ENA UPDATE
Summaries of Activity in Communications Clusters


ENA has several Clusters which are focused on communication. Some projects are focused on communicating information about ENA itself and others are focused on reaching out to disseminate information about computer conferencing and related issues.


PUBLICATIONS CLUSTER by Catharine Vinson

"PUBLICATIONS" is a *working*, as well as a discussion-focused Cluster. It concerns itself with current ENA publications, i.e. "NETWEAVER" (Lisa Kimball, Managing Editor), special publishing projects, and future publications.

Expanding distribution of ENA publications is a prime goal, as is generation of revenues to fund the organization's current and future publishing efforts. Defining ENA's primary markets also is of prime consideration, since ENA's publications must serve these markets, as well as ENA's membership.

As the publishing arm of ENA, the Publication's Cluster has spent the first two and one-half months of it's life discussing and taking action on the following needs/goals:

1. Increase distribution of "NETWEAVER", ENA's intersystem online newsletter currently published on a monthly basis. Define target audience for NETWEAVER.

2. Produce and distribute a hardcopy edition of "NETWEAVER" as a tool to assist/compliment the Public Relations Cluster's efforts to increase awareness of ENA and benefits of membership. Hardcopy edition of NETWEAVER also is needed to meet requirements of various "electronic journalism" competitions and to have a tangible product for the Publication Cluster's efforts to increase distribution outlets for NETWEAVER and other publication efforts.

3. ENA Participation in publication of a NETGUIDE as a for- profit venture. The publication--proposed by George Por--is defined as: "a printed publication that reaches beyond the circle of converted...a market-driven, commercial publication addressing current and prospective professional and business users...the most appropriate structure for NetGuide would be a for-profit subsidiary of our non-profit association."

4. ENA TOOLBOX: Catharine Vinson suggested ENA produce a PC- DOS/MS-DOS diskette of public domain utilities of particular use to networkers. She has assembled the programs and "WRITERS TOOLBOX" has been organized as the sub-conference to *produce* the disk. Revenues from distribution/sale would revert to ENA to be used to fund/underwrite the Publication Cluster's ongoing work and projects. The Public Relations Cluster has expressed interest/support in attracting corporate funding/support for producing the disk.


INTERNETWORKING CLUSTER by Lisa Kimball

The Internetworking Cluster is involved in 3 main areas so far:

1. MAPPING: We have several ideas about different ways to map the electronic universe and have discussed:

a. creating a map of where ENA material can be found on different systems, including guidelines about porting to and from those systems

b. developing a Global Net Guide which would provide information about signing on from around the world, and the various problems, solutions, and system contacts needed to do it

2. PORTING: developing strategies for facilitating human gateways among systems, discussing policies about quoting permission and other issues, maintaining communication with ENA's porters, and finding ways to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of porting efforts. We're also concerned with funding this role and particularly with finding ways to support our international porters who have special expenses.

3. INTERNETWORKING DEVELOPMENT: identification of software and other tools which would facilitate communication among multiple systems and making our needs known to systems, software developers, and related industries (like packet switchers).


INTERMEDIA SYNERGY by George Por

In the last two months we've been discussing intermedia synergy in terms of: 1. our values; 2. definition; 3. objectives; 4. dimensions; and 5. events.

1. We began our discussion by noting that we are talking about VALUES as well as about efficiency of communication. As we get a better grasp on what it IS, we'll probably have a second look at the values on which we build the cluster.

2. We don't have yet a clear-cut DEFINITION of what *is* intermedia synergy. Approaches to define it include: "the use of online medium for the creation of off line media"; "viable, purposeful new forms of human interaction"; "combining the SPEED and INTERACTIVITY of electronic communications with the VISUAL IMPACT and BROAD OUTREACH [of other media]"; and "info about CC in other media".

3. Some expressed OBJECTIVES of the members are: "put active citizen groups in touch with each other--and with their newsletters"; "keeping up to date"; "action research"; and "learn about experiments now being conducted".

4. So far, we've been discussing the following dimensions of intermedia synergy: "[online generated] Netweaver [distributed] on IBM PC floppies"; "electronic text communications with electronic imaging, interactive video, and face-to-face workshops' with a mixture of senses and mind stimulating representations"; "combine computer messages with images and voice"; "electronic communications with print and video"; and "combining CC with computer-based education".

5. By intermedia synergy events I mean all the actual manifestations of intermedia synergy we know of. These include: "mailing printouts of a conference on EIES"; and "[plans to] link-up educational video field consultants via CC". Some other intermedia synergy examples not yet discussed in the cluster include: the use of e-mail in conjunction of video courses at the the National Technological university; High^Lights from The Meta Network, the first print newsletter based entirely on excerpts form online conferences; and the Metasystems' members experience of using CC in conjunction of collectively writing a book during a face-to-face meeting (at the Delta Force in 1982, the Organizational Transformation Conference, and the Federal Training Excellence Network in 1985).

At this point, I think we have many more questions than answers, which is the normal state of this nascent field of investigation we're calling intermedia synergy. Please spread the word on the nets: we need information on ALL the uses of CC in *any* combination with *any* other media, and of course, we need further input, questions and comments from anybody interested in intermedia synergy.

ETHICS CLUSTER by Stefanie Kott

"ENA Ethics" is dealing primarily with the creation of a standard related to the use of other people's words, online, throughout the systems and offline. We want to come to some conclusions about appropriate ethics related to this (and conceivably other issues) that can be adopted by ENA and supported by its members, with the hope that the ethic will become as a standard throughout the systems. Further, the hope is that the standard will become stronger than law (there being no real law in this Brave New World) through the self-policing efforts of people who believe in the standard.

We have so far agreed that it is important to acknowledge other people's words AND ideas. We have hashed through the concepts of ownership/acknowledgment of words, and concluded that the person who generates the words or ideas that are worthy of being used in any context outside that in which it was written deserves to be considered the owner of those words/ideas, in the biblical sense of the word "ownership"--that connotes acknowledgment, and this person should be cited as the originator of the words/ideas.

How to enforce this ethic is an area that we have touched upon but that remains an area needy of resolution. Peer pressure on the order of "shunning" in the Amish tradition is one possibility, but there is the real concern that this ethic is not strong enough in any medium to withstand the test.


BUSINESS CLUSTER by Susanna Opper

We seem to be generally agreed that we have two main interests:

1) Expanding the use of electronic networking in business and business-related organizations

2) Creating and growing entrepreneurial ventures that use electronic networking in one way or another either as the main thrust of the business (e.g. consulting in the use of cc) or as an important ancillary process of doing the business (such as electronic publishing).

We've also been talking about our process. We're eager to maximize the efficiency of this medium and are seeking ways to be certain that work actually gets done, rather than just talking about getting done.

Here are some of our observations on how to get things done:

1) List and discuss options; establish priorities; and narrow focus to a few tasks at a time.

2) Use cut-off dates and stick to them.

3) Have one person take responsibility for seeing that the task is done on time. (This doesn't mean they must do it; it does mean they see it gets done.)

4) Keep enough order on the system so that discussion of one topic takes place in only one place. This requires discipline from all members, but it makes a difference.

In a late-breaking development, we're planning a special business issue of Netweaver which will be published in May.