Last week, this column concentrated on the dynamics found in the Internet chat channels, how the people who inhabit the channels have found a common bond, regardless of their actual whereabouts, professions or economic status.

Also mentioned was the fact that no matter how easy it was to talk to someone on the"Net", people are still people, and meeting each other in what is called "real life" is a daily topic. Although pictures can be exchanged on the "Net", giving you somewhat of an idea of who you're talking to, it's no substitute for actually hearing the laugh, seeing the smile and reading the body language.

One thing which was not discussed last week, is the fact that most of the regulars use nicknames instead of their real names.

Half the fun of the chat rooms is investigating the nicknames used, and the reasoning behind them. Some of these names can be descriptive, some are clever little twists on people's real names or some are tongue-in-cheek statements about the people.

A friend of mine, Sue, a housewife in Maine, uses the name Fiero, after her favorite car. Another friend uses the nickname Bogey, which is simply a twist on his real last name. A helicopter pilot from Mississippi goes by the handle of SkyPilot and a farmer in Indiana has rather cleverly named himself DeereDriver. Some indicate gender and location like those names chosen by JaneCA, Peaches AZ or LindaWyo.

Other "nicks" used by the regulars are more whimsical such as those chosen by the people who call themselves ShaggyDog, EarthyLady, SkyBlue, Walkn or Hawkeye. We even have a regular, a pressman from North Carolina, who calls himself InkSlinger. Or they can be more descriptive such as the name I chose, Arkhobbit, which simply translates as a short person from Arkansas (even though a friend of mine from Pasadena, Calif., OhBaby, insists on calling me munchkin).

The second weekend in April a bunch of these strangely-named people who regularly hang out in a particular channel decided to do something they'd talked about for months -- actually meet one another face-to-face.

As most of those who were going to attend this gathering were from Canada, and the fact that two of the regulars would be attending a convention in Toronto that same weekend, that city was decided upon as our meeting site.

Seventeen of the 100-plus channel regulars decided they could make the trip and as with any large group, particular friends held smaller get-togethers in various spots before joining the larger group.

So it was, that early Friday afternoon, Bogey (Vaughn) and I, Fiero (Sue) and her husband Murdoch (John), who is also a channel regular, SweetP (Deb) and SuperShelly, had an initial meeting in Fi's and Murdoch's hotel room.

Hugs, introductions, kisses and handshakes magically transferred the rapport found on the channel into real life. Gone in an instant was any hesitation or shyness in meeting what had been electronic friends in the cold light of day.

Shortly after our meeting, we moved on to another hotel where most of the other regulars were staying. Walking into the meeting site for me, was almost the same as logging onto the channel -- the only difference was my friends were now in living color, not just flat type on a screen.

There were ShaggyDog (Bob), with the puckish sense of humor and the easy smile; the three amigos, Jade, EarthyLady and SkyBlue (Renee, Gerrie and Julia) who keep us all in constant stitches on-line and off. Denny and his wife, CatLady; Illini, the 6'2" red mustache who translated into Joe from Wisconsin; and Ozzie, a school principal from Barrie, Canada.

Since you can't get any group of people together without feeding them, one of the events scheduled was dinner at a local Italian restaurant where we would eventually meet other group members: AJ (Alan) who had flown all the way from San Francisco, and IW (Teri), who along with Dawnzella actually lived in Toronto.

Dinner together was an unqualified success. Beginning the festivities, Shaggy, whom we had unanimously nominated as the host and master of ceremonies, handed Fiero a surprise in recognition of some of her daily antics on the channel: a miniature John Deere tractor and spreader to remind her of a friend and buddy who couldn't make the gathering, DeereDriver.

Another gift was handed out by Shaggy to yours truly, the crumbs of a mostly eaten chocolate bar, a tongue-in-cheek, poke in the ribs regarding my constant whining about my children always eating all the chocolate in my house.

As with any friends, who see each other on a constant basis, a lot of inside jokes were made. One of these is a line Fiero usually uses when she's been flustered or one-upped by another member -- usually DeereDriver. She almost always tells the other person, "bite me". Shortly after Shaggy had gifted her with the remembrance from Deere, Fi actually uttered those fateful words. A passing waiter, deciding to be helpful and join in the group's 'joie de vivre', bent down and bit Sue on the shoulder -- hard!

The look on her face at that moment was priceless. No one had ever called her bluff in or out of the channel so quickly or forcefully!

I think that moment was the high point of the evening. Nothing else could have brought the essence of friendship, begun in the channel so strongly into reality - as Fiero and the waiter - and it could only have happened to her!

In retrospect, one week after the gathering, I can truly say that meeting on-line friends had one benefit - it solidified and cemented budding friendships into something tangible and real. It created some true life-long friendships.

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If you would like to drop the author a note about the article please email to deborah@ipa.net

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