[arg_discuss] Weekly Informal IRC Chats

[Wendy Despain]

Well, the Writing SIG uses this chat room instead of IRC for several
reasons. You decide if they apply here or not. I'm just saying it's an
option.

1) Compatibility. Sure, everyone can get to IRC - if they know how.
Web interfaces are finicky and doing things the old-fashioned way
requires some technical know-how. The chatroom requires pretty much no
technical knowledge and thus there's a lower barrier to entry.

2) Simplified message. Instead of having to explain all the various
ways of getting to IRC, getting to the right room, etc. all we have to
do is distribute the URL, the date and the time (which can be
confusing enough when working with a large group.)

3) Control of logs. Anyone can log the conversation on IRC. Only admin
can log the conversation on the chatroom. While it's been more
important for the Writing SIG to be able to have _reliable_ logging
(which not all web chats have) in this case I can see where turning
the logging off could be beneficial.

4) Control of the server. I have direct access to the guy who owns the
server this chatroom is sitting on, so if I want changes or if
something goes horribly wrong fixes are just a phonecall (or IM or
email) away.

So that's why we use it instead of IRC. Your mileage may vary.

Wendy Despain
quantumcontent.com


On Mon, August 18, 2008 2:13 pm, Gupfee wrote:

> Why is this option better than IRC on chat-sol?

>

> Marie

>

> On Mon, Aug 18, 2008 at 2:54 PM, Wendy Despain

> <wendeth at wendydespain.com>wrote:

>

>> One of the members of the Writing SIG set up this chat room:

>> http://chat.zakelro.com/

>>

>> The Writers use it on rare occasions, and would be happy to share.

>>

>> Wendy Despain

>> quantumcontent.com

>>

>>

>> On Mon, August 18, 2008 11:40 am, Andrea Phillips wrote:

>> > After the official SIG chat last night, which mainly dealt with

>> Moo

>> > cards, a few people expressed disappointment that there wasn't

>> time to

>> > just talk about stuff that's on our minds. While there is

>> > off-the-record time to just chat after the agenda items are done,

>> this

>> > is a real, valid problem. So!

>> >

>> > I propose a rotating weekly chat on IRC (...or actually, Wendy has

>> > said she has a better platform, if she'll speak up?) This time

>> would

>> > be good for the "Well, how do you price out your proposals?" and

>> "How

>> > much are you charging for X?" and "Say, what's the best freemail

>> > provider for Y?" and "Which blogging platform has been the most

>> > secure?" and "My GOD did you see what io9 said this time?!" kinds

>> of

>> > discussions that a lot of people want to have, but not so many

>> people

>> > want to have recorded.

>> >

>> > We could time-shift this chat to start three hours later every

>> time,

>> > to try to make it convenient for people around the globe.

>> (Actually,

>> > there's no reason we can't keep a chat open all the time, and just

>> > remind people it's there every now and again. :) Not sure if

>> weekdays

>> > or weekends work better for more people, though.

>> >

>> > I arbitrarily say that the first of these informal chats will

>> begin

>> > Thursday Aug. 21, at noon Eastern US time. That's 9am/09:00 on the

>> > West Coast, 5pm/17:00 in Britain, and 2am/02:00 in Sydney. (Sorry,

>> > Christy...)

>> >

>> > If you miss it, there's another one next week... but these

>> transcripts

>> > will NOT be posted to the list, to allow people a little more

>> latitude

>> > in what they say.

>> >

>> > Pending a better idea than IRC for the chat, I'll post join

>> > instructions again on Wednesday sometime.

>> >

>> > --

>> > Andrea Phillips

>> > http://www.deusexmachinatio.com

>> > Words * Culture * Interaction

>> > _______________________________________________

>> > ARG_Discuss mailing list

>> > ARG_Discuss at igda.org

>> > http://five.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/arg_discuss

>> >

>>

>>

>> Wendy Despain

>> quantumcontent.com

>>

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Wendy Despain
quantumcontent.com