Shakespeare Electronic Conference, Vol. 2, No. 91. Monday, 25 Mar 1991.
Date: Mon, 25 Mar 91 16:12:04 EST
From: Ken Steele <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>
Subject: SHAKSPER at the Vancouver SAA
Thank-you all for your patience during SHAKSPER's brief hiatus; let
me assure you that it was worth it. The Shakespeare Association of
America kindly supplied an exhibitor's table for SHAKSPER at its
conference in Vancouver, and leased an appropriate computer and display
for the twenty-five minute demonstration. Many thanks to Nancy Hodge
and Jill Bagwell of the Association for making SHAKSPER's presence
possible.
It was a pleasure to meet with current and prospective members of
this conference, and I was gratified at the level of interest
demonstrated among even the most conservative of scholars. Already
today I have signed on three new members, two from the University of
British Columbia itself, and I am confident that we will soon be
joined by many others who picked up the SHAKSPER brochure or viewed
the demonstration.
Particular thanks are due to Michael Warren of the University of
California at Santa Cruz; his personal endorsement of SHAKSPER in
his Presidential Address during the conference luncheon triggered
more interest in my exhibit than all the posters and flyers I could
muster! Also many thanks to Steve Urkowitz of the City University of
New York, who triggered a second wave of interest later in the
conference by his very kind words about SHAKSPER in his session paper.
Thanks too to all of you who have privately encouraged your
colleagues to join us.
Although the Trustees of the Shakespeare Association were unable
to officially "endorse" the SHAKSPER conference, they have agreed
to publish a sizable announcement in the SAA Bulletin, which is
more than I could reasonably ask. Combined with the two influential
personal endorsements mentioned above, this will raise SHAKSPER's
profile among our non-Bitnetted colleagues considerably, and should
lead to the increases in membership and resources I suggested in
my earlier note.
The SHAKSPER brochures and paper handouts proved very popular, and
disappeared from the table in record time. (This considerably
lightened my luggage on the return trip!) I still have a number of
SHAKSPER Sampler Diskettes, however, and Demonstration/Simulation
diskettes available, should members of SHAKSPER themselves be
interested. The Sampler Diskettes contain logbooks for SHAKSPER's
first eight months, biography files, sample files from the Fileserver,
etc.-- all material which you can easily obtain via the Fileserver.
The diskette is designed, however, for those who do not yet have
Bitnet access, as a taste to whet their appetites. The demonstration/
simulation is the 25-minute demo which explains global networks,
electronic mail, and SHAKSPER to those with no familiarity whatsoever
with the basic concepts. This demonstration might be useful to
encourage e-mail use in your departments, although it is admittedly
not comprehensive, nor perhaps the most brilliant demonstration of
its kind (although I am not aware of any similar demonstration
software).
Both diskettes are available only in 720kb IBM 3.5-inch format,
although the demonstration is also available on a single 1.44mb
diskette. The demonstration requires VGA graphics and a hard disk
to run, and is optimized for a 386 processor. The media charge
is five dollars per diskette, to cover media, photocopying, and
mailing expenses -- although if you send me a self-addressed
envelope and a blank diskette, I may be able to spring for the
postage. Interested members can contact me via e-mail.
While in Vancouver I picked up a number of interesting and
valuable announcements, which will begin appearing on SHAKSPER
as time permits. (The first appears today). Anyone with comments,
reviews, or questions arising from seminars or sessions in Vancouver
is welcome to send them along.
Welcome to our new members, welcome back to those of you who
waited so patiently, and welcome home to those of you who were also in
Vancouver!
Ken Steele
University of Toronto
