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Grand-Opening-Press-Release-1-
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1994-10-22
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WOMEN'S WIRE Announces On-line Grand Opening --
Press Release Summary:
WOMEN'S WIRE Announces On-line Grand Opening
Women Across the Country Create Community on the Electronic Frontier
S U M M A R Y
South San Francisco, Calif., January 22, 1994 -- WOMEN'S WIRE (Worldwide
Information Resource & Exchange) today announced the grand opening of the
first commercial conferencing system targeted toward women. WOMEN'S
WIRE is both an information clearinghouse on a wide range of subjects, and a
conversational on-line gathering place. The grand opening week will introduce
on-line guest speaker series in several forum areas and also welcome
representatives from more than 15 women's interest nonprofit organizations
including The Boston Women's Health Book Collective, the National
Education Center for Women in Business, Women's Cancer Resource Center,
and several chapters of the National Organization for Women (NOW). An
account on WOMEN'S WIRE is available today and costs $15/month, which
includes 2 hours of free on-line time with additional hours at $2.50/hour for
direct dial-in and Internet access. Local access numbers are available
throughout the world at a moderate additional cost. WOMEN'S WIRE can be
contacted at 415/615-8989.
Press Contacts: Nancy Rhine
Director
WOMEN'S WIRE
(415) 615-8989
Laura Daykin
Niehaus Ryan Haller Public Relations, Inc.
(415) 615-7909
For sales & marketing
information contact: WOMEN'S WIRE
(415) 615-8989
email: info@wwire.net
435 Grand Avenue, Suite D
South San Francisco, CA 94080
For Immediate Release
WOMEN'S WIRE Announces On-line Grand Opening
Women Across the Country Create Community on the Electronic Frontier
SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., January 22, 1994--WOMEN'S WIRE
(Worldwide Information Resource & Exchange), the first international,
interactive computer network dedicated to women, today announced its
grand opening. The opening week will introduce many topical forums
and showcase intriguing guest "speakers" initiating WOMEN'S WIRE's
On-line Culture Series. Representatives from more than 15 women's
interest nonprofit groups will open their on-line doors and be
available to subscribers for questions and support. Activities will
culminate on January 29 with a free users' workshop about navigating
the vast on-line world, and a face-to- face celebration at the company's
office.
"This is a community where women have the rare opportunity to
interact on the basis of their interests, wit, personality and quality
of thought, rather than superficial factors such as circumstances or
appearance," said Ellen Pack, WOMEN'S WIRE co-founder and president. "It's
an opportunity to express one's true self; to tap into shared wisdom and
the support of like minds or to let down your hair and have fun with
friends. Just as important, this is a new way to gather widespread efforts
into focused, collaborative action to accomplish shared goals."
Organization Access
This week WOMEN'S WIRE will debut Organization Access, a new kind
of on-line resource that offers direct access to nonprofit organizations
and professional associations. Among the first groups to contribute to this
electronic clearinghouse are The Boston Women's Health Book Collective,
Alumnae Resources, Women's Cancer Resource Center, San Francisco Commission
on the Status of Women, several chapters of the National Organization for
Women, Students Organizing Students, National Education Center for Women in
Business, and the Domestic Abuse Awareness Project. By entering the
organizations' virtual doors, users gain access to up-to-date action alerts,
calendars, newsletters, resources and expert advice on health, politics,
careers and more.
"Women's Cancer Resource Center's project aims to increase
accessibility to WCRC's cancer information library," says Diane Estrin,
executive director of WCRC. "WOMEN'S WIRE will greatly enhance WCRC's
ability to obtain and communicate information and concerns related to
women and cancer. Additionally, access to WOMEN'S WIRE will assist
WCRC develop our community education program calendar."
Sharon Johnson, executive director of the San Francisco Commission
on the Status of Women says, "As a member of the WOMEN'S WIRE network, the
Commission on the Status of Women will be able to expand its public
information role to serve a large set of groups and individuals who are
vitally interested in women's continuing progress in many fields."
On-line Culture Series
During this grand opening week, January 24 - February 1, WOMEN'S
WIRE will also introduce its ongoing On-line Culture Series which will
feature live, interactive interviews of prominent women writers,
professionals and experts in a wide variety of fields. A sampling of the
first week's guests includes:
* Maggie Canon, journalist and editor of the popular MacUser
magazine;
* Esther Dyson, influential technologist and editor of newsletter
Release 1.0;
* Ina May Gaskin, renowned midwife and author of Spiritual Midwifery.
* Annie Somerville, award-winning Greens Restaurant chef and author
of the New York Times bestseller Fields of Greens;
* Autumn Stephens, author of Wild Women, a collection of biographies
of unconventional, significant women in history and of Untamed
Tongues, a collection of women's surprising quotations, and;
* Thalia Zepatos, international travel writer and author of A
Journey of One's Own and the upcoming Adventures in Good Company.
Many more authors, poets, experts and generally fascinating women
are slated to join the on-line community in the weeks and months to follow.
All on-line encounters will include interaction between the guest and
subscribers. Furthermore, the encounters will be archived and thus permanently
accessible to the community, building an increasingly rich record of women's
viewpoints.
Growing Community of Women
WOMEN'S WIRE provides subscribers with a centralized source of
women-oriented information and conversation. For the first time, individuals
and organizations can quickly and easily access up-to-date databases,
discussions, alerts, abstracts, resources and experts on health, politics,
career, finance, technology, parenting, education, lifestyle and many other
issues of interest to women. Women and men can log onto WOMEN'S WIRE and
discuss topics of interest with each other, network to solve problems,
instantly access information, keep in touch with family and friends via
email, and participate in newsgroups and mailing lists from other systems
on the Internet.
Since opening to founding subscribers three months ago, WOMEN'S
WIRE has added dynamic new discussion areas each week, building an
infrastructure for women networking across the globe. Each new forum--such
as The Doctor's Inn, Technology Circle, Business Roundtable, Culinary Corner,
NewsCafe, and Fixit Forum--is run by a professional who offers advice and
sparks conversation. Subscribers wrestle with leaky faucets and growing their
own businesses; they are discussing politics, sharing career opportunities
or creative writing, starting book clubs and exchanging parenting advice.
WOMEN'S WIRE will be offering a free users' workshop at their
offices in South San Francisco on Saturday, January 29th, when people
are invited to learn more about the world of on-line networking. The
workshop will precede the grand opening celebration for subscribers which
will be held on the evening of January 29th.
Using WOMEN'S WIRE is Easy
The easy-to-use graphical user interface (GUI) means that computer
users can participate actively from their first contact, with almost no
learning curve. The GUI is currently available for Mac and Windows computers,
with a DOS version to be announced later this year. A command line interface
is also available. WOMEN'S WIRE offers Internet email, mailing lists, UPI
Newswires, and Usenet newsgroups. Subscribers can telnet to WOMEN'S WIRE
using the vt-100 based command line interface.
WOMEN'S WIRE encourages calls from customers and makes a support
team available at no charge. "Part of our mission is to introduce more women
to computer networking by providing friendly and consistent user support,"
said Nancy Rhine, co-founder and director. "We want people to ask questions
and learn!"
WOMEN'S WIRE is an international, interactive, computer network
serving the information and networking needs of women. WOMEN'S WIRE's
management and support office is located in South San Francisco, California.
WOMEN'S WIRE's computer hardware is located and supported around the clock
by Pandora Systems of San Francisco. Subscriptions are available today at a
cost of $15/month which includes two free hours of on-line time; additional
hours cost $2.50/hour. For long distance users, access is available through
local access numbers at a moderate additional cost, which varies according
to time of day. WOMEN'S WIRE is also available via telnet from a remote
Internet site. Discounts are available for nonprofit organizations and groups
of 10 or more. Gift certificates are also available. For more information
contact WOMEN'S WIRE at 415/615-8989 or send email to info@wwire.net.
Editor/writer's note: On-line users and representatives from several
organizations are available for comment. Mac and Windows graphic interface
screen shots are available.
For assistance, please contact Laura Daykin at 415/615-7909.
Press Contacts: Nancy Rhine
Director
WOMEN'S WIRE
(415) 615-8989
Laura Daykin
Niehaus Ryan Haller Public Relations, Inc.
(415) 615-7909