Dear colleagues, During the EGSG's business meeting last Thursday in Seattle, the board and attendees approved the creation of a Facebook Page. I've set up one here:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/AAG-Economic-Geography-Speciality-Group/215683398441866 We'll be using it to share information about events, debates, relevant research & teaching resources, new journal issues, etc. FYI this move is the outcome of several years of deliberations about the pros and cons of creating and running an EGSG weblog. To cut a long story short, a group or individual weblog has much potential to share information, generate debates, etc., but it is a lot of work to do well over the long-term. Blogs like these: <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:"Courier New"; panose-1:2 7 3 9 2 2 5 2 4 4; mso-font-charset:77; mso-generic-font-family:modern; mso-font-format:other; mso-font-pitch:fixed; mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;} @font-face {font-family:Wingdings; panose-1:5 2 1 2 1 8 4 8 7 8; mso-font-charset:2; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-format:other; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:0 0 65536 0 -2147483648 0;} @font-face {font-family:"Franklin Gothic Book"; panose-1:2 11 5 3 2 1 2 2 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ascii-font-family:"Franklin Gothic Book"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family:"Franklin Gothic Book"; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";} a:link, span.MsoHyperlink {color:blue; text-decoration:underline; text-underline:single;} a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed {mso-style-noshow:yes; color:purple; text-decoration:underline; text-underline:single;} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} /* List Definitions */ @list l0 {mso-list-id:386033252; mso-list-type:hybrid; mso-list-template-ids:-1483597698 67698689 67698691 67698693 67698689 67698691 67698693 67698689 67698691 67698693;} @list l0:level1 {mso-level-number-format:bullet; mso-level-text:; mso-level-tab-stop:none; mso-level-number-position:left; margin-left:1.0in; text-indent:-.25in; font-family:Symbol;} ol {margin-bottom:0in;} ul {margin-bottom:0in;} --> http://crookedtimber.org/ http://savageminds.org/ http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/ need people who are deeply committed *and* have the time to run with them. In contrast, our new EGSG Facebook page requires less work to run yet, as a form of social media, has much potential to quickly share information and build up the Group over time, while not clogging up this email list with endless FYI emails. We'll still use the list, of course, but we're keen to have a site where links to relevant news stories, reports, new journal issues, video clips (including embedded YouTube & Vimeo clips), can be distributed, debated about (via comments), and archived in a stable and retrievable format. Please note that this is a 'page' and not a 'group' - all you need to do is 'like' it and you will receive the feed alongside all of the rest of your Facebook updates. Please note that feeds to your own Facebook account page (by you or your 'friends') are NOT distributed to the EGSG page. However, if you want to post direct comments or links to the EGSG page, you can. If you are not a Facebook user as you are uneasy about mixing personal and professional lives (especially with respect to students), note that you are able to create multiple Facebook accounts as long as you have multiple email addresses. Finally, please note that this initiative is not meant to lower levels of communications to EGSG members via this email list or the annual meetings -- it is simply a low immersion (to join; to operate) platform for sharing relevant information. Best wishes, Kris Olds (& Norma Rantisi) <><><><><><><><><><><><><> Kris Olds Professor, Department of Geography Chairperson, L&S Curriculum Committee University of Wisconsin-Madison 550 N. Park Street, Science Hall Madison, WI 53706 USA Email: ko...@wisc.edu Tel: 1-608-262-5685 Web: http://www.krisolds.com/home/ GlobalHigherEd: http://globalhighered.wordpress.com/ GlobalHigherEd Twitter: http://twitter.com/globalhighered Inside Higher Ed: http://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/globalhighered Co-editor, Geography Compass: http://www.blackwell-compass.com/subject/geography/
