From: Widerman-AT-aol.com
Date: Wed, 16 Jun 1999 23:06:30 EDT
Subject: Re: PUPT: Digital Age for Puppeteers


Dear Jim,

In a message dated 99-06-16 09:49:54 EDT, you write:

<< . . . UNIMA Membership Directories (with email/fax  numbers, etc.) are on 
someone's hard drive.  Why don't we make the basic  directories (not to 
include things like when membership is due, private  information the 
individual wants secret) available on CD-ROM?. . .  >>

UNIMA-USA has an Electronic Information Committee which oversees the 
organization's web-site. This already offers some of the information you have 
requested. One of the latest and greatest services UNIMA-USA has to offer its 
members, is inclusion in the "Company Touring Directory," which is printed, 
published, and sent to all members of the organization. These are also sent 
to festival directors and others who request information on American touring 
companies. A new feature of the web-site is the on-line version of the 
"Touring Directory," describing each company, the various shows they produce 
and contact information. As Committee Chair of the Citations Awards, I would 
also like to tout the web-site's listing of the Citations For Excellence In 
The Art Of Puppetry. Each year's recipients are listed and photographs from 
each award-winning production is included. Anyone unfamiliar with these 
awards can find out all about them here. This and other information can be 
found at:

          www.unima-usa.org

If you have ever visited The Puppetry Home Page at:

          www.sagecraft.com/puppetry

you know that Puppetry is blessed with one of the most comprehensive 
web-sites around, with many thanks to the grand efforts of Rose Sage. You can 
find extensive information on Puppeteers of America, listings of all the 
local Guilds across America, chartered by P of A, with contact names, 
newsletter editors, and other news of meetings, performances, workshops, etc. 
There are categorized links to hundreds of other Puppetry sites. 

For subscribers like yourself, America On-Line has a very active bulletin 
board for Puppetry whose moderator has generously provided space for posting 
photographs of puppets. This group had a face-to-face meeting party at the P 
of A Festival in Toledo and plans to meet again in Seattle. Also, included as 
part of your subscription, AOL provides space for your own web page, up to 
2MB per sign-on name where you can post your own photos and other 
information. You can request a link to the Puppetry Home Page, so your page 
can be found from there. I'm sure other service providers have similar 
offerings.

While I agree that we can improve on the application of evolving technology 
to the art of Puppetry, as a group we are fairly computer-savvy. Puptcrit is 
another nice example (you realize you are reaching an audience of technology 
users here) of puppeteers using the technology at hand. The prospect of 
streaming video puppet productions over the internet is very exciting, but is 
still on what we called "the bleeding edge" when I was employed in the 
technology industry. Although the complete membership directories of our 
organizations may not be on the internet at the moment, there is a tremendous 
wealth of information already available.

     -Steven->
 


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