
                    HOW A FORMAL CIS CO WORKS
          or what are those rules I'm supposed to know?
                                by
                  Rob Friedman (Sysop ADAM CP/M)


    As a lot of you know, when we have a CO (or COnference) on
CompuServe, most of the time it is very informal, similar to a CB
situation. When we have a formal CO, it gets a little different.
Usually Tim or myself will run it (there can be others) and we
will let you know when to talk, and who goes next. the formalities
are as follows:

If you are given to ok to ask a question or speak, if your
question is addressed to a specific person, please state his name
in the question. ie: > Rob, why is that so? ga.

If you are going to continue talking and it will run over the line
and a half limit, use three dots to signify that you will still be
talking "..." ie: > and this is the reasons why...

If you have finished talking.. use the "ga" to show that you are
done. sometimes we also use the period "." or a question mark "?"
but the usual convention is to use "ga" ie: (as above) > and that
is the reason. ga

To be recognized by the "chair", use a "?" which would signify to
Tim or myself that you wish to speak or ask a question.
Periodically, we will direct questions to specific people to
answer. After there is a break, we will let you know when you may
talk.   ie: Joe > ?
  Response: Sysop Rob > ok, joe, go ahead.

No jokes withstanding (as far as "Robert's Rules of Order"), if
these items weren't done, the conversation would degenerate into
chaos (which is fine if there are very few people) but if it
get's crowded, Formal's the way.

Also..Tim or I might give you the ok via a SENd. (You would see
the message we send, but noone else would). To see the available
commands, use the /? command.

And a last item..the ADAM CO's are on sunday nights, at 10:00 PM
ET (that's 7:00 PM PT) on channel 18. (Use the /CH 18 command, or
/RM 18 ) Hope to see you all here online!

                                  Rob Friedman
                                  Sysop ADAM CP/M
                                  3814 Ocean Ave T-2
                                  East Rockaway, NY 11518
                                  (516) 593-8798