This text will also appear in the next RESNA News. If you are interested in contributing to a future newsletter, please contact Mark. The due date for the next issue is August 1. Dave Jaffe ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- To: RESNA SIG-11 members From: Mark Novak, SIG-11 Chair Greetings: Well, RESNA 95 and Vancouver are about two weeks in the past, and I'd like to take a moment or two to reflect on another great conference. First off, SIG-11 would like to extend thanks to the numerous volunteers who were everywhere throughout the conference. They truly kept things running smoothly. Second, on behalf of the computer and augmentative communication vendors who spoke with me, the Meetings' Committee effort to increase unopposed exhibit time was greatly appreciated by all, except the music got a little too loud during Fourth Night Fest for the voice input stations! Third, for those of you who missed the conference, Vancouver is really a city you need to experience. I strongly suggest you make an attempt to visit or travel there in the near future. On to SIG-11 business items... Many things transpired at the SIG-11 meeting held in Vancouver, the first of which was elections for a new chair and vice chair. The new chair of SIG-11 is Mark Novak, Trace R&D Center, and the new vice chair of SIG-11 is Fraser Shein, Hugh MacMillan Rehabilitation Centre (Contact information is enclosed at the end of this article). I encourage any RESNA member to contact us with SIG-11 concerns. I'd like to personally thank Kevin Caves, Rancho REC/CART, for the excellent work he has done as SIG 11 chair the past several years. Other items discussed at the SIG-11 meeting included the RESNA listserv. The discussion centered around concerns over opening up the listserv to non-RESNA members. Some good ideas both pro and con were entertained. We also discussed the idea of SIG groups in general, with Kevin providing some history as to the beginning of the SIG groups within RESNA. It seems that the SIGs have grown to be important entities within RESNA. Perhaps SIG-11 ought to consider creating a mission statement, both to guide our activities at conferences and to explain what SIG-11/RESNA is all about to other people. Dave Jaffe, who has been coordinating a database of SIG-11 members, would also like to create a SIG-11 presence on the Web. We have some ideas, but if you'd like to be involved in this activity, please contact me, and I'll put you in touch with Dave. Another discussion topic centered around the idea of creating a workshop team within SIG-11. This "team" could then respond to requests to demonstrate or present assistive technology to various groups, companies, agencies, etc. Fraser will be looking into the specifics of this, and if you are interested, I'd encourage you to contact Fraser. The last item discussed at the meeting was concern over the dwindling number of computer access and augmentative communication vendors at the most recent RESNA conferences, and what might be done to reverse this trend. Several of us will be working on this concern. Kevin and I welcome all ideas and contributions, please contact us. For the RESNA Vancouver conference, SIG-11 had 26 paper submissions that were accepted for conference presentations. Being new to this chair business, I'm not sure if that number is good or bad based on past conferences, but I do know there are about 250 SIG-11 members in RESNA. It's not too early to start thinking about RESNA 96 in Salt Lake City! The sessions I was at seemed to have very good attendance. I was also pleasantly surprised to see over 30 people at the SIG-11 informal round table presentation/discussion on "Introduction to the Internet", chaired by Dave Jaffe. While I'm on the subject of papers, Kevin wanted to extend his thanks again to the paper review team. Hopefully, the earlier call-for-papers due date of RESNA 96 will allow more time for reviewers and RESNA staff. One negative comment I heard regarding RESNA 95 was the late mailing of the conference brochure which made it very difficult for people to obtain travel funding. This item was discussed at the SIG Chairs meeting and was one reason for the call-for-papers date change. If I recall the previous discussions correctly, the move towards electronic versions of the conference brochure are also underway at the RESNA offices. A final thanks goes to Denis Anson: the computer lab at Vancouver went very well. And to all the SIG and non-SIG members who contributed and participated in the SIG Developers Forum, thank you! The computer room was full of people for almost the entire event, a great way to get user feedback. Mark Novak Mark Novak Trace R&D Center 608/262-6966 menovak@facstaff.wisc.edu Fraser Shein Hugh MacMillan Rehabilitation Centre 416/425-6220 Ext. 538 shein@gpu.utcc.utoronto.ca