M Groups
Why not tell them through MWM. Send us information about you. Tell us about your activities--recent past, and future--and we'll pass them on to the world. Tell us about your publications, send in an expanded Table of Contents of a couple of issues and/or an article from a past edition of your publication. Give us an e-mail address where people can write for more information. We'll publish the material you send in for FREE in the next issue of MWM. |
Welcome to the first edition of MWM. It seems such a long time ago when I first mumbled, in an e-mail, the thought of putting on the net an e-zine on M. The reply should be in one of the mail directories but I still remember the comment; "Great Idea, but do you know what it involves and how difficult it is to get people to write about M".
At that time I replied that I didn't really know, all I had were a few notes scribbled on the back side of already printed computer paper and a very rough idea on the first step towards this goal; a questionnaire. Luck has it that the paper didn't get torn up (like some other ideas I usually note down) and today the result of this idea is awaiting your constructive criticism. Please do drop us an e-mail telling us what you think. My e-mail address is chribonn@softhome.net. If you would like to keep the message private, simply type in PRIVATE in the header. If you would like to direct your comments and thoughts to MWM you should set the message line to read MWM Feedback.
Publications and web presence about M are the most effective method to promote the language both to newcomers seeking out a language to play around with and those already using the language (how many mumpsters are completely unaware of developments in the language and of activities taking place?). The Internet is probably the most widespread and cheapest medium to deliver information about the language. The need for M groups and organizations (I'll be using the term groups henceforth) is paramount as these entities shift, evolve and sort out the real life aspects on M; but dissipation of M outside the encircling boundaries these groups operate in when dealing with issues using non-virtual means is greatly limited. The net can help to see through such limitations. A person with no interest in M must first become interested in the language to even consider joining a M group; the net can serve to attract people to a group. Once a person becomes interested in a language, s/he will consider a subscription only if the person is convinced that joining the group will benefit her / him. How can all this happen if that person can't "touch" these things.
Many people think free when they think net. And to a certain extent that is quite true; those advertising banners pay most of the free on the net and this in itself could already become a source of income for some groups. Free aside, there are many places that are members only; once you type in your credit card number, you can enter these restricted areas. OK, so you don't want to subscribe now but want more information; simply fill in your e-mail address. Sure, you're given a sample of what to expect inside, but the goodies are safely locked. Many people will stay on the perimeter but that's life on the net (on how many banners have you clicked recently?). The net in its commercial shroud is still in it's infancy and many of us pioneers will have experiments up our sleeves ready to try out. At MWM, were thinking, for example, of making back issues downloadable so that people can read the entire issue offline. We're free, but what if it took a password to unzip the e-zine of a group. I've read a bit about conferences lately, and here again, some would like to be there but restrictions; such as age, distance, money and others; might inhibit physical presence. What if one paid to attend a virtual conference (or was automatically granted the status of observer if s/he was a member of the group). Will it work? How should it be tackled? Only the group that tries it out first will be in a position to respond.
How can you help MWM? Donate...Web Space You're only an e-mail away. |
We would like to see more M publications sprout on the net, and, will be more than happy to assist those who might be interested in any way we can. For those who might want to set up their own publication, here are a few points that might help:
I must admit that things didn't go as smoothly as the points above seem to indicate. The influx of HTML volunteers ended up with a situation were I lost track of who did what. The single e-mail address was, at times, so full of unread message that I had to delete messages after I processed them; on some occasions a good message would get caught in the lot. I hope and will try to tackle these issues more efficiently in the future issues of MWM.
I would like to thank all those who contributed to making MWM the product you are reading. We have produced our first idea of interactiveness. And as we settle in, we hope to utilize this unique feature more. Expect other interactive behaviors out of MWM in coming issues.
At MWM we are suffering a resource flu (like almost all the people I talk to). There main reasons for this are:
Please appreciate that the banners you see floating on the pages are not income banners. The top banner (US site only) makes it possible for the US mirror to have 5MB disk space, while the one at the bottom is a link barter banner (for every hit these pages get, another site will be showing an MWM banner). Having said all that, the annual sum we're talking about is quite low. While we wown't be saying no to any donation, MWM will try to raise funds by selling text-based dedications at the top of selected page for the duration of an issue. Rates are $15 for three months and pages will be given out on a first come first served basis. Wishing someone a happy birthday three months after the occasion would be quite stale and therefore we will also be offering dedications that will fall between two dates within an issue. If you're interested, please send in an e-mail with the subject MWM_Dedication. If you think you can help us in any other way, we'll welcome it.
Before signing off, I would like to add that MWM is possible because people generate the material that makes pages possible. The next issue is already in the works and we are open to your contributions, be they e-mail, articles, HTML, graphics and non-M pieces for the Wasted and MFreeZone sections.
