[WebPub] [abcd-www] abcd-www + abcd-mobile = abcd-w3?

[Prasad, Raman M]

Dear MIT Webpub,

Please see the announcement below regarding the Harvard abcd-www group.  

We will be continuing to post our meetings to this list after the summer break--with a slight change in name.  

We are merging with the Harvard ABCD Mobile group and will be called “abcd-w3” instead of “abcd-www”.  

Thank you!

-----------------------------

Mobilers! WWWers!
 
Mobile has become such a huge thing that it's almost impossible to conceive of a new tech project without it.
 
Most web is also mobile, and most mobile, even native apps, are tightly integrated into a larger ecosystem involving web.
 
In recognition of this fact, the co-chairs of abcd-mobile and abcd-www have decided that it makes sense to join forces and merge our groups.
 
By combining our efforts, we think we can attract better speakers more consistently with less stress for everyone involved.
 
To reflect the fact that this is a NEW group, and not just one group swallowing another, we've decided it needs a new name and a new mailing list to reflect its broader mandate. 
 
We'll call the new group abcd-w3. 
 
w3 happens to be a buzz word (though perhaps not the buzziest buzzword, since I'd never heard of it before last week) describing the new mobile web. It's the thing that happened after web 2.0. Though perhaps a touch obscure, it gestures at the logic of our new, bigger group. w3 also happens to be a long-standing abbreviation used by the world wide web consortium, so we think it will have staying power even after the this buzzword of the moment passes into the dustbin of history. It's also nice and short -- especially given the "abcd-web-mobile"  permutations we were considering as alternatives, and inoffensive (abcd-wmd,  "for web, mobile, devices"  was also a candidate, and plucky, but we were concerned about attracting attention from certain other three letter organizations).
 
We know this is short-term annoying, but we hope to make the transition seamless enough that you don't have to do anything. If you're either an abcd-www or an abcd-mobile member, your account will automatically switched to the new mailing list. The archives of the old lists will be preserved, and if you attempt to post new messages to those groups, they'll either be forwarded to the new group, of bounce back with instructions on how to post to the new group (there are a couple of fiddly details for us to sort out still).
 
We hope to have all of this sorted out over the summer and be back in our new in improved form by September. If you have questions or concerns about this merger, now is the time to voice them. Please let us know. As excited as we are about this merger, we definitely don't want to autocratically railroad people into something that doesn't make sense to them.
 
Best,

Donna Tremonte
Keven Newman
Raman Prasad
Miriam Leigh
Reinhard Engels
Bill Barthelmy

(ABCD-W3 Co-chairs)