March 31, 1997 - Cyberspace.
The DP Users Cooperative has currently two places in Cyberspace where its members meet to discuss DataPerfect techniques and Co-op business: The Listserv at dataperf@listproc.wsu.edu is a public place on the Internet and is not exclusive to Co-op members, whereas Section 19 of the WPUSERS forum on CompuServe is private to members of the Co-op. There appears to be no simple and straightforward way of integrating these two meeting-places. There is also a further DataPerfect section on CompuServe which is Section 11 of the WPUSERS forum. Only Section 19 of WPUSERS is exculsive to Co-op members.
Over the past weeks there has been some discussion about these arrangements and the problems that arise from them. One of the perceived difficulties is the feeling that one part of the Co-op membership may be left out of discussions in the other place; another is the possible need to conduct certain Co-op business discussions in private.
The Co-op Board of Directors has moved to dispel fears that members will be left out of discussions: all members of the Board have been active on CIS from the outset and four have been on the Listserv for at least the past several months; the remaining Director will shortly be active in both places. However, this does not overcome all the problems of separate meeting-places and does nothing whatsoever to address the privacy question.
Accordingly, the Directors of the Co-op have set up a Communications Integration committee which is charged with looking at options for closer integration between the Internet and CompuServe communities. This committee is chaired by Geoff Worboys and also includes Ralph Alvy and Mike Sharp. These three will examine the present situation, investigate alternative arrangements and report back to the Board of Directors around the beginning of May.
If you wish to contribute to these discussions, please pass your comments to any of the committee members. Their email addresses are as follows:
The committee's report will be made available to all Co-op members in due course.