, In the SPIN.."

Tech Mailings Guy has always been fascinated by the priesthood, as it were, of software developers. These are the people who produce much of the way we use these 'puters, and who actually sit around and think about what will happen next when we punch the keyboard or click the mouse. We should be much more grateful to them than we are for some of the experiences we have had since first sitting down in front of our monitors.

But, usually, they are just the names on a "Credits" page which we tend to ignore unless they have made mega-millions and been featured in Red Herring or Wired. Too bad.

I liked this newsletter a lot. The people involved are unpretentious and genuinely interested in having a helping environment. If you live in the Boston area, you might want to visit one of their meetings.

If you don't live in the Boston area, the newsletter is the closest you'll get to being part of the community. But that's why newsletters are so important, isn't it?

The other thing I liked is that you can get the archived editions in PDF format. (Smart Move.)

SOP is that I snip from an archive to give you a sample, but in this case I won't. Why? I think you need to see the sterling job Carol Pilch, the editor of Boston-SPIN, does in producing this newsletter. You can do it for free, after all, and be as jazzed as I was when I read the PDF file. (Yes, if you don't have Adobe Acrobat Reader, it's a free download, too. Takes a couple of minutes.) Follow the "Mailing List Details" link below and take a look.

If software developers can't do it right, and make it an awesome and enriching experience, my friend, who can? HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.