In a nutshell: start a Google Group, and then invite people.

Details:

1. Get a gmail account for your email
(Google is the very best email: I recommend to everyone to use it as their main email account.)
2. Then log in to Google Groups, and start a group
3. Make yourself the owner
4. Optional: Find someone to be a manager or a co-owner
5. When setting up the Group’s options, add a phrase that will be included at the beginning of the subject line of every message sent to the Group.
I use the phrase “[ FCNA Ithaca ]”. This allows every member to easily create filters for the group’s emails.
6. Invite people to join, by adding their email addresses to the “Invite” section. … They will get a message from you about the group, and they have the option to accept or decline membership.
7. When the group gets going, you can also use the “Direct Add” option, which adds members without the need for them to accept.
8. Set up a “FAQ” so that everyone knows how to use the list
Here is the FCNA FAQ, you can copy it and change it as you like:
https://ithacarocks.com/fcna-faq/

Resources For Learning How to Manage the “Technology” Aspects

Here are some links that explain more about setting up a Google Group:

The Basics:
https://support.google.com/groups/answer/2464926

Google’s page about with everything you need to know about how
 to manage and how to participate in Google Groups:
http://www.google.com/support/groups/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=1046906

Here is a YouTube video about how to start a group:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AP4180c4tE4

The FCNA discussion group home page
… You can log in with your gmail address and password, and then read the “pinned” messages (at the top) which explain my philosophy and goals:
http://groups.google.com/group/fcna-ithaca

updated 2014 September 04