ENA UPDATE

by Lisa Kimball

We've been very busy in the month since the first issue of NETWEAVER was published. One of the most exciting developments is the extension of our intersystem network. This newsletter is now being published simultaneously on UNISON, Parti on The Source, Parti on NYIT, The Meta Network, EIES, Delphi, CompuServe, The WELL, CoSy (Guelph), COM (Sweden), and a number of local networks and bulletin boards. This is a wonderful opportunity to develop a comprehensive understanding of what is happening in the medium across a wide variety of applications and to share ideas about its current and potential value. We are recruiting authors and ideas for the NETWEAVER--this is a great chance for you to reach a large group of networkers!

Our current focus is on planning a dynamite conference for the fall. Our conference will take place November 7-10 at George Washington University in D.C. We are designing a program to include sessions on business, educational, and community applications based on case studies and reports of *experience* from many different organizations and networks. Additional sessions will cover some major network consumer issues and the current and future state-of-the art of conferencing technology. The schedule also includes a workshop on the legal and regulatory environment for telecommunications and a trip to the Hill to meet with key Congressional staffers. We have a special session planned to learn about networking in Japan and more! There will also be plenty of time to do some fun f-t-f networking with folks from many different networks and we will use this time together to plan the development of ENA and our priorities for the future. Registration materials and more information about the program are scheduled to be sent out soon after Labor Day. This conference will be limited to 200 people so that we can have good interactive discussions. Be on the look-out in the ENA conference on your network so you don't miss out!

One of the other activities I want to highlight now is our concern with issues related to TELELAW. There are important legislative proposals pending in Congress (the Trible bill) and in the State Legislature in California. We are in the process of gathering information about these initiatives and discussing their implications. Precedents set in the early stages of this which reflect ENA's broad scope of interest. You'll find an article to help you save money, tips to make your online communication more effective, information about the economics of computer conferencing, a view of networking in Japan, insights from an electronic journalist, an example of an effective community application, reflections on the first year of UNISON, and more!

Welcome to ENA! It's great to see you online!