G'day from W.A. (Western Australia for those not in the know),

Well, it's 40 degrees C (that's 108F for all the Americans :-) ) today, and
very hot. So it's gonna be a relatively small update.

Before I continue, please do NOT email me requests to be on a certain
team/group (UNLESS you are interested in the steering committee). My
mailbox is rather full, and I am not collating this information at the
moment. Hopefully someone else can do this (see below for more
information), and let me get on with the organisation.

I will do a few comprehensive updates over the weekend, so keep an eye on
the homepage (and the list) early next week. In the meantime, here are a
few things I need some help with:

1. System of organisation:

Well, the feedback on the organisation system (not the submission
structure) has been unanimously positive so far. So I am going to suggest
that we take the system and run with it, so to speak. At this stage though,
I am still unsure about combining groups. It has been suggested that the
two Magic groups are combined, and also that the Law/Government group is
combined with the Defence/Military group. If both are done that would bring
the number of groups down to 4. Conversely, if neither is done it brings
the group count to 6. I don't think combing the magic groups will present
any problems, but I think combining Law & Military may create too much work
for one group. Note that if we adopt the structure of my previous post,
then the groups can always be split later.

What is everyone else's opinion on splitting the groups?

Incidentally, if anyone has any ideas that are NOT on the homepage document
and you think they should be, mail me (use the subject: "OCP - missing
ideas on organisation system") and let me know so that they can be added to
the document.

2. Steering Committee & Nominations:

I haven't got as many nominations for the SC as I thought, due to mail
doubling up at both my accounts. There are currently just under 10
nominees. The good thing about this is that it is almost enough to cover
all the groups, including the sub-groups of the Other category (it will
depend on whether we split as shown above). But don't take that to mean
that I don't want to see any more nominees. If anyone who has not yet
nominated, or if you are unsure what it will entail, mail me (at
slg@nw.com.au ) anyway. What I will do is put you down as a possible. Then,
once we have sorted out more thoroughly what the job of the committee
members will entail, I will compose this (along with other relevant
details) in an email and send it off to everyone (including the possibles)
who has nominated. I will then give everyone a chance to change their mind
(on which group they would like) or to withdraw their nomination.

3. Collation of Project Members' Data:

I need someone to help this project out and volunteer to collect
information from people who want to be a contributor (ie. a designer). What
I was thinking is that anyone who wants to be involved in this project
could send off an email to this person, who would collect the data (name,
email address, area(s) of interest) in a suitable way. If are willing do
this, please get in contact with me, so we can discuss/arrange the exact
details. In the meantime, please do NOT send this information to me.

4. Introductory Document & FAQ:

Now that the project is starting to get off the ground, and the homepage is
set up, we need to think about some introductory material. By introductory
material, I mean basically the first thing anyone will see when they get to
the homepage, or something they can be sent to someone if they inquire
about the project. So if any of the writers out there (and anyone else)
would like to have a go at doing some kind of introduction to the project
that we could put on the homepage, please submit your entry to me
(slg@nw.com.au; subject: "OCP - Project Introduction Entry"). I have no
idea what shape it should take (story, description of the project...), so I
will leave it completely open and up to you. I will put an upper limit of
about 500 words (ie. less than an average, single-spaced, typed page) on
any entry. If there are a lot of entries, then a vote will be organised.

5. Homepage Ideas:

What would you guys like to see on the homepage?
How would you like it to be organised?
Any opinions/suggestions?

Well, that's about it for today. Like I said, I am planning some more
significant updates over the weekend, but I may not post them until Monday.
Keep mailing me if you have any queries that are not suitable for this
list.

cheers,

Simon

Simon Graindorge
Coordinator, Birthright Online City Project

E-mail: slg@nw.com.au
Online City Project Homepage:
http://darkstar.cyberserv.com/netbook/city/index.html