austraLasia #3000
It's hard for austraLasia to show its age - each edition is a new birth
EAO: 27 January 2012 -- Welcome to austraLasia #3000. How old are we? In human years, 15, but in many ways it is hard for austraLasia to show its age - every edition is a new birth!
The Program of Animation and Government of the Rector Major in 1997 did not know about blogs, Twitter, Social Networks. It had in mind only one thing with regard to the then Australia-Asia Region, the same idea taken up in the subsequent six year plan for the new EAO Region: encouraging provinces to create an electronic network. We can note, however, that it also wanted such a network to improve communications between the 'Centre' and the Provinces (B4.11 above). In the event they got a network which could help improve communication amongst the provinces, mainly.
The austraLasia network, beginning with a handful of email addresses and now closer to a thousand, was and remains today more along the lines of communication between the masses than centre-periphery-centre. There are other tools for this latter, and austraLasia tries not to be one of them! In fact austraLasia has served many purposes, amongst which providing fodder for good nights, putting people in touch who haven't seen (or spoken!) in years, offering exercises for EFL, being a conduit for vital information in conflict (Timor and the Solomon Islands).
Interestingly enough, given the forms of content delivery that have evolved especially in the past decade (blogs, Twitter and Facebook especially), the form of content delivery that is the regular email newsletter has its own place in the communications ecosystem. It delivers content in a particular way that other media do not. Readers of austraLasia over the 15 years, have continued to show their appreciation for this form, occasionally urging some adjustment to the format, which is a separate matter. Thanks to Fr Dominic Savio (THA) for encouraging the most recent change of format, and to Bro Hilario Seo (KOR) for producing the current 'livery'.
The current year's collection of the e-letter is always stored on Bosconet (in fact I have yet to adjust it to 2012), but for all 3,000, or most of them, you can search themin their own collectionon SDL. This raises interesting possibilities. You can search them by number or ID, which will also show that within the first 500 there are some gaps, unfortunately; only once things were well-established did we become more conscious of the need for accurate preservation. You can also search by subject and even by word (single) or phrase (using double quotes). For a more scientific search you can also use the 'phrase' search facility.
If you have an historical bent, you could find it interesting to look at the first 20, which quickly gives one an idea of the way the medium attempted to create this early network, indicates some of the early contributors, and provides some interesting historical titbits.
The first 3 were all dated the same day (7 November). The year is missing, but it was 1997. You will note that the Fiji formation house was 'predicted' a year and a bit before it actually happened (#2. It was already in the planning, obviously), and that the first contributor from India was Fr Maria Arokiam, who is now the Regional for South Asia Region (#7) and still an avid reader. It was a sad item about the death by drowning of a confrere in Madras province. You will find a tongue-in-cheek reflection on what the Millennium might mean, two years before it happened (#8) and an article by a lay person, Ashley Trethowan, who 15 years later is still doing the same sterling work and has received civil recognition this year (#9 and #2908). In other words, you can already see that the e-letter was intended for the Salesian Family, and for provinces making up the entire Region, and offers a kind of running commentary on events in the Region.
Over time the e-letter's readership extended to all English-speaking provinces and a few non-English-speaking ones as well. The inimitable Fr Eddie Fitzgerald, now deceased, from Ireland, even contributed with a joke (#20). There are not a lot of jokes in the 3,000 - maybe there should be more! So, given that an ex provincial economer sent me one today, and suggested it could be useful for fixing Italy's (and Greece's and just about anywhere else in the world's) financial woes, it seems appropriate to conclude this 3000th edition with it, just to emphasise one more feature of the e-letter - it is intended to brighten up your day, be constructive, as much as possible!
THE BANKING CRISIS SIMPLY EXPLAINED
Young Paddy bought a donkey from a farmer for £100.
The farmer agreed to deliver the donkey the next day...
The next day he drove up and said, 'Sorry son, but I have some bad news... The donkey's died'.
Paddy replied, 'Well then, just give me my money back'.
The farmer said, 'Can't do that. I've already spent it'.
Paddy said, 'OK then, just bring me the dead donkey'.
The farmer asked, 'What are you going to do with him?'
Paddy said, 'I'm going to raffle him off'.
The farmer said, 'You can't raffle a dead donkey!'
Paddy said, 'Sure I can. Watch me. I just won't tell anybody he's dead'.
A month later, the farmer met up with Paddy and asked, 'What happened with that dead donkey?'
Paddy said, 'I raffled him off. I sold 500 tickets at two pounds a piece and made a profit of £898'.
The farmer said, 'Didn't anyone complain?'
Paddy said, 'Just the guy who won. So I gave him his two pounds back'.
Paddy now works for the Royal Bank of Scotland (or any other bank you care to name!)
Thanks, Frank!
It's hard for austraLasia to show its age - each edition is a new birth
EAO: 27 January 2012 -- Welcome to austraLasia #3000. How old are we? In human years, 15, but in many ways it is hard for austraLasia to show its age - every edition is a new birth!
The Program of Animation and Government of the Rector Major in 1997 did not know about blogs, Twitter, Social Networks. It had in mind only one thing with regard to the then Australia-Asia Region, the same idea taken up in the subsequent six year plan for the new EAO Region: encouraging provinces to create an electronic network. We can note, however, that it also wanted such a network to improve communications between the 'Centre' and the Provinces (B4.11 above). In the event they got a network which could help improve communication amongst the provinces, mainly.
The austraLasia network, beginning with a handful of email addresses and now closer to a thousand, was and remains today more along the lines of communication between the masses than centre-periphery-centre. There are other tools for this latter, and austraLasia tries not to be one of them! In fact austraLasia has served many purposes, amongst which providing fodder for good nights, putting people in touch who haven't seen (or spoken!) in years, offering exercises for EFL, being a conduit for vital information in conflict (Timor and the Solomon Islands).
Interestingly enough, given the forms of content delivery that have evolved especially in the past decade (blogs, Twitter and Facebook especially), the form of content delivery that is the regular email newsletter has its own place in the communications ecosystem. It delivers content in a particular way that other media do not. Readers of austraLasia over the 15 years, have continued to show their appreciation for this form, occasionally urging some adjustment to the format, which is a separate matter. Thanks to Fr Dominic Savio (THA) for encouraging the most recent change of format, and to Bro Hilario Seo (KOR) for producing the current 'livery'.
The current year's collection of the e-letter is always stored on Bosconet (in fact I have yet to adjust it to 2012), but for all 3,000, or most of them, you can search themin their own collectionon SDL. This raises interesting possibilities. You can search them by number or ID, which will also show that within the first 500 there are some gaps, unfortunately; only once things were well-established did we become more conscious of the need for accurate preservation. You can also search by subject and even by word (single) or phrase (using double quotes). For a more scientific search you can also use the 'phrase' search facility.
If you have an historical bent, you could find it interesting to look at the first 20, which quickly gives one an idea of the way the medium attempted to create this early network, indicates some of the early contributors, and provides some interesting historical titbits.
The first 3 were all dated the same day (7 November). The year is missing, but it was 1997. You will note that the Fiji formation house was 'predicted' a year and a bit before it actually happened (#2. It was already in the planning, obviously), and that the first contributor from India was Fr Maria Arokiam, who is now the Regional for South Asia Region (#7) and still an avid reader. It was a sad item about the death by drowning of a confrere in Madras province. You will find a tongue-in-cheek reflection on what the Millennium might mean, two years before it happened (#8) and an article by a lay person, Ashley Trethowan, who 15 years later is still doing the same sterling work and has received civil recognition this year (#9 and #2908). In other words, you can already see that the e-letter was intended for the Salesian Family, and for provinces making up the entire Region, and offers a kind of running commentary on events in the Region.
Over time the e-letter's readership extended to all English-speaking provinces and a few non-English-speaking ones as well. The inimitable Fr Eddie Fitzgerald, now deceased, from Ireland, even contributed with a joke (#20). There are not a lot of jokes in the 3,000 - maybe there should be more! So, given that an ex provincial economer sent me one today, and suggested it could be useful for fixing Italy's (and Greece's and just about anywhere else in the world's) financial woes, it seems appropriate to conclude this 3000th edition with it, just to emphasise one more feature of the e-letter - it is intended to brighten up your day, be constructive, as much as possible!
THE BANKING CRISIS SIMPLY EXPLAINED
Young Paddy bought a donkey from a farmer for £100.
The farmer agreed to deliver the donkey the next day...
The next day he drove up and said, 'Sorry son, but I have some bad news... The donkey's died'.
Paddy replied, 'Well then, just give me my money back'.
The farmer said, 'Can't do that. I've already spent it'.
Paddy said, 'OK then, just bring me the dead donkey'.
The farmer asked, 'What are you going to do with him?'
Paddy said, 'I'm going to raffle him off'.
The farmer said, 'You can't raffle a dead donkey!'
Paddy said, 'Sure I can. Watch me. I just won't tell anybody he's dead'.
A month later, the farmer met up with Paddy and asked, 'What happened with that dead donkey?'
Paddy said, 'I raffled him off. I sold 500 tickets at two pounds a piece and made a profit of £898'.
The farmer said, 'Didn't anyone complain?'
Paddy said, 'Just the guy who won. So I gave him his two pounds back'.
Paddy now works for the Royal Bank of Scotland (or any other bank you care to name!)
Thanks, Frank!
