The CONFER experience of the Merit Computer Network (abstract only)
Authors: Christine Wendt
Venue: ACM SIGSOC Bulletin (1982)

CONFER emerged from a concern with small group governance in both its communications and decision making dimensions. This context will be described as well as the principles operationalized in the CONFER system: individual equality, freedom, privacy and flexibility, and the facilitation of individual participation. CONFER is based on the proposition that effective communication is an active process for all concerned. This activity is strongly encouraged in CONFER through a number of mechanisms designed to facilitate interaction between the user and the CONFER system, as well as interaction among all the users of the system. As well, growth of the system over time is promoted by interaction of the system designer with the user community. The development of Merit's use of CONFER was aided greatly by our continuing close relationship with Dr. Parnes and by the participation of many members of the Merit staff in the CONFERence for CONFER development that he eventually began. As we identified new aspects of CONFER use, we usually also were able to think of changes to CONFER that would facilitate them. For example, as we began to realize how important was the general conversation among our users--a critical need for the isolated user in particular--we led the lobbying effort for changes to make the voting structure more interactive. In response, CONFER over the years has radically altered the default form of participant comments from its original formal and anonymous style to a conversational model. Similarly, as CAUCUS grew to enormous size we asked for (and got) aids in managing, and then in re-starting, large Conferences. In a remarkably short time, CAUCUS became a general meeting place for many who were not Merit users at all, simply because it offered a place for users to meet one another and share problems and solutions. Eventually CAUCUS gave birth to a general-purpose CONFERence for users of one of the host systems--an idea that has since been implemented elsewhere as well. The growing use of CAUCUS as a communications medium for Merit staff eventually resulted in the birth of a CONFERence for that specific purpose. Before the use of CONFER there had been relatively little communication between the staff members at the central site and those located at the host computing centers except for occasional face-to-face meetings that were largely reportorial in content. Once CAUCUS showed the staff that network issues could be discussed in real time and that input from the host staffs could have weight, the pattern of decision-making began to change. With the inception of the MNET:STAFF CONFERence, and the resulting privacy for internal discussions, the role of the staff members--both centrally-located and at the hosts--continues to grow as we expound, lobby, and negotiate on network issues while (or even before) they are happening. It is no exaggeration to say that we members of the Merit staff could not do the job we do without CONFER. Merit's primary goal is to facilitate the use of remote computer resources for a heterogeneous and dispersed community of users. Without CONFER we would be working harder to accomplish much less of this objective.