[Air-l] invitation to a party and a research group

[Barry Wellman]

*** Communication and Information Technologies - Come Play with Us ***

You're invited to a party to celebrate the relaunching of the
Communication and Information Technologies section of the American
Sociological Association.

The party's in Atlanta during the ASAs, Saturday, Aug 16, 2003. 7:30-9PM
Hilton Council Room, 4th floor.

Blackwells is sponsoring the party with lots of goodies. They've published
The Information Age book series, including Manuel Castells' Network
Society volumes and the Wellman-Haythornthwaite Internet in Everyday Life.

I include below a draft recruiting flyer for this section. Your comments
are appreciated. Non-sociologists who are members of the ASA are welcome
to join.

 Barry
 _____________________________________________________________________

  Barry Wellman         Professor of Sociology        NetLab Director
  wellman at chass.utoronto.ca  http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~wellman

  Centre for Urban & Community Studies          University of Toronto
  455 Spadina Avenue    Toronto Canada M5S 2G8    fax:+1-416-978-7162
 _____________________________________________________________________

	DRAFT FLYER
If you're interested in communication and information technologies --
including the impact of the Internet on our world - come join the American
Sociological Association's section on on Communications and Information
Technologies (CIT). It's clear that the Internet (and all that) is too
important to be left to the computer scientists!

We've reexamined our mission, re-energized our commitment, and renamed the
former Computers and Society section.  We support research, teaching and
other professional activities related to:

"	The social aspects of computing, the Internet, new media, computer
networks, and other communication and information technologies. This
includes online communities, knowledge management, the digital divide,
labor markets, workplaces, and how the Internet fits into everyday life.

"	The design and use of technology. This includes developing and
analyzing new kinds of software, and thinking about the implementation of
technologies for teaching, research, and the real world.
"
	To find out more, look for CIT members at the conference with
their shiny yellow buttons.

	And come to our reception Saturday, Aug 16, 7:30-9PM, Hilton
Council Room, 4th floor

We want - and need -- you as a member!  You'll have a great opportunity
to influence the field and become a leader of our small, but growing,
section. Help to present papers, animate our list-serve, circulate news
about grants, invigorate our newsletter and webpage, and develop new
computer applications for research, teaching, and society. From social
software to data mining, the world needs sociologically-informed work with
these technologies.

*** Joining the section is cheap and easy. If you're an ASA member,
section dues are only $10; student dues only $5. ***

1. You can go directly online to the following ASA page:
http://www.asanet.org/forms/sectionform.html and select #28 (Computers and
Society).

2. Or, Select section membership as part of your overall ASA membership
renewal: http://www.asanet.org/forms/membapp.pdf and select #28 (Computers and
Society)

3. Or, Send an email to Michael Murphy at sections at asanet.org, and tell
him that you'd like to join the Communications and Information
Technologies section. Include payment information (i.e., credit card #,
expiration date, and name as it appears on the card).

4. Or, Join the section at the registration desk of the ASA meetings in
Atlanta.

5. Or, see Barry Wellman at the AoIR conference in Toronto. We'll also
have a Birds of a Feather group meeting then.

We'd also appreciate your support in recruiting new members. Please send
this email to colleagues who might be interested in joining the section.

David Elesh, Chair (Temple University) delesh at temple.edu
George Dowdall, Chair-elect 2003-2004 (Saint Joseph's University)
gdowdall at sju.edu
Barry Wellman, Chair-elect 2004-2005 (University of Toronto)
wellman at chass.utoronto.ca