28 March 2000

To: Region 3 Executive Committee

From: William B. Ratcliff, Chair e-Conferencing Ad Hoc Committee

Subject: Status Report -  Region 3 ExCom Meeting 7-9 March 2000

Progress was made in the following areas since the last Region 3 ExCom meeting (e-conference) on January 29, 2000. 

The evaluation summary of the historic Region 3 ExCom Meeting on 29 January was compiled from the submitted forms and posted at ...
https://www.ewh.ieee.org/reg/3/excom/meetings/2000-01/eval-summary-20000129.html

Preparation for Region 3 - SoutheastCon  Executive Committee Meetings

The e-Conferencing Committee has been meeting bi-weekly in a synchronous mode and daily via e-mail and newsgroup to prepare for the Region 3 ExCom e-conference Caucus on 1 April 2000 and the SoutheastCon Meeting in Nashville. Two training sessions are being developed by Charles Lord for delivery at SoutheastCon... EConf 101 - a repeat of the training offered at the December ExCom Meeting concentrating on synchronous communications and EConf 102 - Introducing asynchronous communications and associated work methods. Please avail yourself of the training opportunities at SoutheastCon

e-Conferencing Committee Development Activities

The development of a viable Newsgroup capability that allows for both Newsreader interface ie Outlook Express and a web browser interface to bypass corporate firewalls has been the focal point of the project. The use of a threaded newsgroup that is separate from the commercial servers will provide both an effective forum for group interaction and a suitable degree of security.

The proposal for a Region 3 Collaboration server ... https://www.ewh.ieee.org/reg/3/excom/meetings/2000-04/r3econf-proposal.txt
represents a significant next step in providing the capability for Region 3 committees to extend their work beyond the ExCom meetings and augment the synchronous guidelines that have successfully been utilized at the ExCom level

Evaluation of Emerging Technologies

The trade journals and number of web sites devoted to the support and enhancement of decentralized work teams is steadily growing. Getting more members involved will yield better answers due to the diversity of experience and will also develop a wider base of future volunteers.

We encourage your participation in the e-Conferencing Committee in any capacity you desire. So, please visit the project web site  https://www.ewh.ieee.org/reg/3/e-conf/ , contact any member of the team, come to the regular meetings (schedule posted on the web site) and contribute to the knowledge base of e-conferencing. We can work more efficiently and effectively and get more accomplished without just working harder. 

Submitted by: Bill Ratcliff, Chair e-Conferencing Ad Hoc Committee w.ratcliff@ieee.org