Group Simulation Project

The idea:: You are members of the Grinnell, IA community who wish to establish a community network in town. Your goal is to have the system up and running by the beginning of May. You can't just start it, though; it has to have community support. You'll need the cooperation of the city government, Chamber of Commerce, public schools, and local businesses and organizations if it's going to succeed. You'll need to determine how it's going to be funded, who will maintain it, and where its public access points will be located. You'll need to elect officers, recruit volunteers, and select hardware and software. You'll need to address some sticky issues (like those in Schuler (1996b), p264) before they arise. You'll even need to design the initial organization of information on the system.
The reality:: You'll do everything but choose a name (I've done that for you to spare you the hours of debate) and actually purchase and set up the system. Everything. You'll produce real (photocopied) brochures, contact actual people in town, hold open board meetings, and research relevant legal issues. Of course you'll need to tell people that it's just a simulation, but the more realistic we can make it, the more we'll all learn from the experience. I, meanwhile, will take the role of harsh reality ... throwing obstacles in your paths to make sure things don't go too smoothly. I'll also maintain a Web site that details your progress. The site will be monitored by actual community networkers, and their comments will be actively solicited.
The practice:: Since many of you have busy lives already and time in this simulation will be moving artificially fast, I can't expect you to meet in person as many times as a real organizing committee might. The GRINNET account will serve as a "listserv" -- any mail sent to that address will be immediately forwarded to all of you, so any time you want to communicate with each other you can just TELL GRINNET. When I have a dose of reality for one of you, I'll generally send the news by private e-mail. It will be your responsibility to then report the situation to the group (no fair forwarding my messages). You are encouraged to delegate responsibility. Get other people in on this project, and if they have (or can obtain) e-mail accounts I'll add them to the mailing list. The only restriction I place on delegation is that all participants *must* live in Grinnell.
The bitter end:: The simulation will end at the beginning of May, at which point you'll give a group presentation for the Grinnell community. If you don't get GrinNet up and running before that time, that's tough... if you do, the simulation will continue with a functioning community network (and a whole new set of problems!). It is possible that the Grinnell community will like the idea so much that they won't want it to be a simulation... in that case, you've got a great topic for a summer grant proposal -- you can do it all again, for real!

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