ENA UPDATE
by Lisa Kimball


ORGANIZATION
============

We've done it! Our new RING structure is now set up in ENA's
electronic office on UNISON. So far, about fifteen CLUSTERS
have formed around key ENA activities and selected someone to
report to the whole group. These representatives (we're calling
them SEATS to indicate that the role may rotate among members of
the cluster rather than belonging to a single individual) have
agreed to sign on regularly (at least every four days) to keep
track of the "big picture" of ENA and make policy and other
decisions. We hope this will allow us to distribute activity
but still maintain good communication.

One good example of how our clusters operate is the BUSINESS
CLUSTER, which is planning to develop strategies and materials
to attract and support business users and applications. The
members of the cluster meet electronically on the Strategic
Information System which is based in Massachusetts. There is a
conference on UNISON where periodic summaries of activity and
discussion will be posted. Susanna Opper will be the first SEAT
and participate in the "RING" conference by bringing issues from
the Business Cluster to the whole group and participating in
decision making on behalf of the members of the Business
Cluster.

Information about what's going on in the Business Cluster will
be disseminated via the porting process to our intersystem
network. ENA members who want to get involved in this activity
can send a message to Susanna via their porter and may either
join the group online, or develop a related activity on their
own system and create other strategies to maintain communication
with the cluster.

Other clusters which have formed include PUBLICATIONS,
INTERNETWORKING, LOCAL CONFERENCING, TECHNOLOGY, ENA ETHICS,
PUBLIC RELATIONS, MEMBERSHIP, FUNDING, ENA ADMINISTRATION, NON-
PROFIT NETWORKS, INTERMEDIA SYNERGY and GLOBAL NETWORKING. Any
three ENA members can form a new cluster to develop other
activities. There are currently groups exploring other areas
including Education and Training, Social Systems Research,
Telecommunications Policy, and Academic Perspectives. If your
interests aren't represented yet, it's up to you to get
something started!


COMMUNICATION
=============

Now that we have worked out some of the logistical aspects of
our organization, we will be turning more attention toward some
of our communication needs. We are discussing how to improve
NETWEAVER and other publications that might be useful to develop
in the Publications Cluster. The Membership Cluster is
developing a proposal for the members of the ring to consider to
finalize our ENA dues structure and develop new membership
applications and other materials. We are also discussing
whether we need some print vehicles to complement our online
publications. For example, we will soon have an Electronic
Compendium from our fall conference ready for porting but we
want to develop a print version for those we can't reach online.
The Public Relations Cluster is also considering what kind of
brochures and other materials we need for ENA and for promoting
the medium of computer conferencing.


IN THIS ISSUE
=============

We've been particularly interested in linking up with networkers
from around the world to take advantage of global communication.
We now have active participants from Japan, Canada, Europe, and
Sweden as well as the U.S. We're exploring the possibility of
participating in or co-sponsoring an international conference.
In this issue of NETWEAVER, you'll find an article by Stuart
Umpleby about some of the international organizations with which
we want to develop relationships. There's also an article by
Bob Sprigge, who signs on from Luxembourg, about a strategy for
managing information overload in conferences.

Several articles in this issue focus on business applications of
conferencing. Included is an article by Harry Stevens which you
might find useful to share with those new to the medium.
Catharine Vinson's article talks about a business application
which was not successful and some of the possible reasons for
the problems encountered. Stefanie Kott has edited a lively
discussion about marketing to business from an ongoing online
conference.

You'll also find a report from the User Support session at our
fall conference which describes needs of users applicable in any
conferencing system. The second in a series on Computers and
Your Health talks about ways you can avoid terminal backaches.
There's a description of one of the liveliest conferences on
Parti on The Source, "TEEN ROOM", and an article on the ACCESS
system.

And don't forget to take advantage of the opportunity to comment
on these articles or make suggestions about things *you'd* like
to see in NETWEAVER!

ENJOY!