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Distance Education: Launching A Chat Program

Transcript of an on-line meeting that took place from noon to 1 PM US Eastern Time, Thursday, April 14, 1998. This meeting included a handful of people who had volunteered to start a new regular chat program, focused on distance education, as a spin-off of Richard Seltzer's Business on the World Wide Web.

This transcript can also be useful as an outline of what it takes to launch a new chat program, and as an example of how effective meetings can be conducted using chat.

As you'll see in this transcript, it was agreed to hold the new chat on Tuesdays, from noon to 1 PM, U.S. Eastern Time (GMT -4) at the Web-net site http://www.web-net.org.

The sessions will be moderated by Bob Zwick, Bob@CottageMicro.Com, who will post the transcripts at his site http://www.cottagemicro.com/education Please send any follow-on questions and comments and suggestions to him.

.If you would like to receive email reminders about upcoming sessions, please send email to Christian Frosch ChristianF

Transcripts of the sister chat session, Business on the World Wide Web, hosted by Richard Seltzer, are available at http://www.seltzerbooks.com/#chat


Today's Participants

Others who were unable to attend:


Introductions

Richard Seltzer -- All -- today at noon Eastern Daylight Time (GMT -4) we'll be holding a meeting here to organize the distance education spin-off chat program. A handful of people who have expressed interest in running this chat have been specifically invited. Others are welcome to join in -- but we don't plan to talk about global issues today. This is meant to resolve the details necessary to launch this, establishing who is responsible for what and what work actually needs to be done. As you connect, please introduce yourselves, with a word about your background and your main area of interest (related to distance education).

ChristianF -- Hi, I'm Christian Frosch, working as Secretary for the Globewide Network Academy (http://www.gnacademy.org)

Bob@CottageMicro.Com -- Hello All - see we got here early in anticipation.

Ken Merwin -- Good morning - Ken, Wisconsin

Sudha Jamthe -- Good Morning, Su - Web-Net, Boston

Bob@CottageMicro.Com -- Hi Ken glad you could make it.

Ken Merwin -- Thanks Bob; this is a don't miss event for me...Ken

Richard Seltzer -- Okay -- it's noon by my clock. Let's dive in. One barrier that we had been facing was the need for someone to step forward who was willing to feel "totally responsible" -- needing and getting lots of help and support from others, but feeling the responsibility to make sure all the pieces fit together. At last Thursday's chat Bob Zwick (Bob@Cottage) stepped forward and said he was willing to do that. I see that since then Bob has set up a preliminary page at his site with this in mind http://www.cottagemicro.com/education

Sudha Jamthe -- That's good Bob. It helps to have a central focal point of contact as people are bound to send emails with questions often.

ChristianF -- Hi Sudha, hi Ken. I've been looking at Bob's page which looks interesting

Carole Soule -- I finally found my way here, with some help from Richard. I like having this chat associated with the Business chat, sort of one-stop shopping. I am very much interested in sharing and exploring new DE methods of communication. It seems that DE == communication and without a good communicative instructor, there is no class.

Goals of the new chat program

Sudha Jamthe -- Hi Bob, Ken, Richard and Christian! We should talk about the goal and boundaries of this project so all our actions are consistent as we grow. I hope we can have lots of fun in this process.

Sudha Jamthe -- Do you all agree that the goal of this project is to learn about DE and connect with people around the world who are working on this. Later we are each free to take our learning to do whatever we please to do - commercial or otherwise with it.

Ken Merwin -- Sudha, agree. I got a lot out of the previous sessions since I'm fairly new to DE but this is not to say that the "old" format needs to continue, just that I liked the opportunity to exchange ideas and, hopefully, build a network to share with, etc.

Sudha Jamthe -- Right Ken.

Bob@CottageMicro.Com -- I agree Su. To define the goal a little deeper, I think it should be to share knowledge and experiences of DE and follow all progress closely to keep abreast of the ever-expanding technology.

Richard Seltzer -- Su -- re: goals -- interesting; good idea to make them explicit. I see this as a way to share insights and experience about distance education in all its forms -- ranging from corporate training, to spin-offs of commercial publishing ventures, to entrepreneurial educational ventures, to for-credit courses offered by universities. I'm also inclined to define the field as use of the Internet for education. The emphasis should probably be on on-line interaction between faculty and students and among students -- as distinguished from Computer-based Instruction (which is automated, packaged courseware

Richard Seltzer -- All -- I also feel that it's important to keep the discussion vendor-independent. People with products should certainly be welcome when what they have is directly relevant to the audience's needs. But this should be run like a panel discussion at
a trade show, with as little bias as possible.

Ken Merwin -- Richard - I agree that we should limit ourselves to use of Internet with the diverse groups you mention...I agree on restricting the Computer-based stuff, etc. that lacks the human interaction. I also hope we can continue to build on the inclusion of global participants...my personal area of interest.

ChristianF -- I agree with Richard on keeping the discussion independent on vendors, instead we could schedule topics like "Review and demonstration of courseware systems" where all vendors could participate or people could exchange their experiences with certain systems. In addition we could have more abstract topics like development of DE or new learning models.

Ken Merwin -- Re: vendors - it would seem appropriate to ask vendors to invite participants over to their events rather than allowing vendors to "use" this forum for promotion; I like the fact that the chats in the past have not become controlled by a particular vendor but also realize that some input from them may be helpful, too.

Sudha Jamthe -- Richard, ChristianF: About vendors! I agree. Please bear in mind that we will get solicitation to add their links, talk about their products and what not from vendors for sure. Its a tricky balance to invite enough info without bringing a bias. I get at least a couple of emails weekly asking to change to new chat software with ads, add the chat from different sites etc. to generate kits in other sites and it's not easy to refuse it unless we are all consistent in our thinking about it.Roles andVolunteers

Richard Seltzer -- All -- if Bob is going to lead the spin-off, (and Bob, have you had any second thoughts :-), he's going to need a lot of help. There are a number of discrete roles that need to be filled -- e.g., editing and posting transcripts, promotion, scheduling topics and inviting guests (when that feels right), maintaining a contact list, moderator, technical help -- and all these roles could use backup, in case of emergency. What are you folks interested in doing? (And what roles have I forgotten?)

Roles and Volunteers: Rotation vs. "Total Responsibility" and Delegation/Backup

Bob@CottageMicro.Com -- All - as a team I would like to see these responsibilities rotated so that no one has the burden of a particular task for too long and so that we can all benefit from the different administrative aspects of running the chat.

Richard Seltzer -- Bob -- rotating would probably be great, if you can make it work. Keep in mind what it's like trying to run a volunteer operation. My inclination would be to have one individual in charge of ("totally" responsible for) each major piece of work, and have that person delegate or rotate, as seems appropriate. I think you should keep the amount of juggling and organizing time that you yourself have to devote to a minimum. You don't want to have to train and remind, etc., a new team every time.

Sudha Jamthe -- Bob, we need to have one person as primary contact for a role with others as backup. This way we have a point of contact but are also able to make this happen successfully within our time constraints. I am harping on backup too much because at once stage I got into being there at the chat at noon to make sure the site was working and load was balanced and kind of lost the fun of being there just for the discussion and woke up to it.

Roles and Volunteers: Promotion

ChristianF -- I could take care of promotion and maintaining a contact list.

Richard Seltzer -- Bob et al. -- if it is agreed that Christian will handle the promotion and contact list, I will send to him a copy of my current list (over 400 names). If you send out an introductory message or 2 or 3 over that list, you could then begin to build your own separate list (so those folks don't feel bombarded. I'll also send a list of the handful of public lists that I regularly use as well.

ChristianF -- Richard, Ok. I could inform people about the new chat and ask them to subscribe to the new announcement list.

Sudha Jamthe -- ChristianF: Good. I currently send out the transcripts by Coo!a, another delivery service I have. I can add this transcript to that list with you as the main contact.

ChristianF -- Sudha: re contact: OK

Sudha Jamthe -- All: I think promotion is more than the email list maintenance. We need to write to many people who can visit the chat as participants or guests. Its a slow process and all of us should be actively involved. Initial promotion shd involve adding site to search engines and cross posting weekly chat topic + invite to many user groups and online lists.

Richard Seltzer -- Sudha -- Amen, re: promotion. There's a list of those kinds of things in my article about how to promote a Web site over the Internet for free, http://www.seltzerbooks.com/public.html This includes checking http://www.liszt.com for listservs relevant to a given topic, also http://www.forumone.com for forums and http://www.dejanews.com for newsgroups.

ChristianF -- Sudha: I agree with you on promotion and announcing with cross postings. I could use Richard's list of lists for announcing the new chat.

Bob@CottageMicro.Com -- Ken - I'm available for help in doing the transcript. I'd like to discuss the formation and rudiments of transcribing with you. I like Richard's layout and may add one other category.

Richard Seltzer -- All -- keep in mind that one of the assets you have to begin with is the DEOS mailing list. They have been very helpful and welcoming in forwarding all my distance ed related reminder notices -- that's an excellent distance ed target list, with many members. Simply sending promo material there will keep your chat room busy.

Ken Merwin -- Bob, etc.: I'm going to push our group heavily on the Global Learn Day group, which I'm a part of. I sure hope a few of them will join in as there are some great contributions off of that mail list.

Bob@CottageMicro.Com -- Great Ken ! All -- if you have any organizations that might be interested in participating that would be another good mailing list for promotion.

Sudha Jamthe -- I can announce the new chat in next Web-Net meeting only on tuesday night (21st). Many of our new members visit the chat and join Richard's list regularly.

Roles and Volunteers: Editing Transcripts

Sudha Jamthe -- We need a person to do transcripts. Bob can save the transcript as is for this person to transcribe it.

Richard Seltzer -- Yes, who can/will edit the transcripts? That's a big chunk of work. It typically takes me 3-4 hours to handle a one hour chat -- and that's working very fast. But I feel that that is an essential piece of the work.

Sudha Jamthe -- Richard: About transcripts. We all see that as a special skill plus lot of time commitment. Why don't we each take turns posting it for now and keep the position open for someone with good writing skills.

Ken Merwin -- Sudha - I agree with the comment regarding "special skills" on transcripts; I think I'm a decent writer but I'd also appreciate some "hand holding" if I were to take it on...

Ken Merwin -- Bob - I like the idea of rotating duties; I would volunteer for the editor of the transcripts but would like to have someone to review my work as I'd hate to "screw up" what has been such a great resource for me and others.

Sudha Jamthe -- Ken, I can review the transcripts and help sometimes.

Bob@CottageMicro.Com -- Thanks Ken, another responsibility, of course would be to share the how-to of what you have done with the next person who assumes the job.

Ken Merwin -- Bob - Agreed; I like the suggestion regarding cross-training and the need to prepare some notes, etc. to help cover the key functions.

Carole Soule -- I like the idea of sharing the posting task. It will accomplish a couple of things. Make everyone pay closer attention to the material and "share the pain" at the same time.

Richard Seltzer -- Ken -- It would be great if you would be in charge of transcripts, finding others to help/backup as necessary. (Actually, while it's a lot of work, it's also a great way to get close to the material. I often pick up new ideas that I had missed in the live dialogue as I going through the editing.

Ken Merwin -- Richard - just saw your post on transcripts; yes, I think an excellent way to really get into the materials and extend the experience for the chat participants as well as a resource to attract new folks, etc. I can see why you put so much time into them...Ken

Ken Merwin -- I'd need some input on how to capture the raw chat log; also where we'll post the transcript, etc. I know how to use FTP and believe that WordPerfect 8, for example, can do the necessary HTML markup.

Richard Seltzer -- Ken -- As a first experiment, why don't you edit the transcript from this organizational session. We can talk over email about details on that. [NB -- due to special circumstances, Ken was unable to do it this time. Richard filled in.]

Ken Merwin -- Richard - I'll edit this transcript; unfortunately I'm not logging the chat to a text file and not sure if I can from the web site. Is this something that Sudha supplies from the server end?

Richard Seltzer -- Ken -- There's no need to log the chat file (You wouldn't want to do it that way.) When the chat ends, click on "log off", then go back to Web-net and log on again. This time come in with a choice of 1000 messages, 0 refresh time, and no frames. Once in, click on "View Occupants". Then from your browser, save as (whatever you want to call it). When you go to edit, use a Word processing program that recognizes .html as a format type. (Word for Office 97 does that. I don't know about Word Perfect.) That preserves all the hyperlinks that are in the text.

Sudha Jamthe -- Ken: Yes, the all the text gets stored automatically in the back-end. You can also get it directly by logging back in and asking for 300 messages and saving the whole page. I can help you with it.

Ken Merwin -- Sudha - Richard: Thanks for the info.; I will give that a try. Will need to experiment with WordPerfect but do have an older version of Word & could upgrade if need be...

Sudha Jamthe -- Ken: Do you have Netscape Communicator (4.0) Since the transcript is available as html, you can edit it with NS easily.

Ken Merwin -- Sudha - I'm using the latest version of Netscape Communicator; 4.04 I believe. With all there is to learn on my end I hope all will be tolerant of my first attempt!~!!

Sudha Jamthe -- Ken: I have my own documentation to show how to use NS Communicator and publish in a few minutes. That can help you get started. Let me send it to you.

Roles and volunteers: Technical setup and maintenance

Sudha Jamthe -- Richard: Also include chat hosting and technical end of maintenance. I've made this chat room as an additional room of your previous chat. I'll move it to another web-net site after testing for load. I am looking for someone to fill in for me as backup to make sure the site is up, chat works, take care of enhancements etc and hope to get a volunteer from web-net.

Richard Seltzer -- Sudha -- for the technical side, I think it would be terrific if this could stay at the Web-net site and be supported by you and others at Web-net. That would help with the continuity and also the cross-pollination.oles and Volunteers: Backup

Sudha Jamthe -- Carole: Would you like to volunteer to help with something or work as a backup in any activity?

Carole Soule -- Sudha -- sure, I can be available as backup. But as such I'd need training from the primary person before "filling in."

Roles and Volunteers: Moderator/Leader 

Bob@CottageMicro.Com -- All - as the moderator, I'd like to be the focal point of what everyone is doing so that I can keep track of all the pieces.

Bob@CottageMicro.Com -- Replies and communications should be to one place to avoid confusion. For example, any followups to chats should be sent to me and I will forward them to whoever is doing transcripts.Maintaining Ties With Sister Chat Program

Richard Seltzer -- All -- I'd also hope that we can maintain links between the old chat (Business on the WWW) and the new sister one. There are times when the subject matter overlaps, and some people will want to participate in both -- so it would be good to cross-reference and cross-pollinate.

Bob@CottageMicro.Com -- Good idea Richard. I think we should cross link both information about chat schedules and transcript links in each session.

Richard Seltzer -- Bob -- re: cross-pollination, the links from your pilot page to my old distance ed transcripts look good. But it would be good if you could also add a link to my table of contents for chat transcripts http://www.seltzerbooks.com/#chat so those who are interested can take a look. Naturally, I'll be referencing the distance ed one and linking to it as well.

Bob@CottageMicro.Com -- Richard, re: TOC link -- will do."Ante-room" and sign-up pages; where to link to; making the chat room easier to find

Richard Seltzer -- A few details. Bob, at your pilot page http://www.cottagemicro.com/education
right now you link straight to the Web-net chat sign-up page. I'd suggest that you get together with Sudha and write an introductory page ("ante-room") like the one I have for Business on the WWW. That could explain the purpose and the context of the chat program (so you don't have to repeat that live every session). It could also have your photo :-) Then you could link to that page rather than to the sign up page.

Bob@CottageMicro.Com -- I'll have to get with Sudha about setting up the Intro page. Will that be ok Su ?

Sudha Jamthe -- Bob, yes we can work together to get the intro pages.

Richard Seltzer -- Sudha -- to help visitors find the right place, would it be possible to set up the sign-up page so both "Richard Seltzer's chat" and "Distance Education" appear as options immediately (instead of having to click the down-arrow to see the Distance Ed choice). That would be a big help.

Sudha Jamthe -- Richard: Yes, I set this up as a quick chat room for us to get started. I might move it as a separate room by itself. Yes, we'll add links for both the chats from web-net Home right away. In fact, we can make a special gif for this chat too!

Carole Soule -- Richard Sudha -- roger that on the sign-up page -- that's how I got lost. I didn't click on the Richard Seltzer chat to see the "Distance Education" option. I just assumed I was in the wrong place.

Sudha Jamthe -- Carole: Sorry about that. we'll have a direct link with clear instructions when we get started officially.

Gifs for Chat Room

Richard Seltzer -- Another detail -- Sudha and Bob -- could you two get together re: a .gif for the distance ed chat moderator?

Bob@CottageMicro.Com -- Richard, Sudha how about the one I made on http://www.cottagemicro.com/education ?

Sudha Jamthe -- About the gif -- Bob sent me a gif that I'll have ready for him to use from the chat.

Mailing List

ChristianF -- Can we have a mailing list for internal use. Shall I setup one now?

Sudha Jamthe -- ChristainF: Good idea to setup a mailing list. We should keep each other updated and can ask for help from others there.

Richard Seltzer -- Christian -- sounds like a good idea to have a mailing list for the organizers to stay in touch with one another. (Actually, if you just do it once, everyone can use the cc:s)

ChristianF -- Name= DE-Chat ? Ok?

ChristianF -- Richard, yes, but if somebody joins or wants to join the team only has to subscribe to the list and not everybody has to make sure that he uses the most up to date list of cc:'s

Ken Merwin -- Christian - I think a private mailing list would be a good idea...particularly in the early stages of getting the separate chat up and running.

Richard Seltzer -- Christian -- you are right about the list. But please keep two separate lists -- one for participants/visitors (those who come to chat sessions and/or ask to be put on the reminder list) and another (far shorter) of those who are helping with the administration.

ChristianF -- Yes, the lists would be separated.

Bob@CottageMicro.Com -- All - the mailing list has be used carefully and prudently. We don't want to irritate people by double sending messages or having huge cc lists in the header of messages.

Sudha Jamthe -- Carole. Ken: Keep Carole in the mailing list. She can decide what activity is fun for her as we proceed.Instant Messaging

Bob@CottageMicro.Com -- Who here uses ICQ, besides Richard and myself? It's a means where we can chat on demand as a team.

Richard Seltzer -- Bob -- yes, ICQ (from http://www.mirabilis.com) would be a useful tool, especially as you are starting up.)

Sudha Jamthe -- Bob, I don't use ICQ. Wouldn't mind trying

Bob@CottageMicro.Com -- Sudha and anyone else interested, I can send you the ICQ program if you like.

Sudha Jamthe -- Yes, Bob. I'd appreciate it. -Thanks.

Ken Merwin -- Geez, I just uninstalled ICQ; we've been using AOL's Netbuddy in class with good success but it doesn't "talk" to ICQ & vice-versa. Can re-download, then we should all publish our ICQ #'s.

ChristianF -- My ICQ is secretary@gnacademy.org But I haven't used for some time

Ken Merwin -- I like Christian's suggestion on the mail lists so we can process a bit without negotiating separate ICQ chats although I see value to that, as well.

Ken Merwin -- Bob - you want to work via e-mail or ICQ? I have to download ICQ but should have my number still on file.

Back-room Resource Lists

Sudha Jamthe -- A Recommendation: We are getting lots of resources in terms of lists etc. We should maintain those in a web page for common reference to the team so it will serve as a easy reference, and anyone can help anyone loaded with a task. This works in web-net group where we share all resources in web pages (not linked out to the world) for promotion and links to all tools we use etc.

Bob@CottageMicro.Com -- Good idea Sudha, I think we should document ALL functions of the administration for reference and educational purposes.

Richard Seltzer -- Sudha -- good idea, re: lists of resources (including a list of what mail lists we're using for promotion). Can you do that? Or is that something for Christian to pick up? Please sort it out. Good idea. Don't want it to get lost.

Time and Frequency:Tuesdays Noon to 1 PM US Eastern Time

ChristianF -- When should the chat take place? If we want to maintain a link with the old chat, it might be good to have the chat on Thursdays also, so that ppl can stay and attend both meetings.

Richard Seltzer -- A few basics. Christian asked about the time. I'm inclined to have it on a different day -- not Thursday -- because, personally, I'm rather drained after an hour of chat. I think that perhaps this time would be a good one -- noon on Tuesdays. (Admittedly that's noon US Eastern, and not convenient for the entire world. What do others think?)

Ken Merwin -- Do we want 1 more session such as this to firm up duties before going "live"? Tuesday would be ok with me...I understand Richard's concern about "burn-out" for those who wish to go with both chats...

ChristianF -- Tuesday would be fine with me also. I think we could set up another session if there would be requests for a different time. In the beginning, I think 12 noon would be ok.

Richard Seltzer -- All -- re: timing. What about frequency? Bob -- what are your feelings on that? Personally, I like the regularity of once a week -- I always know that it's on at noon on a particular day, and don't have to consult a calendar. That really helps with word of mouth. Opinions?

Richard Seltzer -- Christian -- time-wise, perhaps, ideally, over time, if there is enough interest from Europe, you might want to hold some sessions better suited to your time zone.

Bob@CottageMicro.Com -- Richard once a week seems to be a good time frame. I like Tuesday's at 12 if it ok with others.

Sudha Jamthe -- Richard: We should aim to get to a fixed weekly routine, but I'd like to suggest that we should test the waters with a smaller frequency. How about a bi-weekly to begin with for couple of times before we get to a weekly routine. By then, we would have a critical mass of regular participants. What do you think?

Start date -- Tuesday, April 21

ChristianF -- Anything else, that we'd need to discuss? Besides, when do we want to start? Next week of the week after?

Sudha Jamthe -- About the roll-out: When is the start date? Is next tuesday 21st EST noon Ok with all? Is there enough time for promotion or should we start on 28th? Before that:

Anything else?

Richard Seltzer -- All -- keep in mind that one of the assets you have to begin with is the DEOS mailing list. They have been very helpful and welcoming in forwarding all my distance ed related reminder notices -- that's an excellent distance ed target list, with many members. Simply sending promo material there will keep your chat room busy.

Ken Merwin -- Bob, etc.: I'm going to push our group heavily on the Global Learn Day group, which I'm a part of. I sure hope a few of them will join in as there are some great contributions off of that mail list.

Bob@CottageMicro.Com -- Next Tuesday is ok with me. I'm sure Ricahrd will let everyone know about it in Thursday's chat in addition to the regular promotion.

ChristianF -- I'd suggest to set up things first and then start promo next week for a chat on the 28th.

Richard Seltzer -- All -- I think it would be good to start next Tuesday. Everything won't be in place, but that's fine. Give it a bit of "under construction" feel and interested people might want to help finish things up. I don't want to lose momentum and it's important to get some substantial discussion going before school lets out, which for colleges is in just a few weeks. You may want to discuss in the chat itself whether to continue weekly over the summer or to go monthly June to September.

Ken Merwin -- I'm comfortable with next Tuesday...we probably need to keep our momentum going; however I'm also open to another small chat next Tuesday to work out any bugs before we go "live" and bring in others who may not be as amenable to our inevitable shake-down flaws... Either way - I'm in - Ken

Richard Seltzer -- Christian -- think of next Tuesday as the public dress rehearsal, and the following Tuesday as the "grand opening". Does that work for you? I think the sooner we begin to get people used to tuning in at that time (setting that time aside), the better off we'll be.

ChristianF -- Since everybody seems to prefer the 21th. That's fine with me. Let's go for it next week.

On-line Recognition

Richard Seltzer -- All -- if you are going to try to recruit people for backup roles and if the work is going to be shared, there should be on-line recognition for who does what -- perhaps both at Bob's page and also in the intro page at Web-net. Who does what and where they are and a line about their backgroud/interests, plus email and URL links. (Maybe even pictures :-) Maybe even give them .gifs as well?) Basically, everybody who does substantial work to help should be recognized and well recognized.

Ken Merwin --Richard - I like your suggestion; I'm not a big self-promoter but also recognize the need for it for obvious professional reasons, etc. I have a good .gif of me holding a baby in Kenya...no diapers!Summary of Decisions

Richard Seltzer -- All -- quick summary of what I've "heard" (please correct me).

Sudha Jamthe -- Richard: Thanks for the summary.

Ken Merwin -- Richard - your summary looks good...


Topics

Richard Seltzer -- What we haven't covered is the topics to be covered, and a preliminary schedule. Bob -- are you going to be in charge of setting up the schedule/topics? Or do you want to delegate that?

Sudha Jamthe -- Topic: DE is the broad chat topic. what specific topic do we plan to cover in the first few sessions? I think Richard has been able to keep the topics moving with new ideas and it doesn't show as much effort but that's important to make people come back.

Richard Seltzer -- Topic ideas:

Bob@CottageMicro.Com -- One thing we should discuss is the topic of the first session. I think it should be about what DE topics the users would like to see.

Richard Seltzer -- Bob -- I think it is a good idea for your first session (will it be next Tuesday?) to openly discuss the upcoming schedule and solicit suggestions for key individuals to specifically invite for particular topics. That isn't likely to draw lots of people, but it's a good place to start. And if we just had this group, you'd have plenty of content.


Wrapup

Richard Seltzer -- All -- any unresolved issues? from here it looks like we have covered all the main points. Please followup with email to the organizing group with further questions and comments. And, remember, the reins are now in Bob's hands. Congratulations. Good luck. Let's make this work.

Sudha Jamthe -- All: I think it's going to be a new experience to work together as a team when we are in different geographical locations and operate as a distance team too. Look forward to it.

Ken Merwin -- Likewise Sudha; I am pleased to say that I "know" each one of you in this chat today...a good group and a big thanks to Richard for his work to help all the rest of us, too.

ChristianF -- Ok, rest by e-mail. ;-) See you all. ChristianF

Ken Merwin -- All - I must "leave" for today...glad to see everyone. Look forward to the future. Will keep the chat open to capture the tail end.

Sudha Jamthe -- Action items, as I remember them:

Will look forward to the transcript of this chat from Ken and the mailing list from CristianF.

Richard Seltzer -- Bob -- Are you comfortable that we have covered everything we need to cover today and that you know what you need to go to start rolling?

Sudha Jamthe -- Congrats Bob. Are we all set? Will Bob send out the invite email about the chat? Richard: It will help if you send the message to your usual lists as an add-on to your Thursday chat invite email.

Bob@CottageMicro.Com -- Comfortable, but nervous of course.-:) I'll be in contact with all to see how things go, who does what between now and Tuesday.

Bob@CottageMicro.Com -- All - talk to you soon. I'm logging off now, so be sure and send any follow-up to bob@cottagemicro.com

Sudha Jamthe -- Bob, you'll do great. See you on 21st here.

Sudha Jamthe -- See you all. It's good to know you. Look forward to working with you. Bye, sudha@web-net.org

Bob@CottageMicro.Com -- Sudha, please cc me on the mailing list so I can have a copy.

Richard Seltzer -- It's now the magic hour of 1 PM. I have to run to a physical meeting. Please send follow-up email to Bob and the whole organizing group. Thanks very much for stepping forward and volunteering to help. Best wishes. Richard

 
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