Industry Forums Are Very Useful

Recently one of the ACS team asked members on our chat forum about online facilities that would allow training via the internet to take place. She had an overseas client who needed training in the database program she was using for them and she was looking for something where the client could see what she was seeing on her computer at the same time. Sound like something of the future? Not at all! It can be done today and that’s what makes this industry so exciting – the possibilities continue to develop and opens new doors with the technologies that are available to us. But why don’t I let Tracey tell her own story? Click here for the full details.

If you are in an industry where access to the web plays a part in what you do, then it stands to reason that there is probably a chat forum or two where you can ask for advice, learn from peers and share what you know with others. It’s a great way to develop your knowledge and keep up to date with what’s happening out there, outside of your current working environment. Yahoogroups is just one of those communities but there are others too, such as Google Groups and more. My first introduction to the web early 1996 was through a community with Compuserve.

Many of these allow you to receive the chats via email so you can respond to the queries or discussions as they are happening. Some people don’t like receiving heaps of email though, so you can choose to go ‘nomail’ and log in at the website instead to view what’s been happening. Some forums have chosen to use php based programs and developed forums where you can only log in to participate – I belong to a couple like this but find I participate less because I much prefer the email method – for me it’s a case of ‘out of sight, out of mind’.

Wikipedia describes the online communities like this:

A virtual community is a group of people communicating or interacting with each other by means of information technologies, typically the Internet, rather than in person. Virtual communities are also known as online communities or computer-mediated communities (CMC).

This article is also posted at SOHO-Life.

online communities, discussion forums, online training, new technologies, virtual assistants, VAs