SLTNORTH chat room tips

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sltnorth chat room tips

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Some Definitions

• Chat - A feature offered by many online services or Web sites that allows participants to "chat" by typing messages which are displayed almost instantly on the screens of other participants who are using the chat room. Chatting is one of the most popular uses of the Internet. Generally the participants remain anonymous, using nicknames or pseudonyms to identify themselves online.
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• Chat room - The name given to a place or page in a Web site or online service where people can "chat" with each other by typing messages which are displayed almost instantly on the screens of others who are in the "chat room." Chat rooms are also called "online forums."

These definitions are from the
GetNetWise Internet Glossary

Personal Safety

There has been a lot of publicity about the potential dangers of chat rooms, especially for children. If you are concerned for yourself or anyone else, there is a sensible guide at
How to keep safe in Chat Rooms

Computer Safety

If you use public chatrooms or Instant Messenger services, get a firewall to protect your computer. For example, Zone ALarm

The sltnorth chat room

This room can only be accessed by members of the slt-north Yahoo! group. It uses voice as well as typed messages.

Although Speech & Language Therapists are famous (notorious?) for their "chattiness", do not expect to wander into the chat room and find it thronged with garrulous SLTs.

The purpose of the chat room is to make it easy for slt-north group members to organise on-line meetings.

Organising an on-line meeting

This is very similar to any other meeting. You need to agree, or tell people:

1. What the meeting is about.
2. Where the meeting will be.
3. How to get there.
4. When the meeting is due to start and finish.
5. Who has been, or will be, invited to attend.

You can organise the meeting as formally or informally as you like, but keep this 5 point checklist in mind:

1. Subject, Topic or Purpose
2. Venue: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/slt-north/chat
3. Access: Join the slt-north group at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/slt-north/
4. Date and times
5. Invitations and expected attendance
    

Advertising a meeting

You can do this by word of mouth, by phone, by post, by email ... carrier pigeon?

• You might want to advertise your meeting using the slt-north Yahoo! email list.
• Some of you will also have access to other SLT e-lists, such as the private e-lists for the Northern Regional Group of SLT Managers (NRGSLTM) and for the SLT Rep's & Managers Partnership (SLT-RAMP).
  
• If you use email or an email list, remember to put relevant information in the subject line of the email, eg. "Dysphagia SIG, Durham, April 10"
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Chat Room Etiquette and other niceties

Yahoo! provides the answers to some FAQ's at Yahoo Chat Help

Chat Room Jargon

Here are some of the abbreviations people use to save time on-line: dotsandcoms chat jargon glossary

Formal Meetings

Some chat rooms have an option to record conversations. This is useful for more formal meetings, but it is not free. The Yahoo! sltnorth chat room is free and there is no recording facility. If there is a need for a more sophisticated chat room to record meetings, please let me know.

Other ways of organising on-line meetings.

• Instant Messengers
  You can set up instant, temporary, private chatrooms "on the hoof" if you subscribe to one of the free "Instant Messaging" services.
  These include "Yahoo! Messenger", "MSN Messenger" and "AOL Instant Messenger"
  Only the people you invite will be able to attend. They will all need to subscribe to the Instant Messaging Service you are using to call the meeting.
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• Private Meetings on Websites
  There is a simple Web Meeting Room on the Communicate website at http://communicate-nhs.bravepages.com/chat/bravenet_passwordgate.html. If you want to organise a meeting and be sure that there are no gate-crashers, email for a pass-word. Remember to include the password in your meeting invitation. If you read the "Personal Safety" information above you will understand why I will ask you to give me your real name and details of the meeting.

• Public Chatrooms
  These have been set up for specific interest groups. Depending on popularity, you might or might not find anyone else in the room when you visit. You can visit a public chatroom from a computer in any time zone, anywhere in the world. You might be chatting with your mug of coacoa at your side while others are having their breakfast.
  

Go to the
[slt-north Yahoo! group chat room]

Go to the
[SLT-North Email List and Newsfeed subscription page]

Last revised: 18 Nov 2005