Minutes from May 31, 1997 Annual Meeting
Annual meeting at the home of Nancy and Roger Zuidema, Scotts Valley, CA
Minutes from May 31, 1997 Annual Meeting Present: Bruce Damer, Nancy and Roger Zuidema, Wendy Sue Noah, Val Bourke, Steve DiPaola, Kevin George, Reid Hoffman, Lisa Leonard, Lenny, Patricia Franklin, Stasha McGee.
- Motion: to accept the nomination of Reid Hoffman to fill board position bringing our board up to 4 members. Motioned by Bruce, Seconded by Nancy, vote was unanimous.
- Treasurer's annual financial report to the membership
- Report on successful 501c(3) application
- Report on trademark status
- Report on promotional and membership activities since 1996 conference
- Special Interest Group Reports: Biota.org, WEAVE, TheU
- Call for new SIGs in formation: VOCE, Anthropology
- Conference report and call for volunteers, participation
- Nomination of Val Bourke as Secretary, definition of duties
Agenda for 1997 Annual Meeting
Dear Contact Consortium supporters, this is a 'last call' for our annual meeting and BBQ. See the directions below. Event: Annual Meeting and BBQ, Saturday May 31, 11:00am to 3:00pm Place: Home of Nancy and Roger Zuidema, 1906 Bean Creek Road, Scotts Valley, (408) 438-1285 Bring: Your main course (something to BarBQ) and drinks (we will serve dessert/salad) You MUST RSVP to this email address by Friday Morning so we will know how many people to plan for. Directions: *********** From Silicon Valley/San Francisco: 101 to 880 South to 17 South or 280 to 85 South to 17 South (shortest from SF) Exit off 17 at Mount Herman Road Turn right onto Mount Herman Road At the second light turn right onto Scotts Valley Drive Immediately get into the left lane and turn at the very next light onto Bean Creek Road ** Going Down Bean Creek ** Drive down Bean Creek 1.8 miles. You will hit one stop sign where the road is one lane, then you will know you are a half mile away. Keep going for that extra half mile. Soon on the left you will see two red reflectors on a pole on the right hand side. There you will also see a collection of signs, one of which says '1906'. Pull into this drive and park so you are not blocking the driveway. The Zuidemas is the first house on the right (with the *very* friendly white dog Charlie) >From Santa Cruz/Boulder Creek Take 17 North to Mount Herman Road or Mount Hermon Road from Felton Turn right at the second light (or left at the fourth from Felton) by the gas station onto Scotts Valley Drive. Get into the left lane and turn at the very next light onto Bean Creek Road. Follow the directions above for: ** Going Down Bean Creek ** The Details ----------- We will be having our annual meeting and Avatars 97 conference kickoff at the home of Roger and our Webmaster on Saturday May 31st at 11:00am. That's at 1906 Bean Creek Road off Scotts Valley Drive in Scotts Valley. We will socialize have a BBQ lunch, then meet for about 2 hours (ending about 3pm). What more could you ask for!!!??? ********* THE BIG NEWS: Avatars '97 is now scheduled for October 22-24 At the SFSU Multimedia Studies Program with special opening events at the Yerba Buena Centre, downtown San Francisco Feel free to give us your program ideas, exhibitor/sponsor intentions and party proposals. This is going to be three days of the meeting of the Cybertribes of the New Cyberspace! ********* For those of you who can't make it, please email us agenda items you would like covered or areas in which you would like to help in this year's exciting Avatars '97 conference (formerly Earth to Avatars), to be held partly at the SFSU downtown campus and the Yerba Buena centre for the arts on Wednesday October 22 through Friday October 24, 1997. Agenda for our get-together on May 31: 1. Normal fiduciary annual meeting items: -Motions put forth, votes (please let us know if you would like to put something forth) -Financial report -Membership report -New membership fee levels -Nonprofit status (501c3) -Trademark status -Vote on nomination of new board members, secretary 2. Report on Avatars 97 conference, call for participation -we have a lot of great news on this -call for participation on the conf committee -introducing Nancy Levidow to the group -new items for the conference program? 3. Report on Projects and SIGs -WEAVE -TheU -Sherwood -Biota + Funding efforts -Other SIGs 4. Report on conferences and events where CCON was represented -CSCW, World Movers, VRML97, CFP, CHI, various company labs and universities in the US, Europe, Sacra Saturni, SIGGRAPH (upcoming in August) 5. State of the virtual worlds business 6. Report on Biota's upcoming Digital Burgess event 7. New business and proposals from the membership Please RSVP so we know how many of you can make it! Help Nancy out by bringing drinks or things to put on the grill. You can call Nancy at (408) 438 1285 for instructions on how to get to the Zuidemas, See you there or at Avatars '97! Bruce Damer co-director
Minutes from June 8, 1996 Meeting Present: Nancy and Roger Zuidema, Bruce Damer, Steven Hanly, Lynn Macias guests: Wendy Sue Noah and John North Motions: 1. To accept Johanna's resignation as secretary, assumption of new role as virtual world "space coordinator", accepted unanimously. Bruce appointed as Secretary pro tem. 2. That there be a "household" membership category. Nancy proposed that this be tabled until the need arises, accepted unanimously. 3. That for reimbursal on approved expenses, board approval must be gained in advance of any approved expense item for $100 or more. That approved expenses are internet fees related website, postage, parking fees, and select telephone charges when necessary for demos. Airfares cannot be covered now. 4. That, as motioned and accepted on the annual meeting in March, all 1995 expenses will not be refunded but receipts for tax purposes will be provided. Voted and accepted unanimously. Director's Report: Report that Worlds Inc. Likely to grant us a community server for theU project. Report on meeting and possible projects with Match.com Report on new members being solicited: Blacksun, BT, Worlds (check not arrived), Match.com etc. Report on CSCW panel plus demo. Report on trips to Italy and the UK and meeting with Stuart Gold. Treasurer's Report: Nancy reported $615 in the checking account, including deposits from Philips and Xplor International membership checks. Action items: that policies and procedures be posted on the website, that a reimbursal form be developed, that the 501(c)(3) filing be done by Nancy and Bruce. Next meeting planned for June 15: VRML day to introduce VRML to members and load tools on their machines etc. Invitation issued to visit GNN/AOL/Virtual Places, Match.com, Worlds, Construct and the Black Sun office opening party on Friday June 14, 1996 Part of the day was devoted to the third Sherwood Forest Towne day meeting on-line in Sherwood.
Minutes from March 9, 1996 Annual Meeting Present: Nancy and Roger Zuidema, Bruce Damer, Steven Hanly, Johanna Silverthorne, Damon, Reed Riner, Jim Funaro, Lynn Macias, Joel Hagen, Anthony Hobbs, other guests. Welcoming to first annual meeting of Contact Consortium Motion: to accept the nomination of Bruce Damer to fill the position of CEO and Executive Director left vacant by the recent reorganization. Motioned by Jim, Seconded by Damon, vote was unanimous. Motion: to accept the nomination of Jim Funaro to fill board position bringing our board up to its legal minimum of 3 members. Motioned by Bruce, Seconded by Damon, vote was unanimous. This is a temporary position until another board member can be found. Motion: that expenses incurred by members in 1995 cannot be reimbursed but can be taken on tax filing as valid charitable or educational expenses. Second by Reed Riner with comment that receipts must be provided if these expense are to be taken as deductible expenses. Motion carried unanimously. Action Items: Agreed on March 24, 1996 as our first Sherwood Day build and gathering. Lynn Macias welcomed into the organization, joins as an Individual. She is secretary to the Bay Area IICS.
Minutes from February 4, 1996 Meeting
See Full Director's ReportPresent: Nancy and Roger Zuidema, Bruce Damer, Steven Hanly, Johanna Silverthorne, Damon. Welcoming back to first meeting since reorganization. Motions: in acknowledgement of the resignation of Terrel Hoffman (received November 22, 1995 and accepted by the Board) and Chris Kekenes (submitted later) from the Board, who are both leaving to pursue other interests. Bruce motioned to nominate Jim Funaro to position of Director, and that the vote on his acceptance would be taken at the next meeting. Accepted Unanimously. Director's Report: A full report was presented by Bruce Damer, outlining current activities and new possibilities open to the Consortium after its reorganization, planning for CONTACT XIII Consortium Symposium 96 (decision to go ahead). Agreed to accelerate activities through email updates. Action Items: to attempt again to obtain our paperwork, monies and other materials back from Terrel. Annual meeting scheduled for CONTACT XIII conference, early March. Special live in AlphaWorld get-together scheduled for Feb 8 to conincide with 24 hours in cyberspace. Will attempt to get my machine back from Chris. Special Web lesson day scheduled for Feb 10, 1996.
Minutes from November 19, 1995 Meeting We called a special meeting to let all avaialable members speak, the Consortium voted to reorganize on a new model: to reduce the level of beurocracy and structure we were building and return to our original mission. As Jim Funaro put it: to return to the model of a community of friends. We planned from there to find ways to engage in projects which would be interesting, fun and useful for each member. In attendence: Jim Funaro, Bruce Damer, Terrel Hoffman, Steven Hanly, Johanna Silverthorne, Damon VanSchaack Tkoch, Nancy and Roger Zuidema
Minutes from October 21, 1995 Meeting Minutes are not yet available for this meeting. In attendance: Terrel Hoffman, Johanna Silverthorne, Steven Hanly, ?
Minutes from September 23, 1995 Meeting Meeting Agenda items: Old Business: Delphi update (terrel) Web page update (chris) review action items (Johanna) New Business directors' reports (terrel, chris, bruce) committee chair reports (committee chairs) Long range planning update (terrel, chris) process discussion (terrel, johanna, group) Discuss SolSys (terrel, damon, group) Additional Agenda Items: 1. Expanding on chair reports.. Conference committee.. Status of conference go/no go, dates, hotel reservations, expected costs, risk Status and planning for vendors contact, program development, speakers, kit for conference, web page support for conference Membership committee Status of membership kit (mailer) and web page, take a look at web page as a group. Status of current and prospective new (paid) members. Advisors? I (Bruce) would like to be part of long range planning. 2. New themes. Special event exposure/conference attendance report Sigchi, Siggraph, World Futures, DOP III, BusinessWeek, other conferences (Bruce) Copying the successful strategies of other consortia.. Industry heavies involvement, searching out people passionate about the subject (All) Do a study of other Consortia (Bruce) Who we want to have in our group.. learning from the Delphi experience, focus of the inner circle memberships (All) strategies for attracting members (All) Establishing guidelines for responding, keeping each other up to date (Bruce/All) Developing the image.. next work on graphics/animation? (Chris) Involving the other world builders. Report on opportunities with Worlds and other vendors (Chris) ACTION REQUESTS RESULTING FROM MEETING.. Everyone: o send Terrel your FINISHED personal statements by October 15. o mail Chris all relevant World Wide Web site addresses for links with our web site. o contact Chris to inform her about good and bad dates for a "check out Alpha World" night at her home. o please be actively involved with your committees! Board: o consider the issue of payment of the board of advisors' membership dues. Committees: o please be more proactive. Committee Chairs: o please send Johanna a brief, bi-weekly update of your committee's progress (by the first and the fifteenth day of each month). o when you create your progress reports, use the same wording that is in the Action Request lists. Bruce: o write a paragraph about CCON for Jim's contacts, submit it to Terrel for review, and on approval, give it to Jim. o produce "The Package" for vendors. o enlist vendors for the conference. o research feasable fees for vendors. o ask Reed about NSF funding, etc.. o inform everyone about scheduled meetings, i.e. with anthropologist at Apple. o determine whether CCON should buy a color printer. Chris: o contact relevant WWW sites to ask them to link to our site. o continue working with Terrel to plan content of CCON conference. o host a "check out Alpha World" night. o continue working with Terrel on long range plans, and keeping working group updated on progress. Damon: o check out printer stuff. Jim: o write a letter to your contacts about their possible roles in CCON. o call Joel to find out when he will be in town. o try to write up an academic approach to CCON, communities, etc.. o look into grant sources. Johanna: o call a meeting of the Membership committee for the purpose of drafting a list of membership benefits. o send out a copy of the membership benefits list to the working group for feedback. o research potential publicity in City on a Hill and The Cabrillo Voice. o write up secretarial procedures as guide for future secretaries. o post bi-weekly updates to the working group. o arrange for a computer tutorial with Chris. Nancy: o write up procedures for treasurer. o open a trustee checking account with Terrel for CCON. o load, set up, and learn QUICKEN Steven: o handle bulk mailings as needed. Terrel: o continue working with Chris to plan content of CCON conference. o look into the possibility of booking more space for the conference. o call a meeting of the Conference committee to discuss issues such as food and beverage confirmations, need for a banquet, possible need for 10 to 20 extra rooms at the CONTACT price, etc.. o write up procedures for executive director. o continue working with Chris on long range plans, and keeping working group updated on progress. o open a trustee checking account with Nancy for CCON. o email everyone a list of things to be accomplished by October 1. ______________________ SOLSYS ACTION REQUESTS ______________________ Bruce and Chris: o check out Cabrillo's new tech. center and other resources. Damon: o contact resources for assistance. Jim: o send Damon a list of tips, goals, etc., for SolSys. Reed: o send Damon a list of tips, goals, etc., for SolSys. Terrel: o create a list for SolSys students to use as a resource.
Minutes from August 19, 1995 Meeting August Meeting August 19, 1995 as issued by The Contact Consortium Secretary September 8, 1995 The meeting began at 11 am, 8/19/95. The meeting was held at the residence of Terrel Hoffman. Members present: Bruce Damer, Jim Funaro, Terrel Hoffman, Chris Kekenes, Johanna Silverthorne, Damon Tkoch. Executive Director, Terrel Hoffman nominated Chris Kekenes to be the fourth board member for the Contact Consortium. o Johanna Silverthorne moved to take a vote, and Damon Tkoch seconded that. o Chris Kekenes was unanimously voted onto the board as the Director of Technology Assessment. Jim asked for clarification on the decision made at the June/July meeting to waive the membership fee only for those present at that meeting physically or by telephone: o The original decision was upheld; no new members shall have their fees waived. Paperwork for new member and new contacts was given to the secretary for processing. Terrel presented an overview of CCON's on-going negotiations with Tom Koulopoulos of Delphi Consulting Group for a joint seminar: o CCON would provide the program and the vendors for the seminar, "Workspace '96." o Delphi would provide the location, the publicity, etc.. o Negotiations are currently underway to establish the rights of CCON and Delphi regarding the use of the name "Workspace," as well as a satisfactory split of the revenue from such a venture. o Terrel has already responded to Tom Koulopoulos' proposal: CCON is not willing to relinquish control over the name "Workspace," and the revenue split must be less risky (i.e. CCON needs a larger percentage than Tom proposed). o The name "Workspace" is already in the public domain. Discussion of Membership Form: o Form should include a questionnaire so that CCON can isolate interest groups within the membership. o A description of the membership types shall be added to the form. o Everyone is responsible for sending Chris five suggestions for categories to fall under the following headings: o Arts o Applied Sciences o Research o Technology/ Engineering o Chris has volunteered to produce a professional brochure design. o A small number of high quality, glossy brochures will also be produced for situations that require extra impact and appeal. Bruce gave a brief report on the SIGGRAPH Convention in Los Angeles, and passed around numerous flyers and brochures of new products. He also informed us that Worlds, Inc. has been recently bought out by VISA International. VISA is interested in building a visual, graphical MUD for banking (!). Bruce willingly stepped down from the position of Membership Committee Chair. Terrel then appointed Johanna Silverthorne to the position, which she accepted. The Board approved. Action Requests discussed (for complete list, see Action Request Document) Committee membership changes: o Terrel removed herself from the Internet Presence Committee and appointed Johanna. o Mark Conway was removed from the Policies and Procedures Committee. Note on Meeting times and locations: o Unless otherwise noted, meetings will always be at Terrel's home at 10 am (that's in the morning!) The meeting ended at 4:30 pm.
Minutes from June 30-July 2 1995
Formation and Brainstorming MeetingContact Consortium Formation Board and Brainstorming Meeting June 30-July 2, 1995 as issued by The Contact Consortium Secretary August 14, 1995TABLE OF CONTENTS o Friday, June 30, 1995, 10am to 7:30pm, Business Meeting o Saturday, July 1, 1995, Brainstorming Session o Sunday, July 2, 1995, Wrapup of Brainstorming/Business o List of Committees formed between June 30 and July 2, 1995 and Actions Requested for August meeting deadline
Friday, June 30, 1995, 10am to 7:30pm o Purposes of the Meeting This meeting was called to initiate the Consortium in a wider community and brainstorm its flagship project: Visual SolSys Sim. o In Attendance Mark Conway, Bruce Damer, Jim Funaro, Joel Hagen (and Cathy), Steven Hanly, Anthony Hobbs, Terrel Hoffman, Chris Kekenes, Johanna Silverthorne, Damon Tkoch, our Webmaster, Roger Zuidema and By Telephone on Saturday: Dr. Reed Riner o Previous Business There was no previous board or general meeting to generate previous business. A full status of the efforts of the Consortium Formation Committee (Bruce, Terrel, Jim) was reviewed.
Business MeetingMeeting Opens The meeting was held at the residence of Jim and Judy Funaro, Coldbrook Lane, Soquel, CA USA. Meeting opened by Terrel Hoffman o Terrel welcomed everyone and thanked them for their attendance. She outlined the goals of the weekend. Introduction made by Jim Funaro o Jim gave us his vision for what the consortium would do: o Emancipation from place o Communities of interest rather than of presence o Free us from the confines of space o From Bruce: recommend not using the V-word (Virtual) or C-word (Cyber-anything)Overview of Minutes 1. Image development and presentation 2. Personnel Issues 3. Memberships 4. Budget and Funding 5. Membership recruitment efforts and Launch plan 6. Projects 7. LegalThe Minutes 1. Image development and presentation a) Logo unveiling o The logo as designed by Chris Kekenes was shown on the business cards and printed out at full size o logo well received o Chris will be developing a new wireframe version closer to Michelangelo's original o compared with CONTACT logo, logical evolution and lineage seen skulls to hands, black and white (silhouette) to color b) Brochure unveiling o Wording reviewed, paper and print format shown. o More work needed to complete brochure o More images needed o strategy of an image per world presented o develop views of possible future inhabitable worlds of education, enterprise and entertainment to be shown on all our literature and web page. c) Business cards unveiled o Cards shown for Terrel, acceptable by group o Cards will be furnished for Terrel, Jim and Bruce at NASFiC o Card stock will be reviewed later if better options available 2. Personnel Issues o Terrel pointed out here that a quorum existed for a CCON board meeting, so that all actions taken here were official and for the record. o Terrel also stressed that we place a requirement for integrity in the organization, which means integrity of the individuals who are members or who we choose to accept as members. a) Define and assign positions including board, officers, fellows, advisors Terrel introduced the current positions, including: o Jim Funaro: Founding Senior Fellow o Reed Riner: Founding Senior Advisor with Portfolio o Chris Kekenes: Senior Advisor, tech/art lead, World Interface Design (?) o Mark Conway: Crusader/Catalyst also as an advisor o Johanna Silverthorne: Anthro student, Art assistant, odd-jobs person, founding member o Terrel Hoffman: Executive Director, Founding board member, director, organizational mission o Keith Ferrell: Founding board member, director, "stellar" board member o Bruce Damer: Founding board member, director, mission: business, research, external contacts o Board is 3 people, looking for 2 more as called for by our by-laws. o Board members are legally and personally liable. Other members are less liable. b) Official appointments o our Webmaster: Treasurer o Johanna Silverthorne: Secretary c) Notes on the position of Executive Director and the Board o Terrel wants to eventually leave this position and move to become a senior fellow. o Executive director cannot be paid. o All committees must report to the board or to the Executive Director as this post is responsible for day to day activities of the Consortium. o All communications to the outside regarding the Consortium must be reviewed and approved by the Executive Director o Current board has four year terms after which time there will be a ballot held in the general membership for election of the next board d) Comments on the role of the Founding and other Fellows o Terrel stated that the role of fellow requires the fellow be active in pursuing their own funding. o The Consortium would aid a Fellow in seeking funding if the Consortium judges that the project is viable. o Jim commented that the Consortium would solve some of CONTACT's problems by allowing equal peer to peer participation of some of CONTACT's members thus allowing "people to stay in the family" or "moving from family to clan". o Jim hoped that the Consortium would be able to provide financial and other resources for CONTACT. Such support might include the Consortium providing backing for world building exercises at CONTACT's conference. 3. Memberships a) Grant founding memberships and founding membership policy o All persons present at the meeting and including Dr. Riner and Keith Ferrell (OMNI) are granted founding memberships free for one year renewable June 30, 1996. o All founding members present at the meeting can renew at the founding member rate, until this is changed by the board in the future o All new members who sign up until launch will be named as founding members and will qualify for the founding member rate o Launch will occur some time the fall o We will offer free founding memberships (for one year) to groups who will agree to present at our launch b) CONTACT's relationship with Consortium as a founding members (as model for other organizational members) o Terrel stated that we must make the relationship with CONTACT a model for other organizational members but that we must maintain two distinct organizations and missions (it is easy to confuse CONTACT with the Contact Consortium). c) Approve membership fees o Fees were discussed and a motion brought and passed with a majority in favor on Friday: o Student: $15.00 o Individual: $35.00 o Affiliate: $100.00 o Institutional or other Non-Profit (universities, etc.): $200.00 o Corporate: $300.00 o These are the founding rates and subject to change later at which time the founding rates and the current rates will diverge d) Define membership benefits including discussion of newsletter o INDUSTRY INFORMATION o LISTSERV and other mailed information o Web page access including: o selectable areas of interest which generate news updates o Job postings (in the future) o Discussion of whether we should have a paper newsletter, at least quarterly, this issue remains unresolved o PROVIDING A FORUM FOR THE INDUSTRY o Services either formal or informal to match people and organizations to enable their or our projects o VISIBILITY FOR MEMBERS o Web page access including: o Membership benefits also include the ability of organizations to show their products or research results at the conference (in an exhibition and sessions). o listing of member web sites on a white pages or by member's logo. o Listing of consultants. o DISCOUNTS o Discounts at Consortium Conferences and organizational member or affiliate member conferences for which there are agreements o The right to send representatives to our conference or workshops at no cost or a discount, in general, members will have a conference registration discount o Corporate membership entitles employees to obtain discounted individual memberships o POSSIBILITY OF PARTICIPATION IN CONSORTIUM PROJECTS o Policy for advertising and enabling participation in projects to be defined e) Define affiliate program o Affiliates defined as a peer to peer relationship between the Consortium and other organizations with similar missions and structure. Thus, the Virtual Worlds Consortium or the Consortium for School Networking and others would be logical affiliates. o Affiliates could support each other's conferences, cooperate on projects, host members at each other's events and sites and refer to each other to third parties. 4. Budget and Funding a) Review budget o Terrel reviewed that we are 1200 to 1500 dollars in the negative for expensed incurred by Terrel, Bruce and others and that we are keeping records with the expectation of reimbursal at some point in the future. o Preliminary estimates for the budget year expenses include: o $4500 in 1995 for Consortium Operation Costs. o $5000 in 1995 for SolSys. o $60,000-$100,000 total for SolSys. b) Funding issues including re: foundations vs. public benefit corporations o All grants or other funds given must be used by named recipients. o A Public Benefit Corporation cannot serve as a pass through for funds or it risks being declared to be performing like a foundation. c) CCON role in application for Project Funding o The Consortium's role in funding is to serve as a coordinator for application for funding on behalf of members. o Members must be listed in the grants and be the direct recipients of funds in many cases. o The consortium's role in funded projects will be: o To Serve as an umbrella organization for project and membership relations. o As projects are independent of a given member, the Consortium would act as a coordinator. o The Consortium would provide project management, prototyping and "design house" services to funded projects while the members would carry out the majority of implementation of a project. o The Consortium would arrange all licensing agreements and resolve other intellectual property issues on behalf of participating members. o As a non-profit, the Consortium in its application for funding could offer tax benefits to donators. However, non-profit status is not yet granted and should be available by the fall. o In the future if the Consortium was able to obtain sufficient and clear funding on its own, the creation of a foundation may be warranted. d) Funding sources o General categories of funding sources include: o Membership fees o Conference fees for registration and exhibit space o Workshop fees o Fees for Service: project planning, seminars etc. o grants from: corporations, private and public granting agencies, foundations and individuals. o Specific potential sources of funds include: o MCI o Delphi Consulting o Donators for education and distance learning, teacher training, curriculum development (Cal State Stanislas) o Grants from various sources o Educom sources o The Consortium's mission to help humanity in the birth of these new forms of community should be included in the message to any potential funder. e) Funding Committee formed o It is expected that membership fees will meet the main needs for SolSys o We are free of a parent organization and attendant restrictions however have no seed funding sources. o This committee will report back in the August meeting on its investigation of possible SolSys Sim sources. 5. Membership recruitment efforts and Launch plan a) Venues at which to present CCON o perhaps a company or university site. This venue must be found in the August time frame. We will be approaching possible speakers to present at our launch event. The obtaining of key speakers may help to Launch venues in the Silicon Valley or San Francisco were discussed, from the PARC auditorium to make the venue search easier. o We plan to present a series of free open public forums as part of the launch of the Consortium and building the membership. b) Media Plan and Elements including Web Page o Tap into "computers in the schools" hype o videos c) Formation of Video Task Force o To gather resources needed to produce one or more videos of varying lengths which introduce the Consortium o To address questions such as whether members should be allowed to add to the Consortium's standard videos for their own presentations d) Formation of Media Kit Committee e) On-line Services Discussion o On-line registration and information, both for members and non-members f) Discussion launch date, venues and presenters o September 1, 1995 as ballpark launch date o Emphasis on physical meetings: possible locations include: Marin, Palo Alto, and Xerox Park o Possible speakers include: Jim Funaro, Keith Ferrell, George Gilder, Clifford Stoll (?) o Other interested groups may include: Challenger Centers, CalArts, and the Pasadena College of Design g) Media opportunities discussed for launch period o Press conference for Silicon Valley Executives o Deadline for presenting at the annual AAA conference has passed, but it may still be possible to present with special arrangements h) Preliminary Plans for first annual (mini) conference in March o Two days before CONTACT o Must book rooms now, large rooms selected o Will include speaker program and table top displays o Speaker to open conference: Spielberg? o They are Distinct conferences: care to not confuse between orgs/conferences o Opportunity to take advantage of CONTACT's program and resources o Interlocking themes: o Consortium: New Worlds of Contact o Worlds of Education, Enterprise and Entertainment o CONTACT XIII: Realizing the New Worlds of Contact o Worlds of the Imagination for Education and Research 6. Projects a) CCON role in projects b) SolSys as a model for proof of concept, fundable, projects. 7. Legal a) Rights of CCON and Members b) Liabilities of CCON Board Members c) Patent, Trademark, Servicemark, Copyright d) Moving concepts into the public domain e) Committee for intellectual property rights formed 8. Wrap Up a) Next meeting date b) Next meeting deliverables including personal statements c) Comments about the function of a membership organization o Bruce described the limitations of a membership organization: o These types of organizations normally do not carry out projects, we will be an exception. o The Consortium cannot build software or systems but must instead serve as a catalyst or design house or otherwise enable its members or other participants to build concrete projects. Videos Reviewed on this day during breaks: o The Video of WorldsChat, inhabitable spaces, avatar construction methods (from the SIGGRAPH 95 electronic theater), the Starbright World from Worlds Inc. and the Starbright Foundation, videos from Chris Kekenes. Meeting was adjourned at 7:30pm Dinner was held at Golden Buddha in Soquel at 8pm
Saturday, July 1, 1995 This day was devoted to Blue Sky thinking and focused on the Visual SolSys project. Demonstration of the WorldsChat system in the morning. For a complete enumeration of the items discussed in points 1, 2, 3, 4, and 7, please see the document: Visual SolSys Sim, Design Document 1. Interview with Dr. Reed Riner on his requirements and vision of a visual SolSys. 2. Round of inputs from attendees on their vision for visual SolSys 3. Continued brainstorming on visual SolSys: socio-cultural social pressure 4. Technical implementation possibilities discussed for SolSys 5. Report given on implementation of WorldsChat o Bruce described how WorldsChat was put together from information gathered from the visit to Worlds Inc. on June 23, 1995. o A custom hard-coded server application running on expensive hardware was required to operate WorldsChat at the level of performance seen. o Worlds promised to give us a kit when available to allow us to build our own world. 6. Committee for technical possibilities formed 7. Creation of requirements matrix: social/cultural define the space/interface Videos Reviewed on this day during breaks: o The Video of WorldsChat, inhabitable spaces, avatar construction methods (from the SIGGRAPH 95 electronic theater), the Starbright World from Worlds Inc. and the Starbright Foundation, videos from Chris Kekenes and Steven Hanly. Meeting was adjourned at 6:15pm Dinner was held at India Joze in Santa Cruz
Brainstorming Session
Sunday, July 2, 1995 1. Fundamental decision on a single interface metaphor 2. The Shape of the Sim a) The Off-Sim b) The Under-Sim c) The Over-Sim 3. Goals of the Sim a) Educational Goals b) Socio-Cultural Goals c) High Level Architecture d) Attributes of the Sim 4. Committees reviewed and reformed and people assigned a) Previously formed committees reviewed b) Membership Committee Formed c) Internet Presence Committee Formed d) Policies and Procedures Committee Formed 5. Official Liaisons Assigned: Joel Hagen and Mark Conway 6. Research group proposed for other gaming and cultural systems - Jim 7. NASFiC program finalized Meeting was adjourned at 6:00pm Dinner was held at Terrel Hoffman's residence in Aptos for a few members Reading of "The Eye of Argon" followed dinner
Wrapup of Brainstorming/Business
List of Committees formed between June 30 and July 2, 1995
Actions Requested for August meetingCommittees reviewed and reformed and people assigned a) Previously formed committees reviewed: Intellectual Property Rights o Bruce Damer (Chair), Jim Funaro, Joel Hagen, Chris Kekenes o Rights of contributors o Rights of Consortium o Non-Disclosures o Patent, Trademarks, Servicemarks, Copyrights o Other issues: exclusivity, inclusivity, sharing of information o Publication to force concepts into the public domain o Overflow of intellectual property between projects: a policy and part of all agreements: need legal advice Press Package o Chris Kekenes (Chair), Terrel Hoffman, Johanna Silverthorne, Damon Tkoch o Elements: personalized cover letter, bios and CVs from participants, graphics, membership description and list including advisors, brochure, video and soundbites, description of projects (VSolSys Sim), "in your own words" customization for each person who will be presenting and recruiting o Call for new project proposals in Education, Enterprise and Entertainment o Video Task Force subcommittee: Chris Kekenes (Chair), Johanna Silverthorne Funding o Bruce Damer (Chair), Mark Conway, Jim Funaro, Reed Riner, Damon Tkoch o Who/what is available o What is needed to apply and deadlines o Rules, limits and restrictions on the use of funds and on grant applications o Identify grant writing help Technological Possibilities o Chris Kekenes (Chair), Mark Conway, Bruce Damer, Anthony Hobbs, Damon Tkoch o Survey of technologies (ongoing) by category: o World construction systems, avatar construction, social role playing, survey of current sims (MOO code and operation of DragonMUD), graphical MUDs, VRML, servers for graphical worlds, gestural systems (ASL) b) Membership Committee Formed Membership o Bruce Damer (Chair), Mark Conway, Terrel Hoffman, our Webmaster o Recruiting o Administration o Record Keeping o Membership Kit o Project Enablement (looking for new project participants from any new member) o Evaluation of new members to fit in Consortium structure in more active roles o Listing of membership benefits c) Internet Presence Committee Formed Internet Presence o Damon Tkoch (Chair), Terrel Hoffman, Chris Kekenes o LISTSERV mailing updates o Web page construction and maintenance: graphics and text o Inventory of other sites to point our web page at including members o Costs o On-line techniques: access, restrictions, subscription service (on-line study) o Long term: hosting a world o Investigation of donatable services for CCON web site d) Policies and Procedures Committee Formed Policies and Procedures o Terrel Hoffman (Chair), Mark Conway, Johanna Silverthorne, our Webmaster e) Launch Committee planned o For August Meeting, combination of Press Pack, Membership, Internet Presence, Funding committees o Selection of Venue o Selection of date o Offers of presentations to key players in the industry to help inaugurate Consortium 5. Official Liaisons Assigned: Joel Hagen and Mark Conway o Joel: o Challenger Center o CSU Stanislaus o Artists previously affiliated with CONTACT o Mark: o East Coast, corporations and universities (especially interested in hosting SolSys or participating in the visual project) 6. Research group proposed for other gaming and cultural systems - Jim 7. NASFiC program finalizedNew Committees reformed Intellectual Property Rights o Bruce Damer (Chair), Jim Funaro, Joel Hagen, Chris Kekenes o Rights of contributors o Rights of Consortium o Non-Disclosures o Patent, Trademarks, Servicemarks, Copyrights o Other issues: exclusivity, inclusivity, sharing of information o Publication to force concepts into the public domain o Overflow of intellectual property between projects: a policy and part of all agreements: need legal advice Press Package o Chris Kekenes (Chair), Terrel Hoffman, Johanna Silverthorne, Damon Tkoch o Elements: personalized cover letter, bios and CVs from participants, graphics, membership description and list including advisors, brochure, video and soundbites, description of projects (VSolSys Sim), "in your own words" customization for each person who will be presenting and recruiting o Call for new project proposals in Education, Enterprise and Entertainment o Video Task Force subcommittee: Chris Kekenes (Chair), Johanna Silverthorne Funding o Bruce Damer (Chair), Mark Conway, Jim Funaro, Reed Riner, Damon Tkoch o Who/what is available o What is needed to apply and deadlines o Rules, limits and restrictions on the use of funds and on grant applications o Identify grant writing help Technological Possibilities o Chris Kekenes (Chair), Mark Conway, Bruce Damer, Anthony Hobbs, Damon Tkoch o Survey of technologies (ongoing) by category: o World construction systems, avatar construction, social role playing, survey of current sims (MOO code and operation of DragonMUD), graphical MUDs, VRML, servers for graphical worlds, gestural systems (ASL) Membership o Bruce Damer (Chair), Mark Conway, Terrel Hoffman, our Webmaster o Recruiting o Administration o Record Keeping o Membership Kit o Project Enablement (looking for new project participants from any new member) o Evaluation of new members to fit in Consortium structure in more active roles o Listing of membership benefits Internet Presence o Damon Tkoch (Chair), Terrel Hoffman, Chris Kekenes o LISTSERV mailing updates o Web page construction and maintenance: graphics and text o Inventory of other sites to point our web page at including members o Costs o On-line techniques: access, restrictions, subscription service (on-line study) o Long term: hosting a world o Investigation of donatable services for CCON web site Policies and Procedures o Terrel Hoffman (Chair), Mark Conway, Johanna Silverthorne, our Webmaster
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