Xref: utzoo news.announce.newgroups:1178 news.groups:32569 comp.ai.neural-nets:3519 Newsgroups: news.announce.newgroups,news.groups,comp.ai.neural-nets Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!bounce-back From: issnnet@park.bu.edu (Paolo Gaudiano) Subject: RFD: comp.org.issnnet Message-ID: Followup-To: news.groups Sender: tale@cs.rpi.edu Nntp-Posting-Host: cs.rpi.edu Date: 2 Jun 91 06:01:34 GMT Approved: tale@rpi.edu Lines: 136 REQUEST FOR DISCUSSION ---------------------- GROUP NAME: comp.org.issnnet STATUS: unmoderated CHARTER: The newsgroup shall serve as a medium for discussions pertaining to the International Student Society for Neural Networks (ISSNNet), Inc., and to its activities and programs as they pertain to the role of students in the field of neural networks. See details below. TARGET VOTING DATE: JUNE 20 - JULY 20, 1991 ****************************************************************************** PLEASE NOTE In agreement with USENET newsgroup guidelines for the creation of new newsgroups, this discussion period will continue until June 21, at which time voting will begin if deemed appropriate. ALL DISCUSSION SHOULD TAKE PLACE ON THE NEWSGROUP "news.groups" If you do not have access to USENET newsgroups but wish to contribute to the discussion, send your comments to: issnnet@park.bu.edu specifying whether you would like your message relayed to news.groups. A call for votes will be made to the same newsgroups and mailing lists that originally received this message. PLEASE DO NOT SEND REPLIES TO THIS MAILING LIST OR NEWSGROUP DIRECTLY! A call for votes will be broadcast in a timely fashion. Please do not send votes until then. ****************************************************************************** BACKGROUND AND INFORMATION: The purpose of the International Student Society for Neural Networks (ISSNNet) is to (1) provide a means of exchanging information among students and young professionals within the area of Neural Networks; (2) create an opportunity for interaction between students and professionals from academia and industry; (3) encourage support >from academia and industry for the advancement of students in the area of Neural Networks; (4) insure that the interest of all students in the area of Neural Networks is taken into consideration by other societies and institutions involved with Neural Networks; and (5) to foster a spirit of international and interdisciplinary kinship among students as the study of Neural Networks develops into a self-contained discipline. Since its creation one year ago, ISSNNet has grown to over 300 members in more than 20 countries around the world. One of the biggest problems we have faced thus far is to efficiently communicate with all the members. To this end, a network of "governors" has been created. Each governor is in charge of distributing information (such as our newsletter) to all local members, collect dues, notify local members of relevant activities, etc. However, even this system has problems. Communication to a possibly very large number of members relies entirely on one individual, and given the typically erratic schedule of a student, it is often difficult to insure prompt and timely distribution to all members. More to the point, up until this time all governors have been contacting a single person (yours truly), and that has been a problem. Regular discussions on the society and related matters become very difficult when routed through individuals in this fashion. The newsgroup would be primarily dedicated to discussion of items pertaining to the society. We are about to launch a massive call for nominations, in the hope that more students will step forward and take a leading role in the continued success of the society. In addition, ISSNNet is involved with a number of projects, many of which require extensive electronic mail discussions. For example, we are developing a sponsorship program for students presenting papers at NNet conferences. This alone has generated at least 100 mail messages to the ISSNNet account, most of which could have been answered by two or three "generic" postings. We have refrained from using some of the existing mailing lists and USENET newsgroups that deal with NNets because of the non-technical nature of our issues. In addition to messages that are strictly society-related, we feel that there are many messages posted to these existing bulletin boards for which our newsgroup would be a better forum. Here is a list of topics that frequently come up, which would be handled in comp.org.issnnet as part of our "sponsored" programs: "What graduate school should I go to?" Last year, ISSNNet compiled a list of graduate programs around the world. The list will be updated later this year to include a large number of new degree programs around the world. "What jobs are available?" We asked companies that attended last year's IJCNN-San_Diego and INNC-Paris conferences to fill out a questionnaire on employment opportunities for NNet students. "Does anyone have such-and-such NNet simulator?" Many students have put together computer simulations of NNet paradigms and these could be shared by people on this group. "When is the next IJCNN conference?" We have had a booth at past NNet conferences, and hope to continue doing this for more and more international and local meetings. We often have informal get-togethers at these conferences, where students and others have the opportunity to meet. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- For more information, please send e-mail to issnnet@park.bu.edu (ARPANET) write to: ISSNNet, Inc. PO Box 557, New Town Br. Boston, MA 02258 USA ISSNNet, Inc. is a non-profit corporation in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. ISSNNet, Inc. P.O. Box 557, New Town Branch Boston, MA 02258 USA