Zero Emissions Strategies Conference: The New Media and Their Uses in This Conference< - developed by Eric Britton for The Commons, EcoPlan International, Paris, France, August 1997

_ The Zero Emissions Strategy Conference

Tools of the Virtual Conference

The New Media and Their Uses in This Conference: Overview

New Media/Old Habits
Email Messaging and Strategies
Email Discussion Forum
The World Wide Web Site
First Note on Videoconferencing Options
Next From Here!

New Media/Old Habits

Internet and the World Wide Web are terrific places to get lost (or bored). But they also are vital facts of life as we round the millennium which the scientific community and others who care about sustainability matters can no longer afford to ignore. Get it right and it has the potential to be, as the great Stafford Cripps put it (more or less) half a century ago, 'a convivial man-machine interface'. But that will not happen unless you are prepared to do your part. Learning is required, and with it a tolerance for your own mistakes and early limitations. Happily, once you have learned to find your way the perils of lost time and sheer junk are considerably reduced. But we have all seen that for early users the obstacles to efficient referencing and use can be considerable. In this and several linked sections we try to be of some help to those of you who wish to participate in the meeting but who are not sure of their skills and equipment, and to direct you to sources which we have found to be first rate and helpful to non-experts. If we can take them one by one, we will see that the worst of the challenges and difficulties (and fears) will simply disappear.

Email Messaging, Tools and Strategies:
Email is the first and simplest level at which participants can join in the conference. For those who lack access to the Web, comments, working papers, materials and suggestions can also be easily and directly exchanged via normal direct email either with the organizers or via the conference postmaster . Though essentially intended as one-on-one peer exchanges, it is hopeful that some of the contents of these exchanges will be factored into the working materials and eventual ‘final reports’ of the conference. (Those who do not already have access to the utilities necessary for convenient exchange of formatted documents via their Internet gateway (zipping, encoding) will find some useful information on this below.)

Email - Some Basic User Notes:

There is considerably more to the email link than may at first strike the eye, even that of the frequent user. For most of us it is a convenient means for brief exchanges and fast turn arounds; indeed it is often typical that when we are busy, an email message will get either an immediate response or alternatively none at all. This gives them a certain hasty and reactive character - which is of course not exactly what we are aiming for in this particular case.

Once one begins to use email as a somewhat broader pipe for exchanging different forms of information, including fully formatted documents, spreadsheets and graphics, an entirely different environment emerges: one which requires different work and thought patterns than what might be thought of as "email 1" or "bare-bones" or "primitive" email. The latter still have their role, but the kind of message that comes through now begins to define both the medium and the process for reception, digestion and response. It is in this more developed communications context that the present project is proposed.

The basic tools of "email 2" or the full function version which we propose to use here include (a) file zipping or compression (which cuts transmission times and costs considerably) and (b) encod-ing (which permits the transmission of more complex formatted files via the otherwise-ASCII only email pipe). (The truth is that we are currently in an awkward half-way house as far as these two programs and their func-tions are concerned, but that's just the nature of this (at time unpleasant and a bit irritating) ball game. In fairly short order, these functions will probably have been fully automated by most servers, but for now and for some of us they are a bit of an impediment, as you can see from this note.)

For those who are not currently users of these three small and low cost (or even free) utilities, the following may be useful. Typical usage in order to send a binary file via e-mail would be:

1. Compress your binary file using your sip utility;
2. Use UUencode to convert into ASCII;
3. E-mail the resulting ASCII file to your recipient;
4. Recipient uses UUdecode to convert the ASCII file back into a binary ZIP file.
5. Decompress zipped file to receive fully formatted document.

Zipping:

A zip 'archive' is a compressed file that ends in '.zip'. It is called an archive to distinguish it from the multiple compressed files that it may contain. Compression can reduce the size of files by a factor of 2-4 or more, spending on the type of file. This provides and economy for the sender, and a courtesy to the recipient (who saves download time and money in the process).

Encoding:

UUencode and UUdecode are programs which will convert binary files (such as fully formatted documents, spreadsheets, databases, graphics) into ASCII, and vice-versa, so that they can be e-mailed to other systems which would otherwise corrupt binary mail. (These are programs for Windows, Mac users will use Binhex which more or less performs the same function.)

FTP

The third horse for the troika is the so-called ftp (file transfer protocol) which is useful for document sharing and access and which we use for stocking our Electronic Library. (In this way, you can use the net in order to store and access files with a level of convenience and costs that is not far from that of having another, and infinitely large, disk drive).

Email Discussion Forum:
Those participants who select this next level of participation will receive the full set of initial introductory conference materials, as well as weekly progress reports over the meeting cycle, together with a copy of the final electronic report and recommendations. (Once again, this is viewed as, hopefully, a two-way stream of communications and exchanges, which will in due course extend and enrich the exchanges and productivity of the conference as a whole.)

Email Use and Abuse

Some of us receive so much email that we no longer pay any attention to it. I know people who receive 300 or more messages a day, which of course is getting close to zero communications. The point is that if we are to survive and prosper in this overcommunicating world, we are going to need a strategy. Netiquette = Do Not Abuse! A brief word on use protocols or what sometimes hovers under the simpering term "netiquette" may be appropriate here. Email and the Net are two devices which are born and bred in facility. In actual practice, however, this very facility can work against real communications and effective group work. We know that information-overload = communications failure, so both in general and in this particular set of exchanges we must guard carefully against the facile tendency to overload. (If you have any doubts about this, you may want to check into a handful of discussion groups on the net and attempt to follow and participate in what happens there. All too often you will encounter trivial communication, loquaciousness, and very other forms of abuse of your time and concentration will quickly spoil the fun and usefulness in almost all cases.)

To the extent that others are putting their email addresses at our disposal s they join the conference, may I suggest that :

1. We agree not communicate these addresses to third parties, and that we do not stuff each other's mail boxes with communications that are not specifically intended for that particular person or group.
2. Please do not copy materials to the group as a whole (tempting as that might at time be), without first going through the Webmaster by way of quick cross-check. (We shall try to ensure 24 hour turnaround on all communications, maximum). 3. Do however make ample use of one-on-one independent communications to 'build ideas', etc., but then of course when the time comes, it would be appreciated if you would let us all in on your results, conclusions, etc. (so that the site can reflect the overall group process that we are trying to harness).

This is by no means an attempt to hold down communications or the idea building, which is what this whole effort is ultimately about, but rather a somewhat desperate attempt to keep all this as a privileged channel of reflection and sharing.

Cautionary Note: Documents or communications of more than one or two screenfuls often can benefit greatly from being printed out. That small screen on our monitors is handy as a frame for certain levels of information intake, but years of experience shows that it needs that for the kinds of more complex materials that are being developed within this group effort, the paper complement is close to indispensable. So, with a call for prudence and apologies to the forests…MODEST USE OF YOUR PRINTER IS RESPECTFULLY SUGGESTED.

The World Wide Web Site:

This is it: 'nough said.

Actually, no. There are a lot of Web pages out there, many devoid of content and most of them not very well laid out (I'd call us a high average, no better!). But if you have a site, or are thinking about developing one, you can do yourself a BIG favor if you take the time (and it will take you some time to visit , Vincent Flanders' fine and funny Web Pages That Suck (sorry about that name). Flanders teaches good Web design by showing you the worst of the worst. Terrific idea! Unless you're perfect of course.

First Note on Videoconferencing Options :
The conference is also offering the possibility of "traditional" 1-on-1 videoconferences with the organizers. These will be by appointment and via EcoPlan’s facility at 331.4441.6340. In addition, arrangements have been made with the Teles group for two multi-point or group videoconferences, open all-comers on the 15th and the 29th from 17:00 to 18:00, Paris time. Details on call-in numbers and routines available shortly (keep you eye on What's New for the latest details. For a quick rundown on current videoconferencing systems of all costs and levels of performance, have a look at the videoconferencing guidelines under the "Virtual Conferencing Overview".

Next From Here!

Before moving on to consider the content of the meeting, may we suggest that, unless you are already a confirmed Web surfer, you first take the time to review the following "tools" pages. Here is the order of consultation of the guiding materials prepared for the meeting that we propose you now give your attention to in order to ensure that you are fully prepared to get around within and from the conference site most easily and effectively. It may take you a bit of time at first, but, we bet, a lot less than you would spend, say, on an international air flight and taxi to a physical conference hall... never mind the ecological impacts of what is, after all, YOUR choice!

The Technology Checkout
The Virtual Conference FastTrack: Organization and Uses
Tools for Tyros (Tips for Good Web Practice)
World Wide Web Navigation Hints
Searching the Conference and the World Wide Web
Web Links and Search Results (Examples)
The Electronic Library

__ So, if you are going about all this in good order, before turning to the substance of the conference itself, your next pit stop should probably be a technical checkout at ...
The Technology Checkout (Hardware, Software and Conferencing -- Guidelines and Hints)