My parents have been very involved in conversational groups called salons, so we all have spent many hours discussing what makes for good conversation and how to facilitate it among "live" groups. How to do this on the internet is a new topic for me, so I am hoping that we discuss it more fully. Here are my thoughts: 1. The standard of discourse on this list is higher than any other I've encountered so far, which is what I like about it. However, maybe because of this the listers are hesitant to put out ideas that they are unsure about, or haven't developed a coherent theory about yet because they don't want to appear uninformed. Maybe we all need to take more chances with ideas we are playing with and ask more open ended questions instead of just factual ones. In this spirit, I'll be tossing out some things I have been wondering about shortly. 2. This is not to say I have anything against fact based questions. As one who doesn't have easy access to the web, or a library of good reference books nearby I appreciate the opportunity to get answers this way. 3. I think one thing that is vital to having an easy exchange of ideas is a climate of respectful tolerance of other's opinions. That seems to exist in this group already, but I just wanted to enforce how vital it is to maintain that in order to have good conversations. 4. I was wondering about the composition of the group - it is my subjective impression that a good portion of people who contribute are academics. Is this true, and how does this affect the tone of the list? I am thinking that perhaps it would be nice if we had more contributions from people who are actually making films about their projects. I look forward to hearing your opinons. Simone Fary ---- To signoff SCREEN-L, e-mail [log in to unmask] and put SIGNOFF SCREEN-L in the message. Problems? Contact [log in to unmask]