April Meeting:

Members and guest met at the Austin History Center. This was my first time there; so I spent a little extra time looking the displays of old Austin and talking to the curator. The meeting was begun at the back table where Assorted Gougeres, Pecan Smoked Grilled Chicken Tenders, and Skewered Tortellini pasta was available. The food was provided by Prairie Rock Catering, voted 'Best Caterer' in Austin according to the Austin Chronicle Readers Poll of '95. The Gougeres were savory puffs filled with spinach and disappeared before I was finished testing. The chicken tenders came with a peanut sauce and they also disappeared before I did. There was a few broccoli left over but I almost lost a hand when I tried to interfere with the clean up.

David introduced Jim Elledge, a past Dallas president, who proceeded to enlighten us on the WEB. There are about 35 million Internet users in over 154 countries. Are you one of the 35 million? The major applications are E-mail, Gopher ( a search engine developed at the U. of Minnesota [Gophers]), FTP ( file transfer protocol) and Browsers ( now called Client Server Applications). The big question is who's out there that I might want to contact. Everyone should be able to find something from the following laundry list: Voice and Video broadcast, education programs, product demos, JAVA applets on clients. Today you could edit AutoCAD files, coordinate project schedules at one of you company's remote offices, obtain product and pricing specifications from a vendor, and send mail and files globally. You can find cheap seats at American Airlines that they want to fill at the last hour. (Every one should have a mobility bag).

There are search engines that will find the 100 sites that have something about your favorite topic / problem / opportunity. At the Dallas site (the first IFMA Web site), Jim has many things to offer: his organization, other IFMA sites, search engines, typical agencies, recreation sites, calendar of events, job bank, several FM articles, certified FM ers list, members list without phone number. He has an application blank just in case someone stumbles onto the site. So far 14 people have taken the bait. Jim's Internet site is www.dfwifma.org. He encouraged all of us to drop in and sign the guest register. One of the benefits that businesses have found is the savings in not mailing things. Put your policy or product descriptions on your Web site, tell people where to find it, and pocket the postage and printing cost. Jim Elledge was an outstanding speaker, very enthusiastic. He speaks like a disciple. A call to him will be an experience.

By J. Robert Howard