CYBERCHAPTER FACT SHEET 2.0
(Replaces Previous Versions) - please forgive the cross posting.
October 3, 1995
 
FROM:    Barbara H. Anderson ([log in to unmask])
        George M. Smart ([log in to unmask])
                The CIAG (list at end of document)
 
CyberChapter is an online HRD (Human Resource Development) learning community
with a local feel on a global level.  CyberChapter plans to apply to the
American Society of Training and Development to be formally chartered as a
chapter, although how CyberChapter operates will be different in several ways
from a traditional "land-based" chapter.
 
CyberChapter is on the move!  The CyberChapter Initial Advisory Group, or
(CIAG), made a platform decision (Compuserve) where we hope the CyberChapter
Forum will be our organizational "home."  YOU are invited to join and co-create
CyberChapter with us.  CyberChapter will go "where no Chapter has gone before!"
 
You can write to the CyberChapter InfoEmpress, Elizabeth Stevens, with questions
any questions that are not answered in this FAQ - see #1 below.  If you have
already indicated interest through a previous note to Elizabeth, Barbara, or
George, you need not send another.  However, we encourage your feedback,
commendations, thoughts, questions, etc.  We're getting a lot of mail, so we
can't guarantee a
personal or timely response, but we will get back to you either directly or
through another update at some point.  Fact Sheet 2.02 will go out at the end of
October.
 
This fact sheet answers the following questions:
1.  How do I join?
2.  When will CyberChapter be available on Compuserve?
3.  What is CyberChapter's current vision?
4.  Who would be a good CyberChapter member?
5.  Will there be dues?
6.  How will CyberChapter differ from ASTD's ONLINE service?
7.  How will Cyberchapter differ from Listserv's such as TRDEV-L on
     Internet?
8.  How did the idea originate?
9.  Who is the CIAG (CyberChapter Initial Advisory Group)?
 
1.  How do I join?  Right now, until the platform is ready, we're not ready to
take on members.  However, please do indicate your interest by sending a note to
InfoEmpress Elizabeth Stevens ([log in to unmask]).  Please say in the body
of the note you have read the "CyberChapter Fact Sheet 2.0".  That helps us
better know what you know.
 
Note:  If you are new to ASTD, ask the InfoEmpress for a copy of CyberChapter
Fact Sheet Supplement 1.05.  It answers basic questions about ASTD.  Thanks to
David Flack, an ASTD National Advisor for Chapters, for recent corrections to
this supplement!
 
2.  When will CyberChapter be available on Compuserve?  We HOPE by the end of
November, but that may be optimistic.  There is much to do, and many details to
work out.  And to make our job easier, please, please don't bug Compuserve with
questions - ask US for now.  When we are ready to accept members, we will
provide information on how to join both CyberChapter and Compuserve.
 
3.   What is CyberChapter's current vision? As we enter a future where
face-to-face contact is replaced by telecommuting and electronic communication,
we see human desire for community only increasing.  We seek to create an
electronically based organization with activities, involvement, and inclusion to
which participants feel belonging.
 
As active members both in ASTD and in the electronic community, we identified
certain qualities which, when brought together, will shape a radically new
chapter design - one without a geographical location but where immediacy and
access allow people to more freely CREATE and CHOOSE appealing levels of
involvement, one where the very context of communication better supports the
associative way in which people learn.
 
CyberChapter will be a catalyst for:
 
A.  Learning through Shared Experiences:  to create a supportive opening for
sharing contexts and insights as practitioners (and as participants!) in HRD.
Where we can get inspiration, validation, coaching, and healing.  Where DIALOGUE
is encouraged.
 
B.  Sense of Community:  to be able to interact with others with similar
functions and interests, having a place where "everybody knows you and accepts
you," although it is OK to differ on ideas.
 
C.  Learning through Information:  to create a easy platform for members to
request information about products, services, training solutions, conferences,
along with candid evaluations of these.  Where we can get "how-to's" and
"what-do-you-think's".
 
D.  Sustainability:  To keep this organization growing and evolving, we want to
maintain a group memory and library where we can learn from our successes and
errors over time.
 
E.  Speed.  Quenches some of our desire for fast turnaround.  To encourage and
complement, but not try to replace, in-person, phone and other communication.
 
F.  Credibility:  Linkage with ASTD, a leading, established, worldwide
organization in Human Resource Development and their Chapter services,
opportunities for Chapter leadership training, and access to their Chapter
Service Representatives, who are among the best in the Association field.
 
4.   Who would be a good CyberChapter member?   The only requirements are a
desire to learn, share, play, put in a little work if asked, and pay your dues.
"Voyeurs" are also welcome, but we can promise that the "view from the stands"
won't be as good as the "action on the field."
 
5.   Will there be dues?   Yes.  As with all professional society chapters,
there will be operational expenses, though we have not yet decided the amount
though we anticipate that the method of collection will probably operate through
Compuserve.
 
6.  How does CyberChapter differ from ASTD's ONLINE service?  While there are
certain core features (e-mail, conferencing, file areas, for example) common to
most all electronic services, CyberChapter is not interested in offering access
to excellent but massive job, literature, vendor, and other large databases
maintained by ONLINE.   ONLINE costs about $125.00 per year in addition to
national dues, so CyberChapter, just like a land-based chapter, allows less
expensive affiliation with ASTD, especially for new members to the profession or
members not interested in ASTD's libraries.
 
7.  How does Cyberchapter differ from Listserv's such as TRDEV-L on Internet?
CyberChapter is not a listserv, it is a membership organization.  Listserv's are
essentially mailing lists where messages sent to the Listserv are distributed to
all list subscribers.  In addition, a Listserv can maintain files and an index
of files.  TRDEV-L, for example, was started in 1990 by David Passmore at Penn
State University as a "medium for quick and accessible communication of issues,
problems, and opportunities in training and development."   We have found value
in our participation on lists but perceive a desire for more and faster
"dialogue" and structure of participation, as well as an opportunity for
community in Cyberspace. So, there will be value in being members of both.
 
8.  How did the idea originate?  George Smart, a former Chapter President
(Research Triangle, NC) and current National Advisor for Chapters, wanted to
start an entirely new organization to take advantage of communications
technology and break new ground through community-building principles.  Barbara
Anderson thought it was a hot idea and together they have created the CIAG and
begun making the vision a reality.
 
9.  Who is the CIAG (the Compuserve Initial Advisory Group)?  Here they are, and
we expect many other leadership opportunities to emerge as CyberChapter evolves.
 
Barbara Anderson
[log in to unmask]
 
George M. Smart, Jr.
Strategic Development, Inc.
[log in to unmask]
 
Sue Bliss
The Career Center
(also President, Central Missouri ASTD)
[log in to unmask]
 
John Snyder
Innovation on Demand
[log in to unmask]
 
George Hathaway
American International Group
[log in to unmask]
 
Angela Chiles
Duke University
[log in to unmask]
 
Larry Dooley
Texas A&M University
[log in to unmask]
 
********************(end of fact sheet 2.0**************************