Romance & Brownfields Newsgroup Introductions

[Tony Chenhansa <tonyc@cpeo.org>]

Now that I've got your attention I want make sure you respond to the
following message.  The subject header isn't totally irrelevant to
brownfields. :-)

Almost two years ago I posted a "Who's using this Newsgroup?" message.
It gave people a chance to see who the audience was and make known what
his/her interest was in brownfields.  At that time we had about 200
subscribers, now we have about 320 people.  It's probably a good time
for introductions again.

Please post a reply to this topic saying 1) who you are, and 2) how you
relate to the Brownfields issues of this conference - this is to let all
the readers identify areas of common interest. And 3) I would encourage
people to talk about some of the projects you're currently involved with
and if you've introduced yourself before maybe update us on what has
happened since your first introduction. This last request is optional.
4) Please feel free to add one or two lines about non-work related info
such as your favorite color, dessert, hobbies, etc. Here's a creative
example from the 1997 intros.

"I am also interested in a LTR, long walks on the beach, and independent
films. Serious only.  No smokers." --

If you want to read past introductions or find out who this individual
is go to http://www.cpeo.org/lists/brownfields/1998

Another reason for this introduction exercise is to make people feel
more comfortable about using the brownfields listserve.  Last week, I
suggested to a subscriber that he try asking the newsgroup for
photographs of brownfields sites. I was initially puzzled by his
response.  He told me he was "shy" about sending a message to the group
because he was intimidated by some of the eloquent messages that had
been posted. I couldn't convince him that he had something of value to
offer to the brownfields discussion even though he might not be an
"expert". So this is my way of reducing the intimidation factor for
people posting their first message.

The newsgroup has a diverse group of participants: community, academia,
government, attorneys, and consultants. I make an extra effort to
recruit are community participants. So if you know of anyone fitting
this category, please let them know about CPEO's newsgroup. I would
appreciate any comments or ideas (positive or negative) about this
newsgroup and the way it is developing.

By the way (BTW) don't worry about receiving 300 plus messages in your
Inbox tomorrow.  I will group all the introductions into one email
digest which and send the introductions at the end of the business day.

Thanks

Tony Chenhansa

FYI--Here's the latest breakdown of the domains listed on the CPEO
brownfields listserve. There are a total of 321 newsgroup subscribers.

.com    114  ??
.org      60   Mostly non-profits
.edu     41    Professors and grad students
.net      38    ??
.gov     35    EPA is well represented with 23 email addresses
.us        23    These are mostly city and state agencies
.mil      9      Military agencies
.uk       2      Some reps from the United Kingdom


--

[EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY: CPEO'S PHONE NUMBER HAS CHANGED
TO 415-405-7751. OUR FAX NUMBER IS STILL THE SAME]

Tony Chenhansa,  Program Coordinator
Center for Public Environmental Oversight (CPEO)
425 Market Street 2nd Floor, San Francisco, CA  94105
ph: 415-405-7751 fx: 415-904-7765
e-mail: tonyc@cpeo.org
http://www.cpeo.org

A program of the San Francisco Urban Institute