IrelandOffline Newsletter, August 2004

dahamsta

Contents:

. AGM Report
. Current Interim Committee Projects
. IrelandOffline EGM
. IrelandOffline Survey
. Photo Project
. Website Feedback
. Final Words

** AGM Report **

The annual AGM was held on 17 July in Athlone. Well attended, 27 members
and committee participated along with representatives from Last Mile
Wireless and IrishWAN.

Presentations were given by Paul Cunnane, from the Knockmore Community
Network - http://kcn.ie/presentation01.html , and Christian Cooke, outgoing
IrelandOffline Chairman and member of the Group Data Scheme Society.

There was a debate regarding the motion put forward by Christian Cooke of
disbanding IrelandOffline. It was defeated, with the agreement among the
majority present that an EGM will be held in September to resolve this
issue.
(see below)

An interim committee was elected, to continue IrelandOffline until the EGM.
Christian Cooke stepped down as chair, and Adam Beecher was elected interim
Chairman. IrelandOffline as a group thank Christian and all the other
outgoing committee members for their efforts over the past year.

** Current Interim Committee Projects **

The current interim committee are working on several fronts at the moment:

. Responses to media articles
. Preparing a survey of members
. Preparing a gallery of the telecoms infrastructure
. Streamlining the IrelandOffline website
. Preparing for the EGM

The interim committee are committed to furthering the IrelandOffline cause
and laying the groundwork to allow members make informed and realistic
decisions at the upcoming EGM. We are hopeful that, by the time of the
meeting, all members will have been appraised of current issues, possible
solutions and general topics for discussion at the EGM.

It is the committee's view that without an active membership IrelandOffline
is in dire straits. To tackle this problem we will be issuing regular
newsletters, posting on boards and asking for assistance as and when needed
(quite a lot). Assuming that the EGM results in IrelandOffline continuing,
we are determined to engage the membership fully, both through interaction
on boards and directly by assisting IrelandOffline in press releases,
information gathering and direct action.

** IrelandOffline EGM **

The preliminary time and location for the EGM is September the 11th in
Dublin. We would like all members of IrelandOffline to come along to this.
This is where the future of our group will be decided, and, as a result of
this, the possible future of many quality consumer-oriented telecom services
in this country.

The Irish consumer needs representation and IrelandOffline can be the group
to do it but it needs strong and continued support from the membership.
To discuss date and location for the EGM see this thread on Boards.ie:
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=174994

** IrelandOffline Survey **
A survey is being prepared which will allow us to gather important
information both about the members and the reality of the consumers'
telecoms experience. Further to this survey, a list of comments,
suggestions and ideas collected from boards will be presented to members
(method to be decided) in order to gain an idea of what the most important
issues are to the membership. We ask that all IrelandOffline members please
take the few minutes to fill out and return the survey.

** Photo Project **

Eircom increased line rental to look after the phone network and are not
doing so. Day by day the network falls into further disrepair and nothing is
done. Eircom, Comreg and the Government are in denial about how bad it is.
We are looking for pictures of tangled wires, line splitters, falling-down
poles, shoddy exchanges, loose cables, and other assorted sloppy work.

The goal is to gather all these pictures and put them in a gallery for the
world to see. We'd also like to print them out and deliver them to the
Minister at some stage. A future where the network will be useless is
arriving soon, unless you help right now.

So what we require from you, the members, is to get out there and start
taking pictures. Pictures from phone cameras, digital cameras and even
scans from still photos will be fine. Send them to the following email
address: pictures@irelandoffline.org along with the physical location of the
poles/wires. Please also see this thread on boards.ie:

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=174844

We need as many pictures as possible, so go out looking at the network that
Eircom overcharge us for and take pictures. Borrow a camera if need be to
take them.

** Website Feedback **

We would like some feedback about our website (www.irelandoffline.org ). The
website is there to serve you our membership. Please tell us what you want
changed, added and removed from the site. You can discuss this on boards
here: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=177127

** Final Words **

We would finally like to take this opportunity to again request that all
members attend the EGM either individually or by proxy. The future of
IrelandOffline rests with you. Committees and a handful of dedicated
members do not make a lobby group. Make your feelings known either by
emailing IrelandOffline or posting on http://www.boards.ie/irelandoffline .
Get your problems off your chest, make suggestions and let us know that we
are not whistling in the wind. IrelandOffline cannot survive without active
participation by the members.

Thank you,
Adam Beecher
IrelandOffline Chairman

dahamsta

I'm absolutely morto signing that, I contributed bugger all to it!

Well done to the lads and lass for pultting it together.

adam

Moriarty

Good newsletter, let's hope we get a good response.

damien

Let's hope we get to see a regular newsletter. It's up to the membership now.

jwt

When will the newsletter be mailed?

Or has it and my antispam just blew it away :rolleyes:

John

damien

Nope, I never got it either. Maybe Adams server rejected his email as spam ? Hehe.

dahamsta

It went out before I posted here, but 2000 emails take a little time to churn out.

adam

dahamsta

Either my mailing list server ain't working properly or it really is time to disband IrelandOffline. Damien says he didn't get the newsletter, did anyone else that's on the list not get it? Because the reaction is less than stellar...

adam

Moriarty

I recieved it fine when it was sent out and yeah, the response is rather underwhelming to say the least.

damien

I never got my copy and I think JWT didn't get his either. Can people who read this reply and say whether they did or did not get a copy ? Thanks.

seamus

dahamsta wrote:

Either my mailing list server ain't working properly or it really is time to disband IrelandOffline. Damien says he didn't get the newsletter, did anyone else that's on the list not get it? Because the reaction is less than stellar...

adam

No sign of it here.

oscarBravo

I got it Friday evening.

vinnyfitz

I got it Friday evening too thanks.

oscarBravo

A thought occurs - I get a monthly reminder from Adam's list server about being subscribed to the announce list. Do those of you who didn't get the newsletter get this monthly mailing?

dahamsta

FYI, the announce list only moved to my server after the AGM. Before that it was on Justin Mason's listserv.

adam

seamus

(Heh, sorry OscarBravo, I hit edit instead of quote and put my post into yours. I was in a rush to my lunch, ok? )

oscarBravo wrote:

A thought occurs - I get a monthly reminder from Adam's list server about being subscribed to the announce list. Do those of you who didn't get the newsletter get this monthly mailing?

My memory is sketchy. I definitely recently got a reminder, but to where and when I don't know. So don't count me into the "didn't get it" figures