Hi Everybody, A few of us are pulling together "basic basic" information on why people should get involved in changing/developing/watchdogging their communication systems. These "basic basic" booklets will be on the web. Portions of them, such as charts and such, will be formatted for printing out and for power point presentations. They will be free for anyone to use. Our audience is the general public in the US or those who work with the general public in the US to expand knowledge and involvement on these issues. The project has a specific focus on municipal and community networks: thus these tools are meant to supplement the kind of presentation you would give to a local neighborhood association or for a print out you could hand to your alderman. Those of you who do general education/outreach on broadband in your community or play along on TV please look at these blurbs below and tell me if this looks like the kind of material that would be helpful to you in your work. If it wouldn't be helpful that would also be good to know. If you do public outreach on broadband and want something in here that isn't-- please let me know!!! If you are interested in the project, ping me and I'll keep you in the loop. Thanks, Dharma Dailey Overview- Why should I care about communication? What is a network? How do different network choices affect my ability to communicate? Examples- Real World Examples of Who's Been There and Done That (examples will be organized categorically by the kind of network and the kind of business/sustainability model) Process-- How do networks get built? How do all the pieces and players fit together? (i'm dying for a couple of flow charts that show people the typical muni rollout.from start to finish on a single piece of paper- and such ) Choices- Business Models, Key Technologies, and Handy Dandy Networking Tools (matrix of types of networks; chart of public giveaways and subsidies for each communications industry; networking technology cheat sheet with pictures, matrix of business models) Impact- How do you know if a network works? What are the tools for evaluating the social utility of a network? What are the tools for evaluating the economic impact of a network? Who watchdogs vendors? If things aren't working well, what recourse do you have?