ENA UPDATE
by Lisa Kimball

The most important ENA Activity this month has been planning our fall conference

USING THE MEDIUM
Washington, D.C.
November 7-10

By now you should be able to find details about the program, who should attend, and registration materials in our EBROCHURE on your home system (the porter who brings you NETWEAVER can direct you to the right place). If you need information or would like a copy of the printed brochure when it is available, you can
call our conference information contact, Kate Wholey, at (703) 247-8301.

This is going to be an APPLICATIONS-focused conference. We are gathering people with experience USING THE MEDIUM in business organizations, government agencies, educational institutions, community services, and entrepreneurial ventures, as well as for personal networking and recreation. We will be sharing information, proposals, and questions for managers, consumers, vendors, policy makers, and folks who are just plain curious and excited about networking via computer.

This will also be a *great* chance for us to meet the people we've been talking to online! You'll want to BE THERE! We plan to experiment with some strategies for integrating our online discussions with what's going on during the f-t-f (face- to-face) conference. Ideas for USING THE MEDIUM creatively are welcome, and you are invited to get involved in this part of our conference too!

At our first symposium last April, we decided to spend a few months thinking and talking about what an association like ENA could and should *do* for the medium and its users--and then plan for ENA's future at our fall conference. ENA's Interim
Organization Team is currently working on an agenda of possibilities, issues, and decisions which need to be addressed by the organization. If *you* have ideas and suggestions, this would be a great time to get them on the table for discussion
and ACTION.

Many of ENA's interests are reflected in this issue of NETWEAVER. The history of other networked industries suggests that STANDARDS are one of the key factors in supporting growth. An article on "Future Mail" reports on the implications of the
X.400 standard for computer conferencing. Other articles about future technology cover the problems of networking internationally and the potential of integrating hypertext with other media. This issue also contains our first roundup of
proposed legislation in the area of Telelaw. You will find intriguing hypotheses about electronic socialization, one cause of resistance to using the medium, and the phenomenon of rapport online. You can learn how one consultant sets up new networks, how BYTE is getting into the CoSy system, and how an online
journalist is covering the impact of AIDS on society. I'm always impressed by what's going on in our intersystem network!

Harlan Cleveland calls the marriage of computers and telecommunications the "central event of our time" in his new book, THE KNOWLEDGE EXECUTIVE, which is reviewed in this issue. I'm looking forward to a lot more discussions online and at our conference about *specific* effects of this central event on individuals, organizations, and society. I hope you'll join ENA and participate!