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"Fleet Should Remember The
"Off-line" Folks....." |
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"Fleet Should Remember The
"Off-line" Folks....." |
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STARFLEET was founded nearly 25 years ago by people who no doubt had the vision to imagine where we are in electronic communications right now. Sending electronic messages, pictures and videos was something they probably thought about as they typed up their Communiqué or wrote out a letter to for distribution to their crew. And, while our current technology offers amazing and incredible possibilities we have to keep in mind that about 60% of the population in the United States (my apologies to our International folks, I don't have figures for them) doesn't have a readily available computer for Internet and/or e-mail access. Now I grant you, STARFLEET folks are typically technologically oriented, so I'm willing to bet that a higher percentage of our members have Internet access than most of the population but, until the time that all of our membership have easy access to electronic communications, we have to keep in mind that there are people who need and may even prefer (remember.... IDIC!) paper copies of lists, documents, messages, etc. The folks who are "off-line" have as much right to receive timely information as those who are "on-line." (Timely to me being within a week of the electronic distribution.) I am not saying we should discontinue sharing "official" STARFLEET information via the Internet. The benefits of cost savings (paper, printing, postage) and virtually instantaneous communications (cyber AB/EC meetings, "Fireside Chats") outweigh the liabilities. However, if we allow ideas and information to be disseminated "on-line" and then don't distribute them membership-wide (or distribute them weeks later membership-wide) we create a division in this wonderfully diverse club and take the risk of losing members who become disillusioned with what STARFLEET is about. We are not a "virtual" or "cyberspace" club. We are a club based on real people who enjoy the various forms of Star Trek and share Gene Roddenberry's vision of the future. There is already a perception that you can't really "go" anywhere in STARFLEET unless you are "on-line" and running with the "on-line" crowd. This is a misconception those of us who are "on-line" need to help correct. There are many, many STARFLEET members who help within their chapters, regions and internationally every day without e-mail, the Internet or a computer in sight. We need to recognize these folks and their contributions. We also need to take it upon ourselves to be "Electronic Ambassadors" and to help distribute information as accurately and as widely as possible to those folks who are "off-line." Perhaps "adopting" a chapter or a member to share information with. All members bring valuable experiences and ideas to the membership as a whole. Accommodations should be made so everyone has easy access to any information available about STARFLEET and can participate at whatever level they feel comfortable.
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