Minutes of the
Williamsburg Internet Association Meeting
August 15, 1996 7:00 PM.
Main Program
Dr. William Winter,
"Southeastern Virginia Regional Free-Net"
In the Beginning...
Freenets got their start in Cleveland, Ohio. The first one was used by a
group of doctors who communicated with their patients online. Now there
are over 100 freenets in existance worldwide.
SEVAnet is a non-profit organization
dedicated to bringing the world of on-line information to Southeastern Virginia.
What is a "freenet"?
Early on, freenets were "Community Nets" offering free or subscription
access to the Internet. Most freenets offered text only access, no PPP connections.
SEVAnet is set up to help businesses,
non-profit organizations, and governments get online.
To expand telecommunications in the region by training business and government
personnel in the use of the Internet for the benefit of their organizations
and for Southeastern Virginia. Promoting community partnerships is an important
component of the freenet's success.
SEVAnet focuses on meassurable projects
that benefit the entire region:
1. Economic development- putting information online for businesses
which might
want to relocate to the area
2. Putting local governments online
3. Technology transfer - using computers and the Internet to share information
For example, communications between food stores and the local food bank
to
facilitate food pickup before the food goes bad...
Training, Implementation, and Beyond
Going online often calls for a reengineering of the culture of a business,
or how that business runs. Internet access, email, and homepages all require
skills and staff attention. Connectivity is a major challenge. SEVAnet,
together with business partners such as the Center for Innovative Technology,
which provides a grant for this work, assists businesses and governments
with their online communications startup process. Guidance is often needed
to develop new, effective online marketing strategies. Once online, companies
need to measure the success of the new marketing strategies. For example,
SEVAnet helps with measuring the savings
within a company that uses email, or tracking the sales initiated through
a company homepage. Evaluation of a company's return on their communications
investment is key. Once the online presence is up and running, clients no
longer need the services of SEVAnet.
They become model businesses which can turn around and serve as examples
to other businesses beginning to develop their own online presences. Newcomers
have the advantage of drawing on real experience in the cost of implementation,
homepage design, templates, expectations on site visitation, and tracking
software for evaluation.
Future Plans
A new grant from the Center for Innovative Technology will allow for reengineering
for EDI, code for doing all a company's business online (ordering, purchasing,
etc.). This is essential to be competitive in the business world today.
Virtual companies and a rural business outreach are planned, as well as
an Electronic Commerce Center at Christopher Newport University.
Beginner's Session
Featuring Cathy Curtis
"Introducing the World Wide Web"
Cathy, a member of our program committee, gave a very helpful beginner's
session (according to some feedback I have heard) introducing the World
Wide Web, how it works, user statistics, and basic teminology followed by
a demonstration of several web sites of interest.
Here are the sites she included on her handout:
Business:
Quicken
Stock Portfolio quotes
VA Power
Politics Now - not working as of August 23
Computers:
Mac software
to download
PC software to download
Service Provider
Clip Art
Reading Materials:
Home magazines
Daily Press
Washington Post
NY
Times
Travel:
Guide to the World
Interactive map of Paris
Best restaurants in
Paris/NY
Foreign Languages for Travelers
Charleston, SC - note that the
handout left out www. in the address
Education:
ERIC - research
Cells Alive
The Louvre
Periodic Table
Visible Man
Where's Waldo
Entertainment:
Irish Pub
Marine Observations
Family Tree
Surname search
Cyber Carnival
Disney Games
TV Reviews
Virtual Flowers
Virtual Postcards
Advanced Session
"A General Overview of Internet Security and Related Issues"
as they pertain to the end-user
Michael, our Vice Pres, presented some interesting facts about security
and privacy on the Internet. You can link to his presentation
notes if you missed this session.
Announcements
Membership to Williamsburg Internet Association: Membership is $10
per year for each unit, either an individual or a family unit. Membership
entitles you to one vote per unit, and to be on the Majordomo mailing listserver.
Members can get minutes, send and receive information to/from all other
members.
A door prize of a high-resolution mouse was donated by NexSys
Computers of Olde Towne Road, Williamsburg.
Attendance tonight was 41 people! We are growing!!
Next Meeting
Thursday, September 19, at 7 P.M. at the Williamsburg Regional Library.
The meeting will include breakout beginner and advanced user sessions, as
well as the featured speaker:
Digby Solomon
of the Daily Press, who
will discuss "Building the Digital Community: Why Local News
and Information Still Matters in the Age of Global Communications"
DISTRIBUTION
These minutes (and other important announcements from the WIA) are being
e-mailed to all members of the WIA majordomo mailing list. They will also
be posted to the newsgroups:
- comp.org.user-groups.meetings
- va.general (a statewide newsgroup).
- williamsburg.events (a local / regional group)
See you at the next meeting.
