[MUD-Dev] Roundtable status, changes, and future.

[J C Lawrence]

There has been some confusion surrounding the organising and
function of the proposed roundtable.  The discussion began on 12 Jan
2000:

  http://www.kanga.nu/archives/Meta-L/2001Q1/msg00038.php

Solidified:

  http://www.kanga.nu/archives/Meta-L/2001Q1/msg00053.php
  http://www.kanga.nu/archives/Meta-L/2001Q1/msg00063.php

And then seemed to split:

  http://www.kanga.nu/archives/Meta-L/2001Q1/msg00069.php
  http://www.kanga.nu/archives/Meta-L/2001Q1/msg00071.php

Later list traffic, and my InBox in particular showed there was
significant interest and need for a technical conference for the
field (as versus another trade show), along with people willing to
help organise and build such an effort.  Pretty soon there was a
group of us trying to figure out how to do this "properly", along
with a large dose of confusion as to what "properly" meant, and what
would actually be involved if we did do it "properly".

Unfortunately much of the confusion and delays were due to my
ignorance and inexperience in conferences and related affairs.
Along with several people's help, most notably Geoffrey MacDougall
of The Sapience Group who has conference organising experience, I've
been working to change that (this is in partial excuse for usually
taking three to four days or longer lately to reply to emails, so
please accept my apologies).  Some results:

  -- I've filed articles of incorporation for a non-profit to
  host/run/operate the roundtable and related affairs.  The
  processes are in gear to become federally recognised as tax
  deductable under 501(c)(3).

  -- I've retained Dan Appelman of Heller Ehrman White and
  McAulliffe to act as legal counsel for the non-profit.  Dan
  Appelman has been the legal counsel to Usenix for ~15 years and
  brings with him a wealth of experience with the concerns of
  non-profits and technical associations in particular that has
  already proven invaluable (and enlightening).

  -- Geoffrey McDougall on behalf of The Sapience Group has
  generously offered to lend his long experience in conference
  organisation and logistics to help make this first roundtable a
  roaring success.

  -- Christopher Allen on behalf of Skotos has generously offered to
  contribute toward the costs of the first roundtable.

  --- Martin Best on behalf of Poptronik has generously offered
  to contribute a web and graphics design team toward building the
  initial web site for the non-profit.

  -- John Szeder and Brian Green on behalf of Near Death Studios
  have generously offered to help staff and operate the roundtable.

  -- And before I go on to list too many of you (this message is
  already going to be long enough), thank you for all the words of
  encouragement and advice I've been receiving off-list.  You know
  who you are.  Thank you.

Of course if you or your company would also like to assist (and of
course be duly recognised for that), please contact me off-list.
We're still looking for help in numerous areas, ranging from audio
engineers, layup and printing, documentation, swag specification and
purchasing, catering, and a large host of other areas.

  A further nod should be given at this point to Geoffrey, who, on
  behalf of The Sapience Group, over many long phone calls helped
  work out the basics of the non-profit and how it must work.  More
  than anyone else, he helped define the final concepts.  We would
  not be this far along today without his help.

So what are we talking about here with this non-profit?  The
organisation in question is the:

  Mediated Environment Research Association (MERA)

MERA's charter is:

  ...to foster constructive research into mediated social
  environments and the technologies and disciplines required for
  their design, implementation, and operation.

Yes, that's broad.  It is intended to be.  "MUDs", for whatever the
actual definition of that term, has come to cover far more than
Quake-isms at the one end or over-weight IRC at the other.  Bartle's
four suits covers one set of axis, but PBEM, tabletop games, LARPs,
and a host of other forms are actively blurring the distinctions
while sharing many of the same core problems.  "Mediated
Environment" seems to capture the essence of what makes this field,
and in particular what makes it interesting.

Another way of phrasing the purpose and function of MERA, is that
MERA is to act as a neutral and fair meeting ground for the field; a
place for those constructively interested in the area to get
together and investigate and network and learn.  This is a technical
association, not a trade show.  The interest is in building and
sharing knowledge.

As the wording states: this is primarily a research oriented
organisation, but with a rather generous and pragmatic
interpretation of "research".  The base model is Usenix done better.
SIGGRAPH is another and perhaps better comparative, tho I know less
of that organisation or its operations to speak well.  Both
organisations operate on what I loosely describe as the, "I went
out, I looked, and this is what I found," model of research.  Or, to
render into practical terms, this is not an exclusively academic
organisation.  It is also not an exclusively business oriented,
hobbyist, commercial game, game or socialiser oriented, pure theory
or pure application oriented organisation.  The interest is in
"constructive research".  That extends all the way out to economists
and political theorists investigating MUDs as research microcosms,
as well as to hobbyists projects like WorldForge, Moebius, or Muq,
or the commercial ventures we read of so often.  The intent is to be
embrasive.

The challenge is to build a useful working balance among all those
factions while remaining independent and impartial; technically fair
and open to the entire population: hobbyist and commercial, academic
or amateur or professional, GOP or RPer or socialise, furry ... or
any of our other divides.

The exact internal form of MERA is still being determined.  More
research and discovery is required, both into sponsorship and grant
opportunities as well as the final organisational structure.  Many
of you are already part of those discussions, and your help has been
greatly appreciated.  

The costs associated with setting up the conference, covering the
various legal liabilities, renting the equipment, setting up an
MBone broadcast of the proceedings and so forth are not
insignificant.  It is not reasonable to rely entirely on sponsors
for this without jeopardising MERA's independence and autonomy.  As
a result, MERA, like Usenix and partially like SIGGRAPH, will be
based on a dues paying membership.  However, while we obviously need
to cover costs, this is a non-profit organisation.  My hope is that
we can set the normal membership fee (which gains you entrance to
the roundtable as well as future services/activities during the
following year etc) well under $100 with a lower student rate and
possibly a sponorship program.  Exactly what the membership fee will
be still has to be determined as it depends both on what our
predicted costs will be as well as how many memberships are
collected.

So what is the first roundtable going to consist of?  This is still
being worked on, but we're heading a for a full day program with the
currently proposed topic list reading:

  -- Intricacies of interactive fiction

  -- Social control: the nature of deviance in virtual worlds 

  -- Technical discussions (this one is still being worked on)

  -- Closing remarks, speculation, and future planning.

A more extensive description of the topics will be posted later
(we're still pending several abstracts and other details).  The
general format for each session will be a chaired roundtable of all
present on Sunday, 26 March 2001 (the day after GDC).

There's still a lot of work to be done.  I've registered meraweb.org
(mera.* was taken) and there is work ongoing to build an initial web
site and sign-up form for those wishing to attend the rountable,
along with a consent form for those wishing to present papers.  With
luck we'll be able to get something up this weekend.  

For those of you who have emailed previously indicating your intent
to attend the roundtable, please fill out the sign-up form once it
is up and running (there will be another announcement).  Due to the
rather different and more extensive nature of the roundtable now, we
really should do a recount.

Some related URLs:

  http://www.usenix.org/
  http://www.usenix.org/membership/application.html
  http://www.usenix.org/about/goodworks.html
  http://www.usenix.org/events/usenix01/
  http://www.usenix.org/events/usenix01/instrux/consent.html
  http://www.siggraph.org/
  http://asec.cs.gsu.edu/asecdl/acm_siggraph_mission.htm (excellent!)
  http://www.siggraph.org/membership/
  http://asec.cs.gsu.edu/asecdl/
  http://www.siggraph.org/special-projects/

P.S. And to answer the most frequently asked question to date: 

  The roundtable (or MERA now) is quite distinct from the dinner
  (evening of Friday 24 March 2001).  You will not need to be a MERA
  member to attend the dinner.  The dinner is a social affair for
  MUD-Dev members.  If you are a MUD-Dev member, new or old, or
  think you probably should be, please feel free to attend the
  dinner.  We'll get a sign-up form for that as well so we have a
  better predict on numbers for the reservations.

Spread the news.

--
J C Lawrence                                       claw at kanga.nu
---------(*)                          http://www.kanga.nu/~claw/
--=| A man is as sane as he is dangerous to his environment |=--
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