La Plaza-1 La Plaza Telecommunity Network No matter how you feel about it, good, bad, or indifferent, the Taos Plaza is no longer the community meeting place it once was--the Taos Plaza is now a center for tourist activity. La Plaza Telecommunity Foundation seeks to engender a true community spirit in Taos with a community-based electronic telecommunications network that will be designed to draw the rich multi-cultural Taos community closer together. The La Plaza Telecommunity Foundation has been working on this project since June of this year. We plan to have La Plaza Telecommunity Network (La Plaza) operational within one year. La Plaza is a partially member-supported (similar to your public television and radio services), public-access community computer system. Like your TV, La Plaza offers wide-ranging information, and like your telephone, it provides person-to-person interactive communications. It provides a broad spectrum of on-line information services to the public, including community and government databases and information, and worldwide electronic messaging (electronic mail). Most services offered by La Plaza are free to the user, and you don't even have to have a computer to use La Plaza, as there will be public-access terminals to be located in and around Taos. Everyone will have access to La Plaza Telecommunity network. WHO CAN PLACE INFORMATION ON LA PLAZA Community and professional associations, clubs, charitable organizations, government, educational, and service organizations--any entity that wants to communicate information to the general public. Every participating organization will be given a dedicated space on the system to post its information. Also note, that not only will this information be available in Taos, but through the Internet connection (a worldwide computer network), Taos information will be available, quite literally, worldwide. The mandate of La Plaza is to provide the residents of the Taos region with electronic free access to community-related information, while giving information providers a means to disseminate their information as widely and as economically as possible. FEATURES OF LA PLAZA Like true town Plazas, Telecommunity computer-based networks offer a wide array of potential services. Typically, as a telecommunity develops--like physical communities--new services spring up, new uses are discovered, and with computer-based systems, there is virtually no limit to the features which can be incorporated. Some of the features planned for La Plaza are illustrated below. But remember, if you have an idea for a new feature, let us know. The core of telecommunity systems that provides worldwide coverage is the Internet, an international computer network of 12,000 component networks, which currently connects approximately 18-million people, in over 40 countries in all five continents, and linking over 1.5-million computers worldwide. The Internet and electronic mail, a key feature of the Internet, are discussed in more detail in the La Plaza Telecommunity Whitepaper which is available for the asking. Briefly, the Internet access provides a wide range of benefits including: % access to the world's library systems % access to government publications and databases % access to electronic journals and newspapers % access to experts in virtually all fields worldwide % access to distance learning--providing secondary school through graduate school classes on-line electronic mail worldwide information % search capability worldwide. Electronic mail is the capability of sending an electronic message or letter to another person or group of persons. It is one of the most popular and fastest-growing uses of computers today. Not only will La Plaza users be able to send electronic messages locally to other members, they will also be able to send electronic messages throughout New Mexico, the United States, and around the world--to friends, relatives, and business associates who also have electronic mail capability. All registered users will receive a unique electronic mail address (like your post-office box) on La Plaza. With this electronic mail address, La Plaza users will be able to receive messages from anyone who is connected to the Internet worldwide. WHAT TYPE OF INFORMATION WILL BE SEEN ON LA PLAZA? La Plaza will be an electronic information resource for the residents of the Taos region. It will feature information on a wide array of topics, including medical, dental, and general health care, education, law, science and technology, social services, government, entertainment, recreation, and the arts. The possibilities are endless. The chart below shows examples and their relationships. INSERT GRAPHIC HERE WHO WILL PAY FOR THE OPERATION OF LA PLAZA? Telecommunity computer-based networks, like La Plaza, depend on a number of different funding sources for start up and for continued operation. For approximately the first two years of start up and operation, La Plaza will be supported by funding from state and federal entities, private foundation funding, corporate funding and equipment donations, and support from private individuals in the Taos community. In addition, La Plaza, like your public broadcasting systems (TV and radio), will be partially supported by its membership, participating organizations, and potential commercial ventures which may utilize the system. Paid supporting membership in La Plaza will confer voting rights in addition to usual access to the services of La Plaza. HOW DOES ONE BECOME A MEMBER OF LA PLAZA? In order to have full use of the facilities on La Plaza, users will be required to complete and mail a registration form. There is no fee to register and use La Plaza. The registration form will be available on La Plaza itself, as well as at the Harwood Library, and other locations to be determined. Anyone, Taoseo or tourist, will be able to access La Plaza as a guest and look around, but only registered users will be given an account, and allowed to use all the services on La Plaza. For instance, a tourist in town over the Christmas holidays could use a public access terminal to check weather and ski conditions, or other events in the Taos region, but would not have access to the Internet. When you register, you will be assigned a personal account name and password. An account is essential in order to send and receive electronic mail, as the account provides your electronic mail address. NOW THE BIG QUESTION--DO YOU HAVE TO BE A COMPUTER EXPERT TO USE LA PLAZA? ABSOLUTELY NOT! Our committees are working very hard to develop a system that is truly easy to use, regardless of the user's level of computer experience. La Plaza Telecommunity is for the Taos community, and Taoseos must be able to use it. The La Plaza Telecommunity Foundation plans to provide educational services to instruct users in order that they are able to get the most out of their Plaza. Educating the users of La Plaza is one of our most important priorities. La Plaza Telecommunity Foundation Membership Application HOW CAN I OR MY BUSINESS OR ASSOCIATION GET INVOLVED? While the La Plaza Telecommunity Foundation is forming, please contact us by mail at the address below to find out how you or your organization can contribute to the development of La Plaza either financially or with personnel. La Plaza Telecommunity Foundation P.O. Box 468 Taos, NM 87571 Soon we will have an office and voice phone contact points, as well as an electronic mail address. We will inform you of these contact points as soon as they become available. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Yes, I support La Plaza Telecommunity. Enclosed is my tax-deductible contribution. Member $35_____ Patron $100_____ Founder $500_____ Student $15______ Other $________ Name_____________________________________ Address____________________________________ Town______________________________________ Phone (day)___________________________________ Phone (night)__________________________________ Fax_________________________________________ E-Mail_______________________________________ Please make checks payable to: La Plaza Telecommunity Foundation P.O. Box 468 Taos, NM 87571 Thank you for your support!