Ed,

Just wanted to thank you for the fine Y2K presentation you made at the Seattle Year 2000 Expo this past weekend. For interested Yourdonites, Ed has included a link on his web-site to download his Powerpoint presentation notes at:

http://yourdon.com/seminars/980522y2kgeneric.html

One thing that you talked about struck me as key. It was pertaining to the Taos, New Mexico Y2K comittee meeting where a representative from the local hospital asked the group to "...instead of expecting how the hospital is going to be ready to help you, what are you [the community] going to DO to help "us" during Y2K?"

It's a question we all need to ask ourselves and within our local communities.

What can WE the local community DO to help our support and other service organizations get through Y2K?

One of the most valuable connections for me at the Expo was attending presentations of grassroots Y2K community organizers to hear how they are doing it. I met, face-to-face, some wonderful people who gave out tons of community action leads to follow-up on. (Let me do the homework tomorrow and I'll post that info later for everyone here).

The best remediation most of us non-geeks can DO now, and before the end of the year, is to "remediate" our neighborhoods, communities and the pre-existing organizations that are supposed to support us, IMHO. We can "help" them do it well.

Thanks again Ed, and it was great to meet you, face-to-face, however briefly.

Diane

-- Diane J. Squire (sacredspaces@yahoo.com), February 01, 1999

Answers

Thanks Diane,

But most of us are busy building Y2K retreats and stocking them with guns, gold and other supplies. If we say anything to those DGI's, they might come looking for us when TSHTF. Too bad if the DGI's strarve to death. Serves them right for not listening to us. We will shoot anyone stupid enough to come asking us for help. If you want to make yourself a target, ok by me man. Just dont expect us to follow your example.

-- jennieo (thanks@aol.com), February 01, 1999.

Before you answer jean0, remember:

Don't Feed the Trolls

-- Don't Feed (the@trolls.com), February 01, 1999.

Diane: Thanks for another good post. I am reminded of what is perhaps JFK's most famous remark: "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country". Just substitute community for country and you have basically the same basic idea.

Rob, who is interested in building community - which may lessen the impact of Y2K for some, and who thinks building community is good to do regardless of Y2K.

-- Rob Michaels (sonofdust@net.com), February 01, 1999.

What is a troll?

-- me (justme@aol.com), February 01, 1999.

Good post, Diane. I hope we'll get to hear more when you find the right MAC.

One of our big problems in this 10,000 population midwest town is to build the foundation of Y2K awareness, even at this late date. I have personally taken the Paul Revere Group's individual approach to building awareness. But without good media support, it makes successful Y2K planning very difficult indeed. In fact, this is the one thing that really strikes me about building "community remediation": The general Y2K awareness level of the citizenry is so different from one geographical area to another. Many communities with enlightened understanding and leadership are so far ahead of ours. This may seem obvious to most, but my belief is that the more successful communities had leadership that understood that building community awareness must come first if you're going to achieve your goals. It is counter-productive to have committee members who don't really get it. This is why I am often critical of the federal government's weak attempt to get the word out to plan for Y2K. Possible panic be damned! The longer they/we wait the worse the panic will be, if and when it is triggered. (I'm a 9 at this stage.)

A current exception to this 'lack of government will to speak out', is Sen. Robert Bennett's latest attempt, in an earlier post on this forum, titled "Ready or Not, Y2K Is Coming". We're going to get this article into our local newspaper along with some other material.

We have made some strides in our little town, however. Our community hospital is working closely with medical equipment vendors and is about done with testing and verification. (I just did it too: "...is about done...". What the hell does is about done mean?) Okay. They will be compliant and verified compliant by the end of March 1999. Further, they have plenty of diesel power backup with a tanker truck full of fuel for the fateful day, if required. Also. They are fully aware they could become very popular as a warm site for refugees from the cold. This is being planned as well.

So, it's not perfect, but we're getting there!

BW

-- Bob Walton (waltonb@kdsi.net), February 01, 1999.

Hi Diane, we gotta rush to get ready to go meet you to see yet another Y2K presentation ... gonna scream! Y2K invaded our life! anyway

Thanks, Ed :)

Don't have time to do anything now but paste our replies from another thread:

FEMA on AM radio (Atlanta)

Just got back from 12-hour Y2K Seattle Expo immersion all Saturday.

Eye-opening on many levels. Very large # of ppl, didn't see any straggly End-Of-World types at all. Mostly @ 50ish solid citizen crowd, of course younger & older too but largely middle-aged normal citizens. Lots of ppl interested in community-building and just getting a grip on Y2K. Tremendous thirst for accurate info. Lotsa networking, good vibes.

Ed Yourdon's keynote address was excellent (natch). Saw Karen Anderson's talk; she's funny and related well to audience as a "Mom" type, also as a businesswoman. So many speakers, so many names we've seen here and finally saw in person! That was cool. Amazing how quickly the grassroots community upswell is arising and attracting really nice people. Many video & news cameras going, and they didn't seem to be looking for nuts. Maybe they were disappointed at what a nice better-than-normal vibed large crowd it was. ;)

Saw Jim Lord give a talk; it was great! He's fairly hard-hitting but with a nice manner, courteous to all questions, very disciplined and alert, quick with his information. He really drove the interconnectedness home and the sugar-coated obscure-truth nature of many press releases. He does his homework and has lots of real-life contacts, plus eMail tips, and does seem to be keeping a pulse on changing times. Great lecture, and he kept everybody's attention from 7-9/p, after audience already drained from whole day of Y2K inundation. If the place wasn't closing, he could easily have held the audience's fascination for another two hours. He's giving another free 3-hour lecture next Friday evening in Seattle, then a (fee) full-day workshop next Saturday. Sounds worthwhile.

I asked Jim Lord if he has ever been asked to dampen or tone down his presentation/message, and he said no, but that he's heard loud clicks on his phone, and seemed sure he's wiretapped, but not in the least concerned about it. He said he does come reading this Forum, but it's gotten so large that it's work looking for specific information. He said if we come across info we think he should know about, to eMail it to him. He seems knowledgeable across a large spectrum of Y2K-related concerns. Was very favorably impressed with him. A military guy who is now reaching out to many. BTW, he said that we the Y2K-aware are the leaders, and that now ppl think we're lunatics, but soon we will be regarded as visionaries, and don't stop helping ppl prepare!

Really super wonderful seeing Suzanne + Bud & Jor-El!

The FEMA ads y'all are posting are very interesting. The Seattle EOM folks said they offer it by neighborhood request. They seemed almost embarrassed hush-hush when I asked. Hhhmm. Those in areas where it's being offered, TAKE IT ! Also, if your workplace wants it for all employees so there's a better chance of the company continuing to function with prepared employees, FEMA/local Fire Depts may give the training if there's enough ppl. Called BET (Business Emergency Teams) in some locales.

Obviously whatever is going on is not perfectly organized and homogenized throughout the USA. Whatever your local environment is, BECOME PREPARED! Do it now. All Y2K Expo speakers we heard said a turning point is coming sooner rather than later.

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

I'm planning to take the next FEMA training course in April, in addition to some of the local Red Cross ones.

I just think it's part of a well-rounded Y2K "preppie's" arsenal of key capabilities.

Diane

(Leska, will post my observations about the Seattle Y2K Expo as I put the info together inbetween meetings. It's a complete "pain" being away from my Mac's bookmarks, etc., and on a "borrowed" PC).

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

Diane, sympathize, going from Mac to PC is frustrating devolution ;^P

Come with us to our Wednesday FEMA class. We will learn how to size up our immediate surrounding area after disaster strikes. Invaluable and applicable in many situations! Lots of very practical safety tips & considerations from the Firemen who find themselves facing collapse daily.

Search Techniques + Procedures
Victim Transport (Do you know how to move an injured person safely? How do you carry an unconscious relative downstairs fast in a burning building? )
Rescuer Safety Review
Basic Search & Rescue Tools and Equipment
(In Columbia, ppl frantically dug with bare hands to try to free their loved ones screaming and moaning beneath the rubble. Result: Dead loved ones and injured/infected anguished relatives. )
This class teaches how to use all types of materials on hand to quickly safely extricate trapped + wounded victims.
Potential Hazards to You
Special Hazards ... Unreinforced Masonry Buildings
Signs of Possible Structural Damage
Neighborhood Emergency Teams' Strategies and Tactics
Building Marking
NET Search Check Lists
Lifting Heavy Objects
Cribbing Techniques, Considerations, and Group Practice Drills
etc. etc. etc.

Besides, Diane, you have to return those Y2K videos to Michael Dowd then anyway, and he'll be there; good opportunity to discuss all those community-preparing lectures at the Seattle Y2K Expo.

Building networks, learning skills, becoming self-reliant -- 6 months ago, who would have known our lives would become so busy in such unexpected ways. Feel for those coming to the Y2K roundtable this late; hardly time to adjust.

Ashton & Leska in Cascadia, doing their 3rd round of emergency response marathon classes, and still feeling overwhelmed and inadequate, but chipping away at the necessities

xxxxxxx xxxxxxx xxxxxxx xxxxxxx xxxxxxx xxxxxxx xxxxxxx xxxxxxx xxxxxxx xxxxxxx xxxxxxx xxxxxxx xxxxxxx xx

-- Leska (allaha@earthlink.net), February 01, 1999.

And from a different thread:

About Ed Yourdon: he is really busy. Just saw him in action yesterday. He was very kind and respectful to all. He had lines of people asking him for advice, which he freely dispensed. He gave hour after hour of public talks. No breaks. We worried about him; it was sorta exhausting to watch! Ashton gave him water; Ed had time for a couple sips. Diane gave him her sandwich; Ed had time for a bite. That's it. No glamour, just hard work. Asked nothing of anybody. He gave gave gave gave gave. Great man. Approachable, intelligent, well-informed, down-to-earth, humorous, BUSY !! Saw nothing in any way to fault him.

(This was in response to a ?troll? who expects Ed to respond quickly -- he does, to many ppl at once. :) My own testimony: Ed responds timely and unfailingly politely. He has my utmost respect.

xxxxxxx xxxxxxx xxxxxxx xxxxxxx xxxxxxx

-- Leska (allaha@earthlink.net), February 01, 1999.

i agree 100% with leska. my little town of goshen hosted ed last year on march 17, saint pattie's day, but they didn't really appreciate what they had, for the most part. pearls before swine...

-- jocelyne slough (jonslough@tln.net), February 01, 1999.

I have to say thanks too, Ed. In person your caring motivation comes through clearly. And it was good to hear you be able to respond to the distortion and disinformation coming out of the New York Times and USA Today. More power to you.

E.

-- E. Coli (nunayo@beeswax.com), February 01, 1999.

i feel really fortunate that we, too, were able to hear Ed talk at the Seattle Expo! We attended both days of the Expo.. and there he was doing an early morning talk on Sunday. What dedication! The great additional treat for us, though, was getting to meet and chat with Leska, Ashton, Diane, Melinda, and Jor ell!!

I posted info elsewhere about dates and locations of future Expos, but I think it really belongs here too. San Jose, California April 7-9, 1999

Denver, Colorado May 6-8, 1999

Atlanta, Georgia June 10-12, 1999

Minneapolis, Minnesota July 23-25

Portland, Oregon August 12-14, 1999

Ontario, California September 23-25, 1999

For more info, their website is http://www.y2kexpos.com Oh, and their homepage states that cassettes and videos of Seattle's Seminars will be available on their website next week.

Suzanne L (I think the L stands for Long-time Lurker...)

-- Suzanne (SuzanneL-@webtv.not), February 02, 1999.

Hey, nice to see you again, Suzanne L! Thanks for posting the info.
Bet that late California one will be well-attended. :^O

xxxxxxx xxxxxxx xxxxxxx

-- Leska (allaha@earthlink.net), February 02, 1999.

Hmmmm... Southwest does San Diego <-> San Jose all day every day... I think I may just have to come down with "Y2K flu" right after Easter... 8-}]

-- Mac (sneak@lurk.com), February 02, 1999.

Here's a news article about the Seattle Expo. Since we were there, we can compare. The report is superficial fluff with the kooky survivalist spin. NOT what the Expo was like at all. Imagine being a reporter exposed to all the excellent info & crowds of normal concerned citizens, and coming away without getting any of it. How do these shallow ppl keep their jobs?

The bright yellow smiley buttons were a hoot. Could actually wear a Y2K happy-face :) LOL. I brought one to Ed and he put in on his lapel, laughing. Noticed lotsa ppl wearing the silly buttons and grinning broadly, amused at the irony. These became badges of GI mock-the-DGIs. Kept a couple, and we're not ones for souvenirs!

The Y2K Medicine Show

:P
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-- Leska (allaha@earthlink.net), February 05, 1999.