A. KEFair 98 will last for 4 weeks. All materials gathered and posted in KEFair 98 will remain accessible throughout the entire event. Most of the events will be held in asynchronous time to allow participants to access the conference site at their own pace and time preference. The main conference area will be open continuously for the entire run of the conference. Scheduled events, such as the "Meet the Exhibitor's Forum", Keynote Addresses, and Workshops, will be scheduled over a period of days...not hours... so everyone will have ample time to participate in these discussions. There will also be a Resource Center and Help Desk available at all times.

Q. Even though we start on Feb 2, 1998, KEFair 98 lasts until Feb 27, 1998. Can people join the online activities after the 2nd?

A. Yes! KEFair 98 will be ongoing from day one...but...there will be new topics, new presenters, new workshops, and new featured exhibitors approximatly every 3-5 days. Plus, the proceedings will be available onsite at all times. It will be easy to catch up and join in a discussion even if it started days or weeks ago.

Q. Will I be able to introduce my own agenda?

A. We have assigned some of the conference space to the KE Circle, modeled after Open Space, which is a large group meeting process. The way it works is that anyone may start a discussion thread in the KE Circle conference. Those that start a topic will facilitate and moderate that thread to the end of that discussion. Experienced online facilitator mentors will be available if anyone worries about their ability to run a discussion topic, however, there will be written guidelines available as well.

Q. What are some guidelines for appropriate participation in a Virtual Conference?

A. It's as simple as this: be thoughtful to other participants. We are building a community of communities here. We expect many diverse perspectives, experiences, and insights. This will enrich our discussions and overall learning over the course of KEFair 98. Be yourself, share your knowledge, and have fun. The only thing that the your hosts will not accept is hostile and obscene language, but we're confident that participants will use their good judgement and expect this environment to be friendly and supportive to everyone involved.

Q. Who will be able to access KEFair 98 and see our conversations?

A. KEFair 98 takes place entirely in a password protected web site. You must register to receive an ID and Password, and only those that have registered will be allowed into the site.

However, KEFair 98 is a publicly advertised event on the web. Invitations and press releases were released all over the world and anyone who registers can access.

Q. How much I will be able to experience vs. only talk about knowledge ecology.

A. The Fair won't be like an ordinary professional conference "re-purposed" for the virtual world. It will turn many of the driving ideas of knowledge ecology into action and reality. It will be a living, breathing knowledge-sharing ecosystem of a virtual community, in which everyone's voice is important and has to be heard.