Hi Rob, Good! I'm not totally out of it, and many thanks for providing the information I was fishing for (the PDF has much more info than the webpage schedule, which, at least when I looked at it, was light on details of SIG lunches).
ari On Mon, Nov 10, 2008 at 4:07 PM, Rob Lancefield on lists <lists at lancefield.net> wrote: > Hi Ari and all, > > This is just my personal 2 cents as a former MCN SIG (Special Interest > Group) chair, but I'd say your experience is not at all atypical and in > no way a symptom of cluelessness--rather, a sign of accurate radar. Most > SIGs do fall fairly dormant for most of the year, with a few exceptions. > > That said, and in the spirit of transparency, inclusivity, and our MCN > conference this week (three good things!), two thoughts I can float: > > 1. This cyclical slide into semi-dormancy is something the SIGs have > struggled with forever, to a first approximation; and a SIG is really > only as active as its members make it. (By the way, to note this isn't > to diss our SIG chairs, but quite the opposite: they're the leaders in > this struggle against entropy.) So, I'd encourage conference attendees > who feel that they have common interest with any of the SIGs to drop by > a meeting or two, speak up, and maybe spur--and run with--an idea. The > conference schedule (see At-a-Glance, pp. 7-9, for SIGs) is online at: > > <http://www.mcn.edu/conferences/index.asp?subkey=2093> . > > And for a list of all SIGs, please see: <http://www.mcn.edu/groups> . > > 2. Great ideas re: other approaches to maintaining electronic space for > SIG content. MCN's entire assemblage of electronic services is a key > area of reassessment and work for MCN, so I'd encourage you--and anyone > else who may be interested--to keep sharing your ideas, so we can fold > them into that process. The annual general meeting (Thursday, 3PM) will > offer a chance to see who's leading MCN committee work in this and other > areas, and to hear truly brief updates on what those areas of work are. > > Hope this may help, and that it didn't veer too far off into boosterism! > > thanks, > Rob > ______________________________________________ > Rob Lancefield (rlancefield [at] wesleyan.edu) > Manager of Museum Information Services / Registrar of Collections > Davison Art Center, Wesleyan University > 301 High Street, Middletown CT 06459-0487 USA > 860.685.2965 > Vice President / President-Elect, Museum Computer Network (MCN) > > On 11/10/08 3:00 PM, Ari Davidow wrote: >> As long as I am asking convoluted questions.... >> >> At the last MCN conference I attended, two years ago, I was very >> interested in several SIGs and thought that I "joined". Here it is two >> years later. I can't recall any SIG discussions that I have had in the >> intervening time (other than the IP-SIG, for which Amalya posts >> frequently and noticably), and those particular SIG pages, including >> the related resource pages, do not look like they have changed since. >> >> Is this people's general experience? Did I most likely just not make >> my interest known such that it was captured and acted on (as in, be >> part of ongoing discussions)? >> >> And, of course, am I the only person who suspects that a wiki, perhaps >> among other CoP tools, might be a better way to capture and maintain >> information in these SIGs, as generated, rather than what appear to be >> the current static, unmaintained html pages? >> >> Is there more we can do with SIGs that would be useful? Which ones are >> meeting at MCN (I think I noticed two or three SIG meetings--IP SIG, >> plus California and Taiwan? in the calendar....) >> >> ari > _______________________________________________ > You are currently subscribed to mcn-l, the listserv of the Museum Computer > Network (http://www.mcn.edu) > > To post to this list, send messages to: mcn-l at mcn.edu > > To unsubscribe or change mcn-l delivery options visit: > http://toronto.mediatrope.com/mailman/listinfo/mcn-l >
