a.network.beyondASU2

From:  "zeljko_blace" 
Date:  Tue Dec 11, 2001  2:19 pm
Subject:  TAA - DAAAAA !

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Greetings … and apologies for the long silence

We went to Ljubljana much later than we expected, and it took a while
to set up the new lists properly at Ljudmila. It has been some time
since we first posted the announcement about the content and scope of
the three lists, so a reminder might be useful, as well as a
contextualization of the lists in terms of the idea of "a.network."
Both the network and the mailing lists that will be part of it should
not be understood as a renaming of the ASU2 list and of the group of
people who assembled there, but as an idea that originated there. We
have approached people who were not at ASU2 to sign up to the lists
and to be part of the network.


// . . . a.network
_______________________

What's in the name "network"? Can we even say after the hyper-
inflation of the term in the nineties? During the ASU2 meeting
Kestutis Andrasiunas said he thought of "networks" as purely
functional things, sometimes created only for the sake of
appearances, whose primary motive was getting money. People go to
meetings and conferences to "network"--they make small talk, drink,
and rub elbows with the big shots. They make utilitarian connections
for the sake of gaining some future profit, for working on the big
project . . . Beneath the world of networking, there are a lot of
practical, sometimes invisible, sometimes informal collaborations
that happen. These are pleasurable both for the sake of just making
connections and also because some interesting projects have come out
of the brainstorming of groups. But they often don't reach the
necessary height to be noticed by the gaze of funding institutions.

So it might be useful to distinguish what we would like a
future "network" to be. On the one hand, it would definitely be
USEFUL TO BE VIEWED AS A "SERIOUS" NETWORK, bound by certain
interests and working towards some Recognizable GOAL (like the
exchange of knowledge, ideas and resources between partners,
promoting media culture in areas that are currently without it,
approaching big organizations/bodies such as W3). It might MAKE
THINGS MORE CREDIBLE for the sake of getting money (otherwise
unreachable EU funds, which would need Western European partners for
instance). But beneath this official appearance, a.net would work
quite naturally and out of its own momentum as informal connections
between people, some on a smaller scale, others in larger
proportions. This process has already started to develop since Labin
in September. Kuda and Mama are setting up reciprocal visas for
ongoing visits during the year. … Kuda was invited to do a
presentation at Buryzone, Candida is in correspondence about an event
with Cyberpipe... And these all happened without becoming visible on
the list. These kinds of connections are what would sustain the
association of people beyond the name of the network.

During ASU2 we discussed a.network as starting as a network of south
east european media centers, it would be better to think of it not as
regional, but as TRANS-LOCAL, which would include the local (by being
rooted in a local community/association) but NOT BE LIMITED TO
SPECIFIC BOUNDARIES. Initially, the position of a.net is already
focused on this region of eastern europe only in the sense that the
original impetus, administration and immediate future meetings are
concentrated in between Zagreb and Ljubljana. But after the
administration of the list passes from Mama in Zagreb and Ljudmila in
Ljubljana to InterSpace in Sofia and another partner (perhaps Kuda in
Novi Sad), it can migrate wherever the next initiative to continue it
comes from. Which means the place where the next round of people is
willing to do often unrewarding work of sustaining it ;) In principle
there are no geographical restrictions.
Ideally, a fresh supply of blood, ideas and energy every so often
will be necessary to keep it from stagnating.

This is NOT A NETWORK TO REPLACE those that already actively operate,
but rather a network that can articulate and coordinate activities
and PROVIDE A FRAMEWORK that is wide enought to support both
fundraising, advocating, and organizing activities in the field of
new media culture (from tactical media to artistic practicies, from
pragmatic software development to advocating our positions to policy
makers, from publications on e.culture to theoretical essays and
research)… This might look ambitious, but it is something that still
remains to be done on an international level.

We should admit that from an aerial perspective a.network does not
yet exist . . . The informal exchanges that have taken place since
Labin have not been formulated as a network activity, though on many
levels they may be more important. And we don't want to "draft"
participants of ASU2 into this network as a kind of reflex or natural
follow-up, because many people might have no interest in it. So those
who are INTERESTED should demonstrate their interest by at least
SIGNING UP TO THE NEW LISTS. And, pragmatically, to make it a
recognizable entity will mean
- drafting proposals,
- setting up a website,
- formulating something resembling a mission statement, and
- perhaps a baptism in the form of an annual meeting during which the
members of the network could come together.

a.lists:
____________________

For reasons that are not so easy to explain, the names of the
individual lists changed (it was a joke about a soft, medium and
hardboiled egg that I made to Zeljko and which he communicated to
Luka at Ljudmila … anyway the names stuck. So:

a.org became => a.hard:
http://www2.ljudmila.org/mailman/listinfo/a.hard
a.pub became => a.medium:
http://www2.ljudmila.org/mailman/listinfo/a.medium
a.soft remained => a.soft:
http://www2.ljudmila.org/mailman/listinfo/a.medium

Here is a reminder of the purpose and scope of each list in the form
of an excerpt from a previous post to the ASU2 list.

>> a.hard (formerly referred to as a.org) is a mailing list for
autonomous organizations, for sharing and discussing models (and
problems) of organization as well as for making concrete proposals
for organizing upcoming events and collecting partners for ideas and
funding. This list would not be used for announcements of upcoming
events (there is a difference between announcing an event is
happening next week, which is already complete on the level of
organization, and soliciting collaboration for planning events in the
next couple of months or so.) Announcements of events would be
uploaded directly to the events page of the website, members could
check the site for updates, without getting a flood of messages in
their inboxes.

>> a.medium (formerly referred to as a.pub) is a list for web
publishers (including magazines that have both web and print
versions), a shared database of ideas. Many country-specific
magazines that have web versions tend to have the same people writing
in different issue, so one of the goals of a.medium would be to
establish a forum among web publishers where each would print a list
of the articles for the next issue (not the articles themselves, but
perhaps a one sentence description) and those who are interested in
specific content could start sharing texts and ideas. On a broader
level, the list would present the opportunity for publishers to talk
about the models they are currently using, and what might be most
appropriate for web distribution.

>> a.soft is a list for software developers, recognizing the need for
communication and coordination among developers, and the desire for
know-ware exchange. Several funds have recently been established for
software development, and collaboration among partners would be a
pragmatic approach to applying for them. The list would facilitate
discussions of issues such as standardization of media exchange and
news logs, as well as of more theoretical issues, for instance, about
the social implications of software. … As there are already software
specific lists, this one will attempt to transcend the closed
discussions of "other" lists.

Contrary to the original post, we have decided that WE WILL NOT
SUBSCRIBE people, they would SUBSCRIBE THEMSELVES. So you will DECIDE
which of the 3 you want to sign up for - and you can subscribe
directly on the web interface for the 3 lists:

a.hard: http://www2.ljudmila.org/mailman/listinfo/a.hard
a.medium: http://www2.ljudmila.org/mailman/listinfo/a.medium
a.soft: http://www2.ljudmila.org/mailman/listinfo/a.medium

Over the next couple of weeks we are inviting people/organizations
who we know (of) and who we think would be interested in joining (and
we will send a list of subscribers and brief descriptions to each of
the lists, so everyone would know who is in the house) . Later, after
the lists are already running, we will post a public announcement to
other lists (like nettime, rhizome, syndicate, spektre …, as well as
to country specific lists). Those who are interested would only be
able to subscribe by filling out a web based application form that
would require information about their organization, projects, and
interests in joining the list, etc… which would hopefully deter
people who are into joining whatever list just for the sake of
joining and who become lurkers once they join. We will keep
asu2@yahoogroups.com running only a few more weeks until web is set-
up and people subscribe to new lists (mainly as a tool for feedback
on new tools).

There will be no posting of announcements (of events, festivals,
publications, art projects) on these 3 lists (in FAQ we will advise
using nettime, rhizome, spektre, syndicate for these). Members will
be able to upload announcements themselves to the public, web log
(set up on ljudmila.org). The site will have different sections, some
for the archiving of knowledge (knowledge base), some for current
activities (calendar of events), others more referential (adressbook,
links, and funding references). We would like to have your FEEDBACK
regarding the extra features/content on the website before deciding
on its structure and choosing which software to use. Both Everything2
and TWiki have been discussed so far, and the later one seems to
offer more advantages (since Ljudmila already has it installed and
because it can be used to syndicate content with other Wikis setup in
NY, Berlin, Amsterdam ... mostly through the work of Walter Van Der
Crujisen).

As a reminder of the closing ASU2 roundtable discussion, and the
previous posts, we have decided for a number of reasons that the
lists would not be moderated but only administered, which places the
responsibility on the side of the members to use them wisely and
exercise some restraint in posting opinions about the war against
Afghanistan, or announcements of upcoming events, or self-
advertisements about recent art projects (we used the term "art
projects" deliberately here, since a.soft will obviously include
discussions of members' work on software projects, which might have
artistic quality :).

Responses, suggestions, ideas welcome!

Joanne and Zeljko