Volume 2, Number 5 ---CONTENTS--- May 1, 1986

THANKS TO DEC: Dedication of This Issue

ENA UPDATE
by Lisa Kimball

1985 COMPUTER PRESS ASSOCIATION AWARDS
by Mike Greenly

DIGITAL EQUIPMENT CORPORATION: Profile of a Networked Corp.
by Tom Sherman and Barbara Harrison

A NEW APPROACH TO OFFICE AUTOMATION: Top Down
by Bennett Landsman

GEOGRAPHY, MEDIA, AND GROUP FUNCTION: Part I
by Darrell Icenogle

GEOGRAPHY, MEDIA, AND GROUP FUNCTION: Part II
by Darrell Icenogle

INTRODUCTION TO "EXCELLENCE NETWORKS"
by Jill Herndon

EXCELLENCE NETWORKS
by Frank Burns

CONFERENCING AND CORPORATE HIERARCHIES
by Carolyn Clock-Allen

CONFERENCING WITHOUT A COMPUTER
by Stan Pokras

LEGISLATING PRIVACY IN ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS
by Peg Rossing

THE FUTURE OF BUSINESS CONFERENCING: Part I
An Interview with Phil Moore by Lisa Kimball

THE FUTURE OF BUSINESS CONFERENCING: Part II
An Interview with Phil Moore by Lisa Kimball

***************************************************************
* *
* THANKS TO DEC: A FULL HOUSE *
* *
* Digital Equipment Corporation Joins Corporate Supporters *
* ________________________________________________________ *
* *
* We hope the vast on-line community will join us with *
* applause, cheers, Control-G's, whistles and the jingle *
* of cash registers to honor Digital Equipment Corporation *
* for its recent contribution to ENA. This issue of NET- *
* WEAVER is dedicated to the good people at DEC in appre- *
* ciation of their generosity. *
* *
* DEC's valuable donation to ENA will expand our public *
* services by making our "electronic office" on UNISON *
* even more accessible. DEC's contributed software, soon *
* to be installed, will double the number of lines into *
* UNISON, helping ENA make important new connections in *
* the network nation. *
* *
* Although DEC has a particular interest in networking *
* (see story), it is not the only company to recognize *
* ENA's potential. Just one year old, ENA has already *
* been helped by representatives from dozens of small *
* businesses and many large corporations -- among them *
* Apple Computer, Bell Labs, Chemical Bank, Citicorp, *
* Exxon Chemicals, GEISCO, GTE, IBM, Kodak, MCI, McNeil *
* Pharmaceutical, Proctor & Gamble, Source Telecommunica- *
* tions, Towers, Perrin, Forster & Crosby and Weyerhauser. *
* *
* We are especially grateful to Mile High Media, Ltd. *
* (UNISON) and Participation Systems, Inc. (PARTI) *
* which have demonstrated their strong commitment to ENA *
* by substantial financial support in the early stages *
* of our development. *
* *
* --- The Electronic Networking Association --- *
* *
***************************************************************

THE FUTURE OF BUSINESS CONFERENCING:
An Interview With Phil Moore

by Lisa Kimball


Phil Moore is a business executive who has been using computer
conferencing for the past five years. He's so convinced that this medium
provides valuable services to business that he's set up a new system which
will link a Participate conferencing system to data base services *and*
the over 2 million Telex terminals world-wide. I thought we should find
out just what intrigued Phil enough to enter the business!

LISA KIMBALL(LC): Is this medium going to ever really take off in the
business market?

PHIL MOORE(PM): I believe that this medium will take off in the business
market simply because it is one of the most effective tools for the job of
communication. It is self documenting, easy to learn and use, convenient
because of the removal of time as a consideration in moving through the
sequence of events that are needed to accomplish a project, convenient
because it drastically reduces the need for face to face - or phone
conversations and the correspondent travel and delay that are associated
with each of those mediums.

LC: How were you introduced to computer conferencing?

PM: I have been using electronic information and communication services
for the past five years. The benefits of electronic search services are
well known and discussed - and they were my introduction to the world of
conferencing. When I took a job at Sony a couple of years ago - I found
myself with an immediate need for support to produce documentation and
opinion in a very short timeframe. Though I had hire-tickets, I did not
have any good candidates - and the time needed to interview, hire and
familiarize was prohibitive. I turned to Parti on The Source and joined
and read the conferences related to my field of work and picked out the
two best minds I could find about marketing and engineering as it relates
to IBM computers. Then I checked the "Consultants Conference" and found
the people listed there! Going further, I checked profile, and members on
the Source - guess what - I picked Mike Greenly and Steve Gibson - whose
association has opened a new world for me.

We put up a document - they commented - I revised - they revised -
and over time it was done. A complete project, the hiring of two
consultants, meaningful results and profits for them - and we had never
met face to face.

LC: Have you used the medium in setting up your new system?

PM: In establishing Parti on NSI [Phil is currently President of NSI]-
there was a single meeting with Sherwin in early February (or late
January). From that meeting we used Parti on another service to do all
the work needed to bring the capability to NSI. Competitive analysis,
pricing analysis and proposals, engineering issues, staffing issues,
contract terms and conditions and negotiation - all these were done before
the next person to person meeting. Between early February and April 6 -
the date of the opening of the system to a select group of users - only
one additional meeting was held - Parti actually was the tool to create
another Parti at NSI.

I think that is a fantastic statement about the power and utility of
this medium!

LC: Many business folks use data bases already. What's going to woo them
over to conferencing?

PM: Conference capability and databases are simply a point of convenience.
Why go one place for stock quotes and investment information - and
another to discuss what you learn? It is part of a well rounded system
that recognizes that effective communication and information consumption
is a multi-sourced phenomenon - it addresses a real need once the barriers
of overcoming change have been surpassed.

As far as interacting is concerned - business people are interested
in interacting - about topics they find interesting, profitable, relevant
to their lives and so on. Just like people who interact for social
reasons, they congregate around topics that are germain to their lives and
needs. I believe that in business the interaction goes on - but is
shielded from view by private conference structures. Just because it
isn't public it doesn't mean that it isn't there.

LC: What are the current obstacles to expanded use of CC in business?

PM: Obstacles to use are principally education. Conferencing can be
executed by the secretary on behalf of a "boss" - the executive does not
have to be the one to interface with the technology - though I think it is
more effective if they do. Typing problems and the inborn shyness of many
people are barriers - but I think that the shy barrier is greater than the
typing barrier. I have often seen people with excellent typing skills who
were nervous about "exposing themselves" online. Not because of typing -
because of - 'what will they think of me?'.

I have always believed that ease of use is a key ingredient for
acceptance of any technology. Conference interface is improving rapidly -
and will continue to do so. Things to be built into the system are things
that make the system respond the way people interact - tolerance for the
variety of ways that different people approach the same event - whether
vocabulary differences or perception.

It can be justified - in real dollars.

--

LC: The new system you are developing has the special feature of being
able to link Telex to PC conferencing. What problems do you think that
will solve for international businesses?

PM: I am not really clear on all the problems facing businesses which are
in the international arena. I can only speak from personal experience in
dealings primarily with Japan - but that is better (I suppose) than
nothing. With Japan there is a language barrier which is most prevalent
in spoken communications. As is the case with most of us who have a
second lanquage - it is far easier to read it than to converse - no matter
what language is being used. If you set aside the problems of time
differences - which are formidable - and you actually do make a phone
connection - the time it takes to convey a point speaking pigeon english,
repeating things over and over, and still getting only a percentage of the
total information into the mind of the listener is overwhelming. The
bills reflect the difficulty.

Written communciations are far more effective because:

They create a record of the event -

They completely convey the idea -

The recipient has the time to study and comprehend -

They afford the opportunity to get translation if
needed!

If all these benefits are there - why doesn't it happen more
frequently? The biggest reason is the structure you have to endure to
convey a point. The information has to be written to be transferred to a
secretary who types it on a fax form or into a telex - which has to be
proofed before transmission (removing the feeling of immediacy) - and then
it leaves your span of control to be subjected to the whims and priorities
of the mailroom who is the final link in the communication.

Nobody likes bureaucracies - and so - you pick up the phone and let
the company pay the premium charge. Even if you have to do it from your
home at weird hours!

With the telex connection that NSI offers - the PC user can put up
the communication (or ask his/her secretary to do it) under local control
- you don't have to interface with the structure of the organization. In
addition - all the benefits that we have become so dependent on accrue.
But - if there is no effective way to transmit - or retrieve - on the
other end - it goes nowhere. That is where the telex comes in. Now - the
PC can be directly connected to the telex - without the intermediate steps.

This existed before - but at premium charges that made it effective
only for person to person communications - not person to many. Linking
conferencing into the telex environment solves that problem. In addition
- the NSI system will let you look up a user by name - irrespective of
equipment type at the remote site - much better than the MCI/Compuserve
link that forces seperate directories - or the MCI link that forces
different mailing lists - categorized by PC or printed delivery which must
be separate from telex recipients.

LC: Why hasn't CC spread faster and farther already?

PM: I think that the benefits of CC haven't spread for a number of
reasons. Few business computers are equipped with modems - and if they
are - they are veiled in a mystique that says that communications is
difficult - the area of magic and mirrors. The result of electronic
communication attempts is preconceived to be frustration and time lost -
not satisfaction and time saved! Prejudice sets us up for a wary approach
to the environment - and like all humans - it is refreshing when we are
proven right because the first attempt doesn't work. Once proven right -
why take a chance on trying again!

The answer lies in education - but that is a mission that is
difficult to undertake - since few people want to pay for it. Unless there
is a (BIG) pot of gold at the end of the session few want to spend the
time either. One of the biggest barriers to profitability in the old Word
Processing industry was the need to train the operators - an need that
persisted in the face of declining prices for equipment (and declining
margins). Yet the buyers still expected free training for the operator.

This industry (CC) will probably grow similar to the way word
processing developed as an industry - user groups - or vertical markets
that derive immediate return on invested dollars and time will become the
beachheads that get written up. Slowly, awareness will build - and
interface will become simpler, until they cross to make the application of
the technology more horizontal.

LC: What applications do you think will be first to take off?

PM: There are today many intercountry industries and organizations. These
are already the early adopters o{f_ the technology. Companies like EXXON,
Coca Cola, and others. Industries like commodities (import and export),
shipping, telecommunciations, are also probably early adopters - though I
don't have data to support that statement.

The applications that will take off first are hard to predict! My
experience has been that the CC techniques are equally valuable for all
types of communications - irrespective of the end product (manufactured or
service) that is desired. Because the ability to enter the arena of CC is
dependent on equipment - it will probably be most prevalent first in the
industries that by their nature use the PC's which make communications
easier.

This means that service industries who deal with finance, investment,
etc. (spreadsheet applications), or word processing intensive industries
like consulting, research, etc., or terminal intensive applications like
programming will be the first to realize the benefits - and pioneer the
industry.

----- Author's note: The address for NSI, Inc. is 800 East Connecticut
Blvd., East Hartford, CT 06108.

LEGISLATING PRIVACY IN ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS
What Are Reasonable Expectations?

Edited by Peggy Rossing


The conference "LEAHY BILL" on Unison has generated interesting
discussion of what privacy rights merit protection by legislation such as
Senator Leahy's proposed electronic communications privacy act.

The discussion got going when a contributor expresssed concern that the
language of the Leahy bill doesn't protect small bulletin board systems
(BBS's), because there is no assurance of privacy--as most sysops can
peruse the "private mail" anytime they like. Senator Leahy said in
remarks during the introduction of his bill: "A number of tough questions
remain to be answered. Chief amongst these is whether electronic
communications systems which are not designed to protect the privacy of
the communications be carried should be afforded legal protection."

The analogy was drawn between regulation of BBS systems and copyright law
and it was suggested that legislation should put the burden on system
operators to notify their users about the level of privacy that they can
expect. Without a notice, no privacy is assured.

Defining Reasonable Expectations
================================

It was clear that we needed to discuss the situations in which a
reasonable person's expectations of privacy are infringed. For example,
on most bbs's we realize that the sysop has the ability to read our notes,
and we can't expect that he or she may or may not read them (and possibly
censor them if he or she deems it necessaary). But we would be upset if,
without our knowledge he or she could permit access to our private e-mail
to law enforcement authorities. Law enforcement authorities need a
warrant to intercept phone communications, and it was suggested that
private e-mail deserves the same protection.

It was pointed out that while Public BBS's have some qualities of mail and
the telephone, they also have some of the qualities of writing done on a
wall in public. " A contributor wondered if we should put off as long as
possible regulation of BBS's--"It's only going to lead to restrictions on
them. I prefer to have people be allowed to say dirty things on BBS's than
to have my right to say what *I* want, diminished in any way."

We identified that we were really talking about three different concepts:

1. Copyright. Who owns the words written on electronic networking
systems.

2. Censorship. The right to control -what- is written.

3. Security. The right to decide who reads what you write.

A contributor related that during an online class he taught in Telelaw, he
found that people didn't really expect any kind of privacy on a BBS
system-- but they did expect not to have their message traffic
"intercepted" without their approval, or without some kind of legal
justification.

BBS's and Supermarkets
======================

The argument against privacy on BBS's might go like this: A person
leaving a note labeled "private" on a supermarket bulletin board does not
expect the government to prosecute a shopper who reads the note without
permission, and would not require the local police to get search warrant
to read it.

The next analogy posed was the SuperBowl. "You see an old friend sitting
60 feet away. You want to send her a note. You pull out your trusty
notepad, pen your missive, fold it, put your friends name on it with the
word "PRIVATE" writ in large letters. You pass it to your seatmate and
ask that he send it down the line. Before it reaches its destination it's
read by 20 people. Infuriated you call the stadium gendarmes. You demand
they turn the 20 offenders over to the cops. They ask how much you've had
to drink..... [This could be seen as an analog anology to FIDO or UUCP
mail]"

[In FIDO mail, a message posted on a local BBS is passed along a chain of
local FIDO systems until it reaches its destination.]

Are supermarket bulletins relevant to electronic mail? A contributor said
"For one thing, there is no implied privacy on the market's bulletin
board. No section that says 'Private messages go here. (Please fold in
half).' Likewise, the police, could 'raid' the board, taking down any
notes they chose."

For a public BBS, the fact that you don't have to be some special breed of
cat to join is what makes it public. Like the post office. It's a public
place--you can enter any post office you choose." But the post office
contains PRIVATE boxes. "Open one of those boxes, in a public building,
one that doesn't belong to you, and you're in big trouble." The same
should be true for public BBS's with private "mailboxes." However anyone
who uses UUCP or FIDO should know that those messages are transfered
through so many hands, it's going to get "read' somewhere.

Another contributor raised issues of technology: "It is obvious that
unless a message system (electronic public or private) stores the messages
in an encrypted format the people who programmed and maintain the system
have the ability to read the messages. Even in some encryption systems
the maintainer might have a generic key if he really wanted to read what
was there." I believe that any system that claims to have a "mail" system
that allows private messages also has the responsibility of ensuring that
both other users and employees do not access private mail not addressed to
them."

Zone of Privacy
===============

I agree that the expectation of privacy in the supermarket notice board is
next to nothing. The same goes for your expectation of privacy should you
desire to make love on a public beach--and neither privacy expectation is
protected by law. However, most people believe that what they do in
their own homes should be free from government interference. This "zone
of privacy" concept has led the courts to strike down restrictive birth
control laws, and the "zone of privacy" also applies to search and
seizure. There are also cases about eavesdropping, whether you are
protected in a phone booth, at home, at places of business etc.

We also pointed out that U.S. mail was protected by law. According to a
contributor, "the government has 2 levels of mail monitoring, both of
which require court supervision and approval. The government can apply
for either a 'mail cover' [where they track traffic patterns] or a full
inspection of one's incoming and outgoing mail."

Remedies for Intrusion
======================

We also considered remedies:

"I see the main protection against federal intrusion coming, in practice,
from civil rather than criminal sanctions. Ideally legislation should set
a minimum level for damages, ($ 10,000?) for governmental breach of
privacy."

The point was raised that because there have been no publicized court
cases on "bbs snooping", law enforcement authorities at present would have
a "good faith" defense to any lawsuit brought for violation of civil
privacy rights.

A contributor pointed out that we need to be concerned with international
security of electronic communications. "The NSA has admitted in
Congressional testimony to intercepting virtually all international
communications."

A question was raised about warrants: How specific do they have to be?
On a system such as UNISON, could the authorities ask for an entire back
up tape? "If so would they be able to act (legally) on information
obtained by scanning though this other information when they had no idea
of what they might find?"


The problems with legislating electronic privacy were summed up in this
comment: "What the heck is the definition of privacy as it relates to
electronic speech? (Answer: no one knows) Freedom of Speech: What can be
said in an electronic forum? Not anything you like, according to one
Senator I know. Protection: Just what the heck does that mean? Obviously,
it means different things in different parts of this medium?! That's just
crazy. Why should something I write (say) in one forum, be protected and
not in another?"

-------------------------

In order to play a key role in developing legislation that respects the
privacy rights of electronic network users, the ENA must continue this
discussion. We should develop principles promoting free expression and
the same protection from governmental interception of communication
afforded more traditional forms of communication. If you have special
expertise in this area, you are especially invited to join our conference
"Leahy Bill" on UNISON, or to convey your thoughts to us along the
networks.

----- Author's note: Peg Rossing is an attorney who remembers a little
about First Amendment law from her Constitutional Law class. She has just
agreed to be Telelaw Editor for NETWEAVER, and wants anyone with access to
current developments in "telelaw" to get in touch with her! She can be
reached as PeggyR or Peg Rossing on Unison.

CONFERENCING WITHOUT A COMPUTER
by Stan Pokras


Towards the later part of the last century, around the time that the
telephone was being invented, hobbyists who owned their own printing
presses and who had been exchanging printed material with each other
through the mail, decided that it would be simpler to mail their work to
one central person who would collate it and mail to each contributor a
package containing one copy of each contribution.

I first learned of this technique in 1981, when a free-spirited young man
named Paul Angel came to Philadelphia to write an article for the
newsletter which I occasionally publish called OTHER NETWORKS.

According to Paul's article the earliest of what I understand to be
asynchronous communications became known as the United Amateur Press
Association (UAPA) somewhere around 1870.

"By the 1920's" Paul wrote, "this and other "apas" had evolved into forums
for conversation. H.P. Lovecraft, the horror-fantasy writer, belonged to
an apa in the 20's. When science fiction fandom began in the 1930's, fans
who were members of the "mundane" apas spread the idea. SF fans spread the
idea so well that South of the Moon (SOTM), the index of apas within
sicence fiction fandom now lists more than 70 apas."

Paul had been active in at least one science fiction apa, and had begun
his own, DAPA, in Denver and an apa for his friends interested in Anarchy.
(Paul being a political and social anarchist).

Paul's article went on to describe the quality of communications he found
most exciting in his apas: diverse topic possibilities, dialectic (which
he dubbed "multilectic") and the juxtaposition of many different points of
view. He loved the constant flux of of interweaving comments - which he
saw as useful in helping people become more tolerant and understanding of
diversity.

Paul coined the term "Multilogue" which he felt better described the
process and would be a better generic name for this sort of exchange.

He also described how this form of interaction was being accomplished now,
with the use of copy machines instead of printing presses. The access to
this new copy machine technology had made it possible for anyone who lives
near a copy center to create their own conference by offering to do the
monthly photocopy work and mailing for the group.

Naturally issues in conference moderation are very much the same in the
paper multilogue form as we understand them to be in computer conferences!
People may be timid perhaps at first. Some people can't manage the idea of
a once-a-month mailing. For some it's too slow, for others it's too often!

Only certain people have the patience it takes to interact via typed pages
and their handwriting may not reproduce well... Here I'm referring to the
idea that lead me to introduce this topic in the first place. Even paper
conferencing will leave some people out in the cold. Long mailing
distances can affect paper conferences by takeing two or more months for a
letter to come to the U.S. from distant or backward countries. And clear
photo copying means clear originals, some people can't produce an easy to
read page. Handicapped people for instance, or people who write in
different languages. Even this simple technology leaves out some people.

But I'm getting a little ahead of myself.

At about the same time that Paul came to Philadelphia, I learned that a
woman named Ann Weiser had begun a writing group that she called a
"many-to-many" (possibly having heard the term while using EIES where
Harry Stevens was busily working on his development of Participate, then
called "Topics," with Peter and Trudy Johnson-Lenz - Parti on The Source
was first introduced in June of 1982).

Ann had met the futurist Robert Theobald at a World Future Society
conference in Toronto in 1980 and brought her experience as a member of a
science fiction apa to bear on the problem of how to stay in touch with
Bob and the other people she had met at the conference. This was the
begining of the first of now over a dozen such groups which are
flourishing around Bob's work and are associated with his Action Linkage
organization.

I was invited to join the second "many-to-many" that Ann started. It's
purpose was to act as an exchange among people working on issues in
regional and local social transformation. This very same many-to-many is
still circulating, haveing never missed a monthly mailing since it's
beginning in March of 1981. Many people have taken turns being the central
editor of this group. It's had names come and go. At one point I had
dubbed it the "Link to love" after a conference topic which was supposed
to be a collective book authoring project on Delphi, where I had my first
electronic communication experience. It is now called simply the "General"
many-to-many. Some of the people in this group were among it's original
inhabitants.

As the idea seemed useful to Theobalds work, he bagan to talk about the
many-to-manys in his speeches and write about them in his mailings to
members of Action Linkage. New topics were born such as the discussion on
government which is lead by the Lieutenant Governor of Iowa, and the
planning and theory group called the "Strategy many-to-many" which
Theobald himself leads. The Action Linkage organization recently held it's
first "Face-to-face" meeting in Arizona, reminding me to some extent of
the beginings of the ENA in New York last April.

As a result of this face-to-face, several people in Action Linkage will
soon be joining us here on Unison. My own paper based many-to-many called
the "Action Linkage COMPUTER Multilogue" will be used to help others who
are now in the grey area between owning a computer and getting themselves
connected to others via a modem to join us here in the high speed
conference world.

Many of these people see the step of going on-line as being out of their
budgetary reach. Hopefully this will prove less of a barrier in the future
than it has to date. Other people in the COMPUTER Multilogue do not have
a Telenet node in their local calling area. This adds to the cost, and
makes their participation on-line less likely.

Those who *do* come online will already be exprienced with asynchronous
communication and the process of exchaging ideas on a regular basis
because what they are doing is really computer conferencing - without a
computer!

CONFERENCING AND CORPORATE HIERARCHIES
by Carolyn Clock-Allen


In my estimation this medium does not have any unique tendency to flatten
any corporate (or otherwise) hierarchy. Following are my reasons.

Fairly recently I read about something called the
"Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen" paradox in physics. This concerns a condition
where two particles, once connected, when separated-- even by half a world
or more--if something acts on one particle the OTHER particle experiences
the SAME action so quickly that the speed is described as the "speed of
thought." There is a phenomenon amongst human beings that I believe most
of you have experienced at one time or another. That is, where you meet
someone you've never seen, heard, or had any direct or indirect contact
with before, and the two of you seem to form a common bond; you
communicate more easily and effectively and you almost feel as if you
somehow "know" that person.

Let us suppose that in fact there are a finite number of entities in the
universe (or were) and all life is merely permutations of those finite
entities, infinitely combining and re-combining. And at any given time of
the "n" billion people on our planet (I just realized I don't know for
sure how many of us there are--aren't' there almost 2 billion Chinese
alone? Oh well, I'll stick with "n"); some subset--n(sub n)?--form, with
you, the scattered pieces of a one-time "whole." And when you chance upon
one of your own "missing pieces" this accounts for that feeling of a
common bond between people with no immediate history of any commonality.

Now, the trouble is, you (nor anyone) can't climb on a platform in the
middle of the "World Commons" and call for all those who, with you, form
the missing pieces of a former whole. It just doesn't work that way. These
encounters are invariably by chance. Naturally the more, different, people
you see or hear or meet directly in your lifetime, the greater the chances
of finding one or more of those "missing pieces."

If I may borrow a term [ %-) ] these "missing pieces" comprise a "natural
network" with established "lines" of communication. The problem is that
each piece of this network does not know of the existance, or the
whereabouts, of the other pieces. Unless, like I said, two or more pieces
meet, by chance. When they do, in fact, the resulting "groupings" can be
very powerful ones indeed. These missing pieces are a classic example of
something where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

What's important to understand is that ANYTHING--*ANYTHING*-- that changes
the normal contact points of ANY group of people obviously increases the
odds for a chance meeting and subsequent grouping of two or more "missing
pieces" of a natural network. Do you see what I mean?

Telephones did this when they were first coming into common use. If a
company had two small offices and combined them into one, the same effect
could follow. When plane travel made it easy for dispersed groups of
people (corporate offices or whatever) to get together, even infrequently,
this had the same effect. And yes, computer conferencing, especially being
NEW will have the same effect--or the same TENDENCY. It changes the
POTENTIAL communication possibilities and increases the tendency for
"missing pieces" to FIND each other, forming powerful groupings which CAN
in turn affect not so much the corporate structure (I'll come back to that
in a minute) but certainly internal focus and the positions of certain
individuals within that structure.

BUT this is NOT due to something inherent in the communication medium
itself.

However--people's PERCEPTIONS are another matter. By their very nature
people tend to resist change; they are also inclined to believe WHAT
THEY'RE TOLD.

Does anyone remember the recent bally-hoo over "math anxiety?" Actually
this was a result of a bally-hoo over "computer phobia." When I changed
the Market Opinion typing pool over to word processors I was really
grateful that none of these things had "come out" yet. Those women made
the switch easily, with no diminished productivity, and no stress or
anxiety. There wasn't TIME for any of that, and I'm convinced they didn't
get upset because A) *I* wasn't upset, and B) they didn't know they SHOULD
be.

I suppose there may be real people who really suffer from "math anxiety,"
but I'm more inclined to believe that the amount of "math anxiety" that
appeared after the media gave it so much attention was nothing more than
yet another example of a media generated mass psychosomatic social
disorder.

Even when SOMETHING affects a change in some groups normal communication
routines, which MAY result in some changes in the corporate structure,
this STILL is not even CLOSE to a "flattening" effect. Individuals may
find their position changed; focus in a company may change (one group
becomes a little more powerful); a new group could get tacked on
somewhere. But the hierarchy itself won't be "flattened."

With computer conferencing, like ANY medium, there will be some people who
show a natural ability. In SOME settings this actually could have a
negative effect on the person involved. Other people resent the change in
the first place; and when someone "lower" than themselves in the structure
shows real promise with this new medium that in itself can cause jealousy
and backlash.

I also believe that many older corporations have hierarchies that are
literally cast in stone and almost NOTHING affects their internal
processes--including the display of unusual talents, in this medium or any
other.

Plus, when I've seen computer conferencing implemented in larger companies
it is often done so on a "group" level; that is, all the sales reps will
be lumped together in a conference. This in particular makes some sense
because it's wise to try to link up those internal groups which are in
need of some group communication, but who, by dint of how they work, find
it almost impossible to get together regularly.

Corporations are merely "networks" of people in one sense and as such the
introduction of computer conferencing will wind up only enhancing the
already existing network.

In conclusion, I strongly believe that we, as an INDUSTRY, should work
very hard to focus attention AWAY from computer conferencing as a
potential threat to corporate hierarchies. It may indeed bring about some
changes, but it's not any more of a "threat" than any other change, or the
introduction of any other non-usual communication medium. Plus, even if it
does tend to change things it certainly doesn't "flatten" out the
hierarchy (in fact, it could strengthen it, depending on how it was used).

To continue to suggest otherwise is like cutting our own throats. Remember
what I said about media induced mass pschosomatic social disorders.

Also important is the fact that although I am amused by my "missing
pieces" theory it is totally irrelevant. The PROCESS works, AS DESCRIBED.
WHY it works that way (which my "theory" addresses) doesn't REALLY matter,
here and now.


----- Author's note: Carolyn Clock-Allen whose alter ego (or rather her
id) is Dr Plum, introduced herself on the International Commons this way:

"This Carolyn Clock Allen business is just a front. I was, and still am,
known as Dr. Neon Plum. Actually, I *am* Dr. Plum. Dr. Plum was the
founder of the Mad Dog 40/40 Memorial Bar and Tattoo Parlour, and is a
21st Century snake-oil salesperson and traveling savant (not idiot, thank
you)... "I've been doing THIS (pointing to the surrounding electronic
arena) for the past nine years..."

For those who may not know , the Mad Dog 40/40 Memorial Bar and
Tattoo Parlour is part of a world which exists beyond space and time on
Confer II. You get there from Michigan but that's like saying that OZ is
near Kansas.

EXCELLENCE NETWORKS
by Frank Burns and Lisa Kimball


EXCELLENCE NETWORKS
===================

Our intention in this paper is to outline the basic understandings _many_
of us have accumulated about the role of networks in enhancing traditional
organizations.

The idea was to construct a new way of succinctly presenting these
ideas--in text and picture--and to link these conclusions to prevailing
popular notions about organizational productivity and excellence.

Though cryptic in this abbreviated, high-chunked form... the beauty of
crunching so much thinking into _just_ nine statements (and accompanying
ASCII graphics) is that now *all of us* can use this structure for many
purposes:

- an outline for a luncheon speech;
- an agenda for a workshop or seminar;
- an outline for an article;
- a table of contents for a book,...

Well,... you'll see what i mean.

----- Author's note: Frank Burns is the founder of Metasystems Design
Group (MDG) and Lisa Kimball is one of the MDG crew, suite 103, 2000 North 15th Street, Arlington, VA 22201.

INTRODUCTION TO EXCELLENCE NETWORKS
by Jill Herndon


Lisa Kimball asked me to write an introduction to Lisa and Frank Burn's new slide
series, for their first U.S. publication, here in NETWEAVER. These nine
easy pieces were published in Tokyo in April. I have to say that I'm
delighted to do so, and here's why.

Part of the context out of which these slides have been created is our
home computer conference the Meta Network. The purpose of the Meta Network
is "To bridge the gap between the human condition and the human
potential." From this starting point there is as you can well imagine, a
lot of sitting around the firescreen talking about human potential, about
the identification and uses of new technologies as catalysts and for the
expansion of the possibilities in being human, and about how to achieve
and maintain peak performance. The members' social action bias focuses the
conversation macrocosmically: how do WE create new socio-technical systems
to close the gap? How do we make "it" simple enough for the planet to get
"it" FAST!

On-line earlier this month Frank was planning out loud to join Izumi Aizu
for the opening of Izumi's Institute for Networking Design in Tokyo. So we
were thinking: "What do we take to Tokyo? And then New York City? And
then... ? And, can we say it in a "release" that will hold its meaning as
it moves across cultures, across time ? Could Frank draw it so that the
"release" has the linguistic power to create changes as it is seen, to
re-engineer how we already have it sorted ? And so that no more than five
words need "translation" ?

We have shaped our world in words. Could Frank re-architect the linguistic
distinctions that are commonly being made: could he explode us into new
thought forms? Could he open up the system of thought in which people
commonly talk about techology, human potential and high performance? Could
he create uncommon spaces to seduce/evoke/provoke us to see new places to
language? Could he draw us into the eye in the pyramid and kaleidoscope
our sight? Visuals with trip value. Values with trip visuals.

By George, I think they've got it!

----- Author's note: Jill Herndon is a founding member of the Federal
Training Excellence Network (FTEN), a catalyst for the introduction of
technology at the Food and Nutrition Service of the U.S. Department of
Agriculture where she works, and is currently participating in an
internship program with Metasystems Design Group.

GEOGRAPHY, MEDIA, AND GROUP FUNCTION

by Darrell Icenogle


Let us begin by defining "community" as any group of individuals with a a)
a common bond of acquaintance, purpose, and/or interest, and b) channels
of communication and transaction which might permit this bond to be
strengthened. Communities can be local/regional, or their memberships may
be geographically dispersed.

In the age of information and telecommunications, what factors impinge on
a community's ability to function and thrive? Certainly the strength of
the original bond--the raison d'etre of the community--may prove infirm,
over time, e.g. a hula hoop club; but our purpose here is to examine the
importance of geography and the available means of transaction and
communication.

For communities to function, avenues of communication must exist which are
informal, iterative, and sufficiently inexpensive relative to the income
range of the group and the strength of its common bond. Face-to-face
communication is the traditional glue of community. What of other media?
Has communications technology come far enough such that "geographically
dispersed community" may no longer be a contradiction of terms?

What follows is an analysis of some of the dimensions of communication and
community on which the answers may depend.


EXPLANATIONS OF SELECTED CRITERIA
=================================

ITERATION
=========

Iteration refers to the number of turns a communicator can take in a given
period of time. High iteration is very important to a number of
communications tasks. For example:

Introductions:
Two people meeting each other for the
first time will share a lot of
information very quickly to find out
what they have in common, values and
personality factors, and other things
that might determine whether there is a
basis for a continuing discussion or a
future relationship.

Negotiations:
Negotiation is a turn-taking activity,
with each side presenting its case, then
listening to the other side, and so on,
until agreement is reached. Complicated
negotiations may require a high number of
iterations.

Decision-making:
Decision-making requires a dialog between
the decision-maker and others who have
relevant facts, ideas, values, and
opinions. As these elements are
introduced, the decision-maker will
frequently question the elements
presented, seeking further details or
more rigorous argument. In a group
decision-making process, the iterativity
may be even more profound.

It is easy to see that a group or community which lacks a highly iterative
medium of communication is at a severe functional disadvantage, with such
fundamental communications processes as personal introductions,
negotiations, and group decision-making potentially compromised. Recall
that the only highly-iterative medium available to a large group is the
face-to-face meeting, though the telephone may be used reasonably well in
the form of successive diadic and small group exchanges to perform some of
these tasks, as can video conferencing (if you have a large budget!).

It is also worth mentioning that self-introductions are only ONE WAY of
achieving the goals of interest-, value-, and experience-matching. It is
often useful to circulate resumes, c.v.'s, questionnaires, and other
printed materials containing relevant information, though the information
may not be entirely what a particular individual seeks to know about
another. Also, the computer has been used with great success to perform
this task (e.g. personal descriptions, interest-matching, etc.).

VISUAL REFERENCE
================

Seeing is often believing. Many people feel distrustful of communications
that exclude body language and visual cues. Also, the ability to refer to
charts, graphs, tables, etc. is crucial to many kinds of communication and
transaction.

MATERIAL TRANSACTION
====================

Some groups may find that verbal communication is sufficient to sustain
community, while many others are based on the exchange of goods and
services. The "goods and services" may themselves involve the exchange of
textual products; then again they may not. A print medium provides for the
transportation of printed materials; the mail system provides for the
transportation of other items of limited size, with limited efficiency.
Since we don't yet have "teleporters", groups which need greater
flexibility or efficiency in tranporting material goods must rely on
f-t-f transactions. That is why we still have places of work, retail
stores, swap meets, and comic book conventions.

Again, computers can be of significant advantage to processes of material
transaction:

- Computers can connect buyer with seller, and those in need of a
service with those who perform it

- Computers can provide objective sources of information to both the
buyer (comparative prices, product/service reviews, etc.) and the seller
(comparative prices, credit reports, etc.)

- Computers can facilitate bartering systems, informal exchanges,
lend/lease arrangements, etc.

- Computers can record contracts, provide receipts, compute tax
information, etc.

- Computers can be used to organize groups for group/quantity
discounts

- Computers can deliver directly any good or service which is
reducible to text or data

- Computers can potentially expedite the production, sale, and
delivery of any goods or services that INCLUDE text or data as a
fundamental component (e.g. books, software, consulting,
education/training, etc.)

It is easy to see why the term "community" most often refers to a group of
people in a relatively small geographic region, since material transaction
("lend me your lawnmower?") is traditionally an important aspect of
community. However, in the age of the "global village", we see the term
used in non- geographic domains (e.g. "professional" communities) with new
technologies for communication and transaction.

Continuing our list of dimensions important to communication and community:

GAMESMANSHIP
============

Face-to-face communication, particularly in a group setting, is subject to
manipulation by those most adept at "playing the game." This game consists
of complex protocols and interpersonal skills that determine who gets a
turn to speak, how long a speaker is permitted to continue, and how much
weight is given to what is said. This game sometimes facilitates, but
often impedes, satisfactory communications outcomes.

Certainly this medium is also subject to gamesmanship and manipulation,
but it is a DIFFERENT GAME involving different skills and protocols,
offering new opportunities to be heard to those who are less adept in
face-to-face situations e.g. time or length limit; a statement can be
edited to improve its force or clarity; a person's sex, race, physical
handicap, etc. may have no bearing; and everyone's print is the same size.

ASYNCHRONOUS
============

Any medium which permits communication without requiring the participants
to be present at a particular time is said to be "asynchronous."
Asynchronicity can be a powerful tool in solving scheduling problems.
Also, because participants choose their own times to communicate, they are
more likely to have their minds fully on the communications process,
speaking more clearly and listening more attentively.

OVERLOAD
========

Overload simply refers to a communications log-jam, where the information
is coming in at a rate faster than it is being processed. There are two
principal reasons for overload:

1. The rate of reception is too high.

2. The rate of processing is too low.

One often hears that, in the information age, there is "too much"
information. This is nonsense. The existence of information can only be
beneficial. If the information is coming in faster than our ability to
process it, we must look at our processing mechanism.

Any processing mechanism which requires that an individual READ all or a
major part of the information to determine its subject, purpose, and/or
priority, is inefficient. Any mechanism which "pre-sorts" incoming
information according to its subject, purpose, and/or priority can
substantially alleviate or eliminate problems of information overload.

Mail and electronic mail are subject to overload since they funnel all
communications through a single channel (the "in basket"), as does the
telephone. Receiving-end screening mechanisms are themselves subject to
overload.

Computer conferencing, on the other hand, forces or encourages the sender
to categorize a communication by purpose, subject, and/or priority, and
permits the receiver to receive only information which meets related
criteria. That which is determined to be important can be separated from
that which is not in an efficient manner.

Data bases containing text and information (of which the computer
conference is but one example) may offer even greater capabilities to
search a large body of information for that which is relevant to a tightly
defined set of criteria.

*******

The following chart attempts to differentiate a number of media which are
commonly used or proposed in business and education on the basis of the
above criteria:

MEDIUM STRENGTHS WEAKNESSES

Face-to High iteration, maximum No record, scheduling,
-face visual reference and turn-taking, inexact,
("f-t-f") material transaction, gamesmanship
personal, no special
skills

Telephone Inexpensive, high No record, scheduling,
(One-to- iteration, personal, turn-taking, inexact, no
one) low intimidation, no visual reference, no
special skills material transaction,
limited participation,
overload

Conference Relatively inexpensive, No record, scheduling,
Call medium iteration, turn taking, inexact, no
multiple participants, visual reference,
no special skills misunderstandings, no
material transaction

Memo/ Precise, personal, Low iteration, slow,
letter leaves record, inefficient, in-basket
visual reference, overload, typing skills
asynchronous, some
material transaction,
multiple participants

Voice Personal, asynchronous, Poor record, inexact, no
Mail medium iteration, no visual reference, no
special skills material transaction

Video Medium iteration, visual Expensive, scheduling,
Conference reference turn-taking, games-
manship, no material
transaction, intimidation

Electronic More iterative and Less iterative and slower
Mail efficient than mail, than phone, not suitable
personal, leaves record, for extended group
some visual reference, in-basket overload,
some material typing/computer skills
communication, multiple
participants

Computer More iterative and Less iterative and slower
Conference efficient than mail, than phone, overload,
asynchronous, suitable intimidation,
for extended group typing/computer skills
communication, leaves skills, less material
best record, precise, transaction than f-t-f
can't be lost, some
visual reference

OTHER CHANNELS
==============

In a local or regional geographic setting, group f-t-f meetings are
certainly more feasible than if participants are geographically dispersed.
Also, under special circumstances, broadcast media such as television,
ITFS, community access TV, and radio might be used at low to moderate
expense to facilitate group function, whereas these channels are
prohibitively expensive for most geographically dispersed groups.

----- Author's note: Darrell Icenogle is best known for his work on
telecom software first used in the Western Behavioral Sciences Institute's
online executive training program. The program (called ONION and then
PASSKEY) automatically signs you on to a conferencing system, collects all
your notes and messages, appends the material to the appropriate file,
sends material you have composed and addressed offline to all the right
places, and signs you off again. He also has extensive conferencing
training experience and is currently working with Jessica and Jeffrey
Lipnack Stamps and Bob McAndrews on the new International Commons system
(617-965-3340).

A NEW APPROACH TO OFFICE AUTOMATION - TOP DOWN
by Bennett Landsman

PURPOSE
*******

OFFICE AUTOMATION APPROACH
==========================

This article describes what I believe to be a rational approach in
implementing an Office Information System considering what is available
today. It also states what is backwards about the usual approach to
implementing such systems. The article defines a top down approach to OIS
implementation that makes the involement of executives in messaging and
conferencing a natural part of the process. It concludes with a projected
scenario for implementation of these technologies within New Jersey State
Government.

WHAT ARE WE TRYING TO DO?
=========================

Traditional office automation or office information systems stress putting
workstations geared primarily towards word processing on secretarial
desks. Look at your office expenses in terms of salary. Then ask why are
we trying to increase the effectiveness of normally the lowest paid class
of employee first?

PATH OF LEAST RESISTANCE
========================

I contend we have all taken the path of least resistance. Most of us had
either dedicated word processing equipments normally grouped together in
what used to be a typing pool (we simply called it a word processing
center). When the software primarily geared towards word processing on
shared logic systems became available we all saw it as an easy migration
path to distributed word processing. Messaging and document transfer were
nice features that were thrown in on some systems for no additional cost.
Most end users didn't use them.

DOING IT BACKWARDS
==================

I contend that we should attack increasing office effectiveness through a
combination of traditional cost benefit analysis and plain common sense.
Based on that criteria we should look at ways to increase the
effectiveness of the top executives first, then the professionals who work
for them and finally the secretaries and executive assistants.

TOP DOWN APPROACH
*****************

RATIONALE
=========

Implementing a top-down approach to Office Automation, electronic mail or
conferencing has several advantages. The people who are the first users
are the influential people in the organization. They also approve the
expenditures and provide an incentive for others in the organization to
become motivated users.

A principal disadvantage is that it is a high risk strategy. If it works,
you're a hero. If it fails, everyone knows it. The failure cannot be
contained. When you go to top management with an unproven system make sure
that everyone realizes they're part of an experiment. That's what we did
with a controlled release AT&T OIS product.

SIDE BENEFITS
=============

A side benefit of a top-down approach is that it is an easy way to expose
your top management to electronic messaging with their peers. As top
management become more comfortable with it, you can expand the system to
cover the next level down in management and add more people to the
electronic network. We now have second level management asking us when
can they get on the network. It's become a status symbol as well as
genuine desire for second level managers to become part of our office
network. They will soon be put on via their personal computers.

TIE-IN TO COMPUTER MEDIATED COMMUNICATION
=========================================

Acclimating top management of an organization to electronic messaging
makes an evolution to conferencing a natural progression. In their minds
you simply expand the concept of messaging to include a permanent
distribution list and a "permanent" message repository . When you add
retrieval capabilities to the message database they become hooked on the
medium.

KEY FACTORS
***********

HOW IS SYSTEM TO BE DRIVEN
==========================

My contention is that you have to determine before you put in an Office
Automation system how the system is to be driven or prioritized. I
characterize Office Automation systems as either


being executive top down driven, secretarial word processing driven,
personal computer driven or data processing driven. We have many personal
computers users who want to use an OIS for messaging and calendaring, but
prefer (at this point in time) to do their word processing,
spreadsheeting, graphics and database activities on their PC's. They will
be hooked into the system with OIS and terminal emulation software running
on their personal computers.

Although most installations eventually have to accomodate all of the four
types of "driven" orientations, you should be clear about the relative
priority order. Our AT&T installation was top down followed by secretarial
and then personal computer driven. Data processing activities on the OIS
have the lowest priority.

A WORKSTATION FOR EVERY USER
============================

Every Office Automation system you consider should have workstations for
all types of users. A telephone type executive workstation, a workstation
oriented towards word processing, the capability of using an existing
personal computer as part of the Office Information System network and a
workstation that was suitable for data processing development should be
available for any OIS you are considering. These need not be separate
workstations. For example, the telephone terminal(i.e.,executive
workstation) has proven invaluable in getting top executives to accept an
Office Automation system especially those who wanted no parts of a
personal computer in their office.

DEFINE APPLICATION WHERE POSSIBLE
=================================

Messaging has really taken hold among our top executives. The top man's
executive assistant told me that she will not even walk 100 feet to
someone's office until she checks his calendar on the system to see if
he's free. Our statistics bear out the fact that messaging followed by
calendaring and viewing others calendar's is the top activity among the
executives using our office system.

You can install an Office Automation system on the basis of an argument
for increased productivity. However your management will not have a gut
feeling for the advantages until they experience the system themselves.
When you can propose a solution to a problem and simply use the system to
alleviate the problem you will find it easier to establish an Office
System beachhead.

FUTURES
*******

OFFICE INFORMATION SYSTEM MESSAGING X.400
=========================================

I believe that the bulk of messaging and conferencing within New Jersey
State Governmental agencies will take place within each agency. Individual
Office Information Systems will eventually handle the vast majority of
messaging activities. The key is systems from different vendors
communicating messages through use of the X.400 protocols. When that
happens, generalized messaging systems like MCI, Source, Dialcom, etc.
will be like the long distance phone services providing interconnects
between the local central offices.

OFFICE INFORMATION SYSTEM CONFERENCING
======================================

Another trend I see is the inclusion of electronic conferencing functions
within localized Office Information Systems. This will evolve to embrace
generalized conferencing systems like EIES 2, Participate,etc. acting as
interconnects for users of the individual Office Information System
conferencing and messaging functions. A centralized conferencing system
will also be needed to allow people who do not have access to a local
Office Information System conferencing function to participate in
conferencing.

DISTRIBUTED LEVELS OF CMC
=========================

These distributed levels of electronic conferencing will only be come
possible when directory (probably close) and conferencing standards
(further away)are not only promulgated but implemented. X.400 messaging
standard systems may be widespread within two years, but conferencing may
be three to five years out in a practical sense.

----- Author's note: Bennett Landsman is an Assistant Director for Office
Systems for the Office of Telecommunications and Information Systems for
the State Government of New Jersey. He is the primary State contact on the
EIES 2 project. He also runs two large microcomputer user groups. One is
the State Microcomputer government Users Group (SMUG) and the other is the
Philadephia Area IBM PC group.

DIGITAL EQUIPMENT CORPORATION:
Profile of a Networked Corporation

by Tom Sherman and Barbara Harrison

The world-wide business community is focusing more and more on electronic
networking as a way to improve production, service and profits. Corporate
interest in management creativity and networking makes headlines in the
business press. _Business Week_ reports, "the era of information networks
promises spectacular gains in the usefulness of computers."

The Electronic Networking Association recognizes that it has a role to
play in these developments. Susanna Opper, a telecommunications consultant
who specializes in implementing electronic networking in organizations,
was instrumental in creating the ENA Business Cluster. She reports: "We
plan to help corporations successfully install electronic networking. We
are considering business-related articles, educational seminars and
special reports. Also a meeting place for entrepreneurs, the Business
Cluster may develop corporate memberships in ENA, with special benefits to
those businesses which support our non-profit organization."

We hope that this will be the first in a series of profiles of companies
which support ENA and have an interest in electronic networking.

*****

For almost a decade, [DEC] founder and President
Kenneth Olsen has been preaching that there's more to
the computer business than building machines. Olsen
insisted that large corporations needed to link
computer systems into networks . . . .

At last people are listening. DEC has emerged as the
leading installer of computer networks within office
buildings: It linked 173,000 computers and peripherals
together in 1985 . . . .

_Business Week_
April 21, 1986

Digital Equipment Corporation describes itself as "a pioneer in the
architectural design and manufacture of networked computing systems and
associated peripheral equipment, and a leader in systems integration with
its networks, communications and software products."

For 26 years, DEC's goal has been to support the way people and
organizations work by designing fast, interactive computers which can be
used for most any application. Recognizing the need to share information
and workload, DEC introduced the idea of distributed computing--sharing
the data and resources of a few or many minicomputers using networking.

The company prides itself on its ability to integrate desktop,
departmental, and data center computers (its own and those of others) into
high-speed, unified, easy-to-use networks. For example, Digital and the
University System of New Hampshire have agreed to create one of the most
advanced integrated computer networks in higher education. This project
will help to fulfill the administrative, academic and research computer
needs of students, faculty and administrative staffs throughout the USNH
five campus locations. Similar campus programs have been announced with
Brandeis University, Johns Hopkins, University of Pennsylvania, and the
University of Houston.

DEC's own internal computer network, Easynet is the largest private data
network in the world and is growing rapidly. It has doubled in size over
the past year and now more than 50,000 employees use Easynet to
communicate with one another worldwide.

STYLES OF COMPUTING
===================

NETWEAVER readers might enjoy finding themselves in DEC's analysis of the
different ways in which their customers use computers. This strategic
analysis identifies four styles:

* The Desktop Style Desktop system for single/
multi-user

* The Team Style Small to medium scale multi-
user systems

* The Department Style Multiple high-performance
Workstation and desktop computers with
Local Area Network multiple, shared resource
servers

* The Organizational Style Medium to large-scale computer
High End and Clusters systems providing easily
available extensible database and
computing capabilities.

DEC's own "distributed computing style" involves hard/software permitting
customers to make full use of all computing resources across multiple
computer systems,local and global, with the same or different "styles of
computing." Ideally, these connections effectively and efficiently meet
the needs of all DEC's custom- ers--large and small, end user and third
party.

And what does that mean to you? Well, just take a look at some of the
Worksystem family of products developed and used in the Departmental Style
of computing. (Don't drool on your keyboard if you can help it.)

The Worksystems Engineering Group (led by Steve Teicher, who also
engineered DEC's contribution to ENA) has extended the VAX family 32-bit
hard/software into a group of workstations, which incorporate command
language features and performance of larger VAX computers and clusters
into desktop microcomputers designed to utilize the resources of the rest
of the computing environ- ment in the company through the Local Area
Network. These new VAXstations feature things like

* full networking capability (yes, even with non-Digital equipment)

* sophisticated multitasking

* graphics (including color with the recently announced VAXstation
II/GPX)

* VMS and ULTRIX

* multiwindowing (running different processes in separate windows
simultaneously)

And, you say your comm program can't store seven host addresses and log-on
commands? How about a VAXstation II/GPX that will connect you to several
computer hosts at the very same time-- in separate windows, in different
colors?

As DEC says, "These small and powerful VAXstation products represent the
achievement of the ideal in a technical workstation--a powerful, high
performance, low cost, single user workstation, and an integrated
component in a broad base computer network--fast becoming the de facto
standard in the highly competitive workstation market."

PRACTICING WHAT THEY PREACH
===========================

Last April, the Worksystems Engineering Group decided it needed a computer
conferencing tool which would facilitate group communications on a variety
of Worksystems projects and technical, marketing and administrative
issues, as well as complement face-to-face meetings. The Worksystems
Engineering Group was already linked to remote domestic and international
sites through Easynet. But the group needed an additional tool which would
allow them to organize and branch topics, to ensure security and
confidentiality, and to hold on-line discussions.

So, Worksystems joined other DEC groups which have installed PARTICIPATE
I. Among them are the Artificial Intelligence, Manufacturing and Finance
and Communications Marketing groups. (Other internal organizations use
PARTICIPATE II, which is licenced by Digital Classified Software.) Several
groups have reported good results and improved productivity from the
imple- mentation of computer conferencing. For instance, the Corporate
Compensation and Benefits Group found computer conferencing to be the
answer to many of their complex communication needs. Today, the
Worksystems Engineering Group is looking at different ways to enhance
their computer conferencing abilities by integrating Easynet features into
its computer conferencing software.

In the words of Steve Teicher, "Computer conferencing is a technology that
we believe will foster and enhance communications between us and bring us
closer together as individuals and colleagues, with improved
understanding, clarity and productivity."

----- Author's note: Tom Sherman is a communications consultant and
writer. Assistant Sysop of the Non-Profit Connection on GEnie, he also
works with non-profit organizations on planning, managment and
fund-raising.

Barbara Harrison, Engineering Operations Analyst in DEC's Worksystems
Engineering Group, is an active member of the ENA Business Cluster.

1985 COMPUTER PRESS ASSOCIATION AWARDS:
"NETWEAVER" Recognition

by Mike Greenly


((As some of you know, I'm presently covering the "Spring Comdex" show
exclusively for NSI--for worldwide distribution via Telex and computer
conferencing.

However NETWEAVER belongs to *all* of us on every system, and
NSI--graciously and instantly--gave permission for this account of
NETWEAVER's award to be ported ANYWHERE.)

*****

"What do you think?" a (mostly print) journalist once asked me testily.
"Do you think you have different standards because you write online?" He
asked it with a sneer, but the more I thought about it, the more I
thought: yes, actually. It *can* be different, what works best online, and
I for one am still exploring and learning.

The fact is, nonetheless, that the Computer Press Association (CPA) Awards
this year recognize both print AND online writing. Over 500 entries had
been received from writers of newspaper and magazine articles and reviews,
software documentation, and books--and printouts of online material.
Citizen America Corporation is a co-sponsor with CPA for "clear,
understandable writing" in all areas of the computer field.

This morning, at a breakfast meeting in the Omni, only yards away from the
Comdex booths themselves, about a hundred people sat at tables before the
dais. (Breakfast was strangely devoid of grits, but perhaps electrons know
no regions.)

The first award of the morning was presented for "Best Online Tutorial" to
Nancy Beckman of The Source--whom I finally met after three years of
correspondence. It was perhaps unkind of her to announce to our table that
she would have recognized *me* from the 50 photographs and the life-size
poster I sent to nudge her into promoting CHRONICLE. But I forgave her for
poking fun at my avidity, and I happily applauded her award. (The poster
was a *joke*, friends.)

When she brought back her Award, I got to study it upclose: a handsome
wooden base, from which a glittering, crystal triangle rises sturdily,
about eight inches high.

Sherwin Levinson accepted an Award certificate on behalf of Brock N. Meeks
as 2nd Runner-Up for Best Review, Column or Editorial Noncomputer
Publication. for his work in the San Diego Reader.

Then, the announcement of online awards. The CPA presenter was especially
glowing about the significance of having these awards at all, noting that
online journalism could "eventually obsolete the term 'press'" which, when
you think about it is a rather literal though nostalgic description of an
old way of producing communication.

So--In the category of BEST ONLINE PUBLICATION, the 3rd runnerup was
"Doc-in-the-Box" which is a "vertical" publication of St. Silicon's
Hospital and Information Dispensary.

The award winner was Wendy Woods, editor of Newsbytes (on The Source),
"the dominant electronic news service around." I know that Wendy and her
"bureau chiefs" work very hard on their publication, and it was good to
see the fine result recognized.

On a purely personal basis, however, I was *particularly* delighted to see
NETWEAVER win an award which, I believe, is a deserved and wonderful
affirmation of what a group of TOTAL VOLUNTEERS can achieve on the medium
they believe in and share.

Sherwin accepted the certificate and thanked NETWEAVER writers and editors
for the privilege it's been for him as a reader on Unison's Participate
conferencing system to watch the electronic magazine develop, and for the
pleasure he's enjoyed because of it. During the warm applause that
followed, I visualized the electronic masthead at the front of each
NETWEAVER issue, and felt extremely proud and happy for the people who
contribute to the special voice of a global network.

Here is the best approximation I can produce from my Model 200 of what the
Certificate looks like:



CONGRATULATIONS, NETWEAVER!!

- Mike Greenly

ENA UPDATE
by Lisa Kimball


This month the medium really *is* the message! The biggest news in ENA is
recognition of NETWEAVER by the Computer Press Association. We are VERY
proud to be the 1st Runner-up for Best Online Publication - and we'll be
seeing if we can top that next year! You can read all about it in Mike
Greenly's account in this issue. We can also announce that NETWEAVER has
been accepted by NewsNet which will make the ideas important to ENA
available to the many journalists, researchers, and businesses which
access that system.

NETWEAVER is a great example of the power of this medium. It has been a
totally collaborative effort from the moment it was named by George Por 10
months ago and has involved dozens of people from conferencing systems
world-wide. Each month, we use our online newsroom on UNISON to create,
develop, and finish the issue. The members of the NETWEAVER staff have
volunteered ideas, energy, and lots of TIME to make NETWEAVER the most
comprehensive publication about computer networking available in any
medium! There is no way such a diverse and dispersed group of people
could create these issues every month without access to a top notch
computer conferencing system.

A look at our masthead and contents over the months will give you an idea
of how many people have made significant contributions to NETWEAVER. We
want to give *special* recognition to Al Martin who designed our current
format and has been responsible for getting NETWEAVER ready for porting
each month to conferencing systems all over the world - something which
has taken many many hours of work! Stefanie Kott contributed her
expertise to develop NETWEAVER's editorial style and edited almost ALL the
copy in the 1985 issues. And the concept of NETWEAVER itself would not be
possible without all the *porters* who spend so much time taking each
issue to their home network.

A hearty THANKS to the Computer Press Association for recognizing our work!

In the past month we have been focusing on some organizational matters
within ENA. We are planning a major membership recruitment drive to add
to both our energy and financial resources. Our treasurer, Ed Yarrish,
has completed our financial report from our first year which will provide
the basis for developing our budget and plans for the next 12 months. We
also plan to seek out additional corporate support to build on what we
have already received from Digital Equipment Corporation (see box in
article 2 of this issue).

We have lots of ideas! Now we really need the support of all those with
an interest in computer conferencing. If you are not already a member of
ENA, *join* now! And if there is something you think we should be doing,
let us know. Or better yet - come forward and contribute your energy to
our work.

The articles in this issue of NETWEAVER will give you an idea of our
interests and concerns.

ENJOY!