Some ideas from Kristin

Hi All!

I also thought a bit about how our communication could look like and about the questions Torill raised. But before I start I have to admit that I am not a computer or Internet specialist o at all. I joined this group as I am convinced that the objectives of the SECN are really worth to try to achieve and as I would like to help to reach them.

Torill – I think your ideas are really great and I agree with your thoughts on this one page of the IUHPE domain. I also think that we should link this one with the page(s) where the actions of the SECN are really reflected and discussed.

http://drupal.org/ provides a good possibility to create one own homepage with features such as Blogs, Bibliographies, where you can list relevant literature, Calendar, Forum where you can discuss different issues, projects where you can publish ongoing projects etc. It would be also possible to publish some abstracts there like Torill suggested. All in all it covers the features we were thinking of to include. As far as I know it is also for free. The team I am working with at the moment is using this provider and it works really well. However, what we should not forget is that it takes a lot of time to create all this stuff and to update it, no matter what service we choose in the end. This also leads me to the question of funding and money. Does actually anyone know whether we get financial support by the IUHPE. As we really address the needs of a growing number of members of it, we might approach them in the future with this question. Because if we don’t get any money from them to do advocacy for the young community, how can they feel that there issues are really valued by the IUHPE?

Maybe we could also get in touch with the already existing networks, that were presented in Vancouver and find out what works well and what is difficult in terms of communication. Maybe we also should think about asking them joining our SECN – so we could build a bridge from the regional to the international level and would have strong partners who also could do advocacy together with our regional coordinators.

In terms of the offline communication we should contact some people who work in areas with poor data accessibility. They know best in which ways we can reach them and how they can participate in our network. Maybe we can also touch base with some organizations like the UN, WHO or of course IUHPE itself, who must have be confronted with these difficulties before and who might found some good alternatives.

I hope these thoughts help us a bit to move on!

Kristin

SOME INITIAL THOUGHTS FROM TORILL

Hi,
I just want to start sharing some initial thoughts about a communication system for ISECN. Nothing final, just something to start the process!

As you know, we will get one page on the IUHPE domain. This will have to be webmastered by the same professional firm that do the IUHPE site. So, it will not be easy for us to do changes here, like adding blogs, links, updates etc. Therefore, I suggest that the content on this page should be of a stable kind, about the mission of ISECN etc- it should be friendly, inviting and looking like we mean business at the same time.

This first page could lead to another page that we edit ourselves, on another server. I have looked a bit into this, it will not be hard to do. To have a really good site we would have to pay between $30-$120 a year. This would give us a good domain name and good functions on the page. We could have countless subsites, and we could link to blogs etc. So, this is an alternative to just having blogs. Anyway, I believe it would give us far greater flexibility to let the IUHPE page lead to some place that we can easily edit and change.

As for content, I think we have already been talking about many of the possibilities. I believe the various regions should have their own subsites/blogs. These sites could connect networks in the region, inform about events, education, local challenges etc. They could be in the appropriate languages, which could handle part of the language equity challenge.

I also believe we should have a site with a really good and well organised link collection, helping people access good online HP resources. I am currently working with a project mapping such resources, so I could develop this into such a site.

I also wonder whether we should have a site with abstracts from scientific work by members - posted together with contact information. This could help connect people with the same research interests.

We also need to think about communication 'off-line'. This is a challenge - how to reach hp workers in regions with poor data accessibility, or with poor economy. Of course, as already discussed, P&E is distributed to all IUHPE members. So, a section in each issue for a network update would be one of the easiest ways. But I believe we should look more into which information needs this 'off-line' group would have, to be able to assess how we can meet them.

These thoughts leave me with some issues that we need to look into:
* Are blogs or home pages most convenient, or a combination of both?
* Who delivers the best blog options?
* Who delivers the best home page options?
* Who delivers the best options for discussion groups?
* What should the content on the IUHPE page be?
* Can we afford a page fee for a good home page?
* What are the information needs of the 'off-line' community? and -
* How can we meet it?

Eagerly awaiting more thoughts! Let's play with ideas!

Torill