Because Ecunet has existed on several different physical computers, some of its history went by the wayside with the demise of the various computer systems. Fortunately, many important pieces of it were carefully preserved as Ecunet moved and because Ecunet's history goes back only a couple decades, we retain the resource of people and their memories. Of course, memories can be faulty, and details slip through the cracks over time. Nonetheless, the community memory retains a lot of information, and we are indebted to the "old timers" for their helpful sharing of information.

"It was early on the morning of Wednesday, June 5, 1985 -- and I peered into the small screen of my Macintosh computer as if I were waiting for it to talk back to me. That, in fact, was exactly what I was hoping: I'd been told that I could get messages from the General Assembly meeting in Indianapolis in my eleventh-floor apartment in Albany, California.

I'd rigged my brand new modem, a little box that lets a computer talk on the phone, and followed the obscure directions as attentively as ever a medieval necromancer learning her spells. I typed the connecting link, the logon identifying code I'd been sent, then my secret password.  I waited, halfway between faith and unfaith, a not unfamiliar position for most of us those days.  Then, it happened!  The screen began to scroll upwards, before my amazed eyes, and the words appeared as if by magic ... So I was bitten, deeply, by the telecomputing bug ..."

(Houston Hodges, "One Short Year to Grizzled Veteran Status: Presbynet"
Mid/South Presbyterian, newspaper of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
Synod of the Mid-South, Vol 6, September 1986)

By 1985, when Houston got bit by the telecomputing bug, others had already been bitten deeply as well.  Though the first organized denominational experiments with telecommunications didn't begin until 1983, lots of church folks were talking to each other via their computers long before that.  People who would later become part of the Ecunet community -- folks like Hal Stockert, Bob Cramer, Curt Ackley, Gordon Laird, David Lochhead and Jim Collie -- were talking with each other on networks like CompuServe, the Source, NewsNet, and others.  Given the wide variety of computer systems and software options available, particularly during the 1980's, the wonder is that so many individuals and denominational experimenters managed to find each other and eventually form Ecunet.

The first denominationally sanctioned and organized experiment came from the United Methodist Church.  Bob Cramer, church computer consultant and pioneer, assisted the Methodists in what was called an Information Pilot.   Fourteen participants, who each paid all their own online costs, used the Source for electronic mail and NewsNet to access an electronic newsletter called United Methodist Information.  The experiment lasted from May through September of 1983.   Participants found the systems difficult to learn and experienced problems with the technology. Nonetheless, they saw the potential for telecommunications, and that would lead to a second Methodist experiment in 1984.

1984 -- CAMNET and denominational experiments

1984 saw lots of time and attention given to the possibility of church communications via computer.  The Joint Strategy and Action Committee (JSAC), organized by various denominational social action groups, called a meeting in Atlanta, Ga., in June 1984 to share information on how church mission groups might use emerging computer technologies.  The meeting was, as David Lochhead put it, "the launching pad for everything else" ("ECUNETS HISTORY" Note 239).   Nelson Murphy, Susan Peek and David Lochhead introduced electronic communications to a skeptical audience, and spoke on behalf of telecommunications.  Lochhead and Murphy were named to the steering committee of CAMNET, (Computer Applications for Ministry Network), along with Paul Milner of the Lutheran Church in America. CAMNET planned the very first CAMCON (Computer Applications for Ministry Conference) for 1986, which played a crucial role in Ecunet's history. "The synergy of that [JSAC] meeting," according to David Lochhead, "carried through into 'Religious Associates,' a conference that was started independently [on the Source]" ("ECUNETS HISTORY" Note 239).  That conversation on the Source was the base from which the United Church of Canada launched its own computer experiment in 1984.

Three major denominational experiments occurred in 1984, all important to the future of Ecunet. As they all occurred almost simultaneously, they are listed here in no particular order.

The United Methodists began their second experiment with church telecommunications in 1984 with "CBC '84". Using two different systems, the University of Washington's Cyber system and NewsNet, the United Methodists transmitted daily news stories, commentaries and news briefs from the General Conference. They also carried news from jurisdictional conferences that handled the election of bishops and other leaders. National church contingency funds supported the project, though users paid their own online costs. The experiment generated enough excitement about the possibilities of telecommunications that the participants recommended the use of a low-cost bulletin board for the future. ("HISTORY OF ECUNET" Note 5)

In October 1984, the United Church of Christ began experimenting when its Office of the Secretary asked a committee, chaired by Curt Ackley and including George Conklin, to look into telecommunications.  From October to December 8, UCC folks experimented with communications on the CompuServe system.   Early in the experiment Curt and George discovered the need for a manual for the participants' use, and they spent Memorial Day weekend sending chapters back and forth to each other for editing. Though that seems usual these days, two people living on opposite coasts collaborating to produce a manual through telecommunications over a holiday weekend was a heady experience in 1984.

About the same time, beginning on October 31, 1984, the United Church of Canada began its first telecommunications experiment on the Envoy 100 network. The group participating, including David Lochhead, Clare Holmes, Gordon Laird and others, were dubbed "UCHUG", United Church User's Group. For a complete (and delightful) retelling of all the early history of UCHUG, see Gordon's Laird's report "UCCAN HISTORY". UCHUG's four-month experiment was sponsored by the national Division of Communication. The experiment initially got off to a slow start. One of the participants, Iain Macdonald, who had had previous telecommunications experience on the Source, began a lectionary study group, a tradition that eventually became the "LECTIONARY" that exists to this day.  And when Iain began a discussion of computer equipment and software, everyone began talking all of a sudden, sharing their questions, experiences and frustrations. The UCHUG experiment was well on its way.

Changing Systems

The UCHUG group found the Envoy system difficult to use, since the system was created for business messages rather than teleconferencing. Many participants experienced technical difficulties as well, with participants using computers of vastly different capabilities. Nonetheless, the participants in the experiment recommended continuation of computer communications, hoping for a more accessible and responsive system in the future.

On February 5, 1985, the Division of Communication of the United Church of Canada, set up the "Small Computers in the Church " committee, chaired by David Lochhead.  The committee was charged with working on the future of telecommunication for the United Church of Canada.  After looking at computer systems, UCHUG moved its operations to the Unison system, owned by Fred Dudden and based in Denver, Colorado.  The Unison system used software known as Participate (then version 4.40), specifically designed for easy teleconferencing as well as e-mail, which was a major draw for UCHUG members.  They found in Unison a system vastly different from the Envoy system.  While the Envoy system had been a very formal and business-like system, Unison greeted the person signing on by name and followed that greeting with a proverb of some sort.  Creating meetings and inviting people to join them was much easier.  One of the more remarkable features of the Unison system was the real-time conference feature called Speakeasy.  On your screen would appear, "X invites you to join CHAT."  If you joined CHAT you would find yourself typing to others in real time.

Participants struggled to get up to speed quickly on the Unison system.  "LECTIONARY" was the first meeting transferred from the Envoy system.  David Lochhead quickly opened new meetings on "BEM" and "Sexuality and the United Church".  Folks from outside the United Church of Canada began joining in the conversations, too.  Bob Cramer was one of the first outside the UCC to join in the discussions.

In June of 1985 another denomination began its first experiments in telecommunications.  The Presbyterian Church set up a 90-day trial on CompuServe for those who wished to participate.  By the end of the experiment 140 people had signed on to the system.

One of the major features of the Presbyterian experiment on Compuserve was the weekly "computer magazine," Monday Night Connection.   Created by Houston Hodges, Jim Collie, and Lew Wilkins, the Monday Night Connection, posted each Monday night, told people what was happening on-line, posted news of the Presbyterian church,and helped new users understand the technical aspects of the system.  The magazine got so popular and had so much to say that it kept expanding, and finally had to be posted in two parts when it exceeding the maximum file size allowed on CompuServe!

Compuserve did not offer the kind of real-time conference the Unison system had, so when the editors of Monday Night Connection announced that they were going to be available for interactive conversation between certain hours they had to do some serious jury-rigging of the system. Lew Wilkins explains how it was done:

"There was a designated 'switchboard' person who would announce that he (no shes in those days!) would check in at regular intervals between, say 7 and 10 p.m. CST on Wednesday.  Others would announce their participation in notes to the switchboard, who would reply and let the arrivees know who else was talking that night.  (The system allowed up to 6 or 10 multiple addressees, I think.)  For it to work, everybody online would have to check back to their inbox regularly, to see whether any new mail had arrived."

Participants in these "interactive sessions" had to address all other participants by name to communicate with them. Using the address ALL would have reached everyone who had an account on the experimental system, but was considered an unfair loading of inboxes.

Non-Presbyterians showed up on this system, too, just as non-UCHUG folks joined the Canadians on Unison.  Bob Cramer, Curt Ackley, and Donel McClellan, all non-Presbyterians, were active participants on the CompuServe experiment.   In fact, United Church of Christ participants used the Presbyterian system that summer to get information about the UCC's General Synod meetings out to pastors around the country, who, in turn, distributed the information to their local presses.

Another important feature of the Presbyterians' CompuServe experiment was the creation of the meeting "SERMONSHOP."  Created that summer by Jack Sharp, the original name of the meeting was "SERMON WORKSHOP," but "work" dropped out of the name pretty quickly.  "SERMONSHOP" helped pastors prepare for their Sunday sermons by posting commentary on the lectionary texts.  As the meeting grew, Jack developed financial grants to bring in scholars to provide insight into the texts for the Holy Weeks of all three liturgical years.  The meeting proved to be of permanent value and still exists today.

The Presbyterian experiment on CompuServe ended on August 30, 1985, with a big online party officially called The Wake.  All scruples about using the ALL command disappeared that night, since no one would be able to read their messages after midnight anyway; everyone simply got on-line, stayed on-line, and used "ALL" as the address for all their notes.  The party began in the early evening, and continued until midnight, tying up all phone ports available.  The Wake, more than anything else, cemented the relationships that had grown on the CompuServe experiment.  Again, from Lew Wilkins:

"I think the main thing that happened to a lot of us at The Wake was an explosive new insight into the possibilities of this kind of communication. ... In 1985 having a live party without geographic bounds with folks in the U.S. and Canada was a new and heady experience -- not just a new technological toy but a new experience of community.  I would say that The Wake was the social event that created enough communal cohesion to carry a core of folks over the summer of '85 on CIS to the beginnings of Ecunet with the Canadians on Unison in that fall."  (Private note, used by permission)

All in all, the Presbyterian Church got its money's worth from the Compuserve experiment, using $70,000 worth of communications time for the $5,000 investment it made!  More than that, it demonstrated the value of teleconferencing, as opposed to a system that only provided electronic mail.

By the end of the first Presbyterian experiment, the United Church of Canada's group was in full swing on the Unison system.  The editors of Monday Night Connection encouraged its readers to join Unison, for the second ad hoc stage of the Presbyterians' communications efforts.  By the fall of 1985 the United Church of Canada, the United Church of Christ, and the "unofficial" Presbyterians all existed together on Unison.  "INTERFAITH CENTRE" (spelled the Canadian way) was the home of the church related discussions, with branches for meetings specific to the various denominations online.  "SERMONSHOP" and "LECTIONARY," as well as many "Chat" conferences existed on Unison and still exist to this day.

In 1985 the Methodists were also proceeding with their third experiment, "CBC '85," based out of the University of Washington's cyber system.  They used the system for e-mail and as a bulletin board system.  The church's emphasis for this phase of their experiments was on fostering personal interaction through computer communication, and on getting racial/ethnic caucuses and pastors of small rural churches on-line.  The United Methodists issued $10,000 in matching grants to these two groups, to help them purchase equipment and to pay for online time.  Bob Cramer and Sue Couch also produced a newsletter called Teletalk, which was mailed to the system's users.

Consolidating on Unison:

By 1986 several other denominations joined Unison. The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) joined as Disciplenet.  Ken Neal, former chair of the Task Force on Communication, led the group, with staff support from the denomination provided by Neil Topliffe.  The United Methodists ("CircuitWriter Network") joined the denominations on Unison that year as well.

Two events in 1986 cemented the relationships that were forming between the individuals and the denominations that coexisted on Unison at that time.  The first was the crash of the NASA space ship, Challenger, on January 28, 1986.  In response to the tragedy, Fred Dudden, owner of the Unison system, contacted Gordon Laird of UCHUG, and asked if there was some way to conduct an online memorial service for the Challenger crew, their families, and for all those who mourned the loss.   Overnight, Gordon and Unison staffer Diana Campbell organized an entire memorial service, led by four pastors of different denominations: Gordon, Jim Collie (PCUSA), Michael Henderson (United Methodist) and Curt Ackley (United Church of Christ).  Most of the parts of the service were read-only notes, but there were several places in the service for people to post their own prayers, and their thoughts about the tragedy.   The service ended with a "coffee hour" done in the Speakeasy section of the system, where people could express their sadness about the explosion, and their thanks to those who created the memorial service.  Reading the service today, it has lost none of its poignancy; one can only imagine the impact it had at the time of the crash.

The second major event of 1986, a more joyous event, was the first CAMCON in March in Los Angeles.  For many of the participants in the Unison system, this was the first face- to-face meeting, and a heady experience.  Preceeding the meeting, a handful of the CAMCON participants had come together from a training session in Ann Arbor, looking at what would be the third phase of the Presbyterian experiment.  The conference featured three speakers: David Lochhead, spoke on the theological implications of the computer in a talk titled "Does God Love Computers?"  Jack Taub, founder of the Source, talked about the future of telecommunications, and Ezra Shapiro, West Coast Bureau Chief of Byte computer magazine, addressed the history of the computer and the sociological implications of the power aspects of computer access.

Perhaps the most important aspect of the meeting was the creation of the meeting "LIVE FROM CAMCON."  Featuring live reporting on the events of the meeting in an informative but entertaining manner, this meeting set the tone for many future "Live from ..." meetings.

Birth of a Network:

Within the diverse Unison community, a truly ecumenical network had been born.  In addition to the denominational nets that resided on Unison, Bob Cramer, began posting daily summaries of church news in 1986, culled from his work on NewsNet.  All the beginnings of Ecunet were there by 1986, fueled by the community response to the Challenger Memorial Service and the excitement of Camcon I.   Gordon Laird summarizes it well in his history of the United Church of Canada's involvement in telecommunications.  He speaks here of a time shortly after the Camcon I meeting.

"Many months later, as we asked each other: 'How did Ecunet come into being,' this meeting [Camcon I] was mentioned, as were the times in Room 847, and the Memorial Service for the Challenger Crew.  Nothing was quite the same after Camcon I. We had jointly taken an ecumenical step, almost unconsciously, in that we had become personal and important to each other, and now had met 'in the flesh'." (UCCAN HISTORY #9)

While many of the denominations were writing away on Unison, the Presbyterian Church decided to launch the official Presbynet on a system based in Ann Arbor, called NETI. The system came to be known as PNETI, or Presbynet on NETI. Presbynet operated there from April 1986 until July 1988.

The Presbyterians made 500 prepaid memberships available.   200 of those were reserved for Presbyteries, 15 for synods, and some additional ones reserved for national agencies of the church and "ecumenical partners" from other denominations.  All 500 memberships were quickly snapped up; 100 other users came online at their own expense. The 10 most active users of the Presbyterian experiment on CompuServe were trained on NETI first; they acted as online helpers for others.

The Lutheran church made its first official appearance on the PNETI system in 1986. An informal group of Lutherans had gathered on the Source before that, but this was the first denominationally funded experiment. As a prelude to the merger of three Lutheran churches, 30-40 memberships from each church body were made available.  The assignment was to determine how telecommunications could help the three groups communicate with each other easily, and whether the new Lutheran church should invest in the system. The Lutherans stayed with the NETI system until the Presbyterians left it in 1988.

Though NETI was the official system of the Presbyterian Church during those years, many Presbyterians also kept their memberships on the Unison system.  After experiencing the democratic nature of the Participate software on Unison, many found the NETI system too autocratic and too difficult to use. The rates for the NETI system were also higher -- $12.00/hour for PNETI, while they were on Unison for $6.00, $4.00 an hour for "red-eye" rates.

By the summer of 1986, however, difficulties arose.   Clear indications of friction between the principals of the Unison system and constant financial concerns expressed by them, worried the the users.  A committee representing the interests of the religious networks began looking for another computer system that could house the growing ecumenical network they'd created.  They checked out other systems such as the Well, based in California, and PNETI.  Two factors, however, guided the decision ultimately made.  Participate software, and the flexibility it gave users, was a key consideration.  Maintaining an ecumenical network was also important; PNETI, run by the Presbyterian Church was not, fundamentally, an ecumenical network.

By the fall of 1986, the deterioration of service on the Unison system led to an increased sense of urgency for a new home for Ecunet.   Sherwin Levinson, Manager of a system known as NSI (soon to be called NWI), was known to many on the Unison system, and had been an active participant at the CAMCON meeting in Los Angeles.  On September 27, 1986, Curt Ackley opened a meeting on NWI, at Sherwin's invitation, to explore the use of the NWI system as a home for Ecunet.   People invited to the discussion on NWI were David Lochhead, Donel McClellan, Sherwin Levinson, Jim Collie, Houston Hodges, Gordon Laird, Lew Wilkins, Merrill Cook, Jack Sharp, Michael King and Bob Cramer . By this time the name Ecunet was being used,as the name for the fledgling ecumenical network.  No one knows exactly when it came into being, but Bob Cramer is credited with first thinking up the name, though he spelled it EcuNet.  It was during these discussions that Sherwin recommended the development of Ecunet Inc., a group that would help administer the network, seek grants, and negotiate equipment purchases. A very prophetic conversation!

On November 4, 1986, after experimenting with the NWI system, and negotiating its use with Sherwin, David Lochhead formally announced that Ecunet would begin conference activities on NWI.  The original nets to be established on NWI would be: UCHUG, UCChristnet, the unofficial Presbynet, and Disciplenet. Other nets soon followed, including the American Baptists, the United Methodists, the ELCA, Mennonites, and a group of Catholics and a Jewish network who were already a part of NWI at the time of the Ecunet move.

The next stage of Ecunet's history, its time on NWI, has less to do with events than with conversations.  And since, by May of 1987, Ecunet had around 800 users, there was no way that everyone could read everything or know everyone else online.  The dream of Ecunet Inc. became a reality in 1987, at Camcon II in Atlanta.  Ecunet Inc. was officially incorporated, and its first board of directors voted in.  That board included David Lochhead (UCCAN) as president, Curt Ackley (UCC) as first vice president, Jim Collie (PCUSA) as second vice president, Jack Sharp (PCUSA) as secretary, Gordon Laird (UCCAN) as treasurer, and Donel McClellan (UCC) as assistant treasurer.

The Online Religious Community:

That year also saw the creation of a meeting that demonstrates Ecunets' users' sense of community and concern for one another.  On February 3 Donel McClellan opened a meeting called "PRAYER CHAPEL."  The opener to the meeting and the first note read:

"PRAYER CHAPEL" by DONEL, Feb. 3, 1987 at 1:20 Eastern about
A PLACE FOR QUIET SHARING (172 characters & 1995 notes)

The door of this chapel is always open. Within its peaceful interior you are invited to bring your concerns and celebrations and to join others in our community in prayer.

1 (of 1995) DONEL Feb. 3, 1987 at 1:33 Eastern (1037 characters)

Members of our Ecunet community have been on my mind and in my prayers lately. I hope this might become a place for us to retreat periodically to exchange those subjects for thanksgiving and intercession.

I am thinking of Bob and Judy Cramer. The loss of Kern was so recent, yet the memory of the community fades far faster than the pain of loss for the parents. Sometimes that pain becomes a lonely burden in the ensuing weeks. I pray for the presence of the Comforter with Bob and Judy each day.

And I am celebrating Philip Siddon's new job and transition from the parish. I pray that his sense of ministry will continue to guide him in his life after the parish.

Most frequently, it is Terry Waite who joins me in my quiet moments of late. Too seldom do we find one actually willing to offer to lay down his life for his friends. I fear that he is yet another hostage and I fear even more than sacrificial love may not be sufficient to bridge the enmity between these foes. May the strength of the prophets and martyrs be with him.

Thus began a meeting that endures even today.  By May of 1991 "PRAYER CHAPEL" had collected 1,995 notes.  When Ecunet came up on its new computer system it was among the first of the meetings to be resurrected.

In 1988, at the end of the PNETI experiment, Presbynet became an official part of the Ecunet network, with Mel Willard as the first Presbynet Manager.  The ELCA joined Ecunet that year as well, as LutherLink, managed by Paul Milner.  Camcon 3 was held in Detroit, May 19-21, cosponsored by the Christian Council of Metropolitan Detroit and CAMNET (JSAC).

Undoubtedly one of the largest and most widely read conferences of that year (and into 1989 and even beyond) was the meeting "DYNAMICS OF COMPUTER COMMUNITY." The discussion began on September 23, 1988, with a note from Stuart Lyster.  Stuart had read David Lochhead's book, THEOLOGY IN A DIGITAL WORLD, found it provocative, and suggested the book to other Ecunet readers.  Over the next six months participants generated nearly 500 notes dealing with topics such as the characteristics of computer community, whether or not the network was hierarchical, the revolutionary nature of computer networking, power dynamics on-line, and other provocative subjects.  The meeting also spawned other important meetings, such as "FEMINIST PERSPECTIVES," opened by Anne Bemrose Fetter on November 1, 1988, another meeting that continues to this day.

Bizlink enters the picture:

Toward the end of the meeting "DYNAMICS OF COMPUTER COMMUNITY," Sandy Johnson announced that she was beta-testing a new program called Bizlink.  It was a program that changed the nature of telecommunications on Ecunet.   Prior to that time individuals used a variety of different programs to access Ecunet.  That made the system hard to use for people with limited computer and telecommunications knowledge.  Bizlink introduced a user-friendly, easy and efficient program for telecommunications, an open invitation to the world at large to join Ecunet, rather than just those who had the patience to learn Parti commands.

Developed originally by Larry Allen for use on the Source, the early versions relied on Word Perfect to run.  When CompuServe bought the Source and ended its operation, Larry joined with Sherwin Levinson and Phil Moore of NWI, and, with funding from Presbynet, reintroduced the program there.  Modifications to the system were made by various individuals.  Sherwin Levinson and Mike Putch wrote a "menu bypass" that allowed for error-detection and correction in receiving and sending messages.  Merrill Cook wrote a BLMENU/editor interface, which eliminated the early program's reliance on Word Perfect macros.  By the beginning of 1990 the Ecunet sysops were negotiating with Sherwin and Larry for use of the program on Ecunet.

CAMCON meetings continued to occur each year.  In 1989 Camcon 4 met on May 18-20 in Seattle, co-sponsored by the Church Council of Greater Seattle and CAMNET (JSAC).  In 1990 Camcon met at the site of the Religious Communication Congress meetings, sponsored by the Department of Communications of the NCC. That meeting was held April 18-21 in Nashville.  In December of 1990, Ecunet Inc. also received its 501(c)(3) status from the Internal Revenue Service, making it exempt from Federal Income Tax.

The following year, 1991, saw the first commercial venture operating on Ecunet.  On February 7 the Graduate Theological Union Bookstore in Berkeley, California, began doing book reviews online.  Participants in the meeting could read reviews of new theological books in the GTU Bookstore's meeting, and place orders for any books that interested them.  Other ventures followed over the next years.( "Values and Visions" magazine, run by Mary Ann Brussat, of Cultural Information Service, in 1992; Westminster/John Knox Press and Pilgrim Press in 1993)

Ecunet goes international:

Perhaps one of the most exciting moments on the NWI system was the very dramatic reporting from the World Council of Churches meeting in Canberra, Australia, in February of 1991. Using some complicated technology, Ecunet "reporters" Gordon Howe (UCCan), Curt Ackley (UCC), J. Martin Bailey and Dave Pomeroy (NCC) and Lois Stover (PCUSA) shared the news and the views from Canberra.   News of a stirring and controversial address by a Korean feminist theologian, the meeting delegates' deliberations about the rights of indigenous peoples world-wide, and the creation of a statement denouncing the Gulf War all appeared on Ecunet, giving readers a first-hand view of a meeting that most media ignored.

The Crash!:

On MAY 31, 1991 all conferences came to a screeching halt.   The event came to be known as The Crash, the day the NWI system was shut off, unexpectedly, and for good.

People who tried to log on to the NWI system on the morning of May 31, 1991, got a ringing phone line that never answered.  Many tried again later in the day, but to no avail.  When people called NWI's customer service number, they were told that NWI was experiencing technical difficulties and they should try calling again later.  As people did that over the next few days, and continued to get no answer, they knew that something was very wrong.

Indeed, something had gone terribly wrong. NWI had purchased phone and computer hardware services from a shared tenant service provider.   While NWI paid the phone and computer provider for its own phone bills, the service provider failed to pay AT&T.  AT&T's response was to turn off the phone service, forcing NWI into bankruptcy, leaving Ecunet homeless.

The days, weeks and months following the crash were extraordinarily busy ones for the Ecunet Inc. board, the system operators (sysops) of the various nets, the management of the NWI system and others.  Heroic efforts, long hours, and endless creativity on the part of all these people brought the current system into being.

The first step was to reconnect the board, the sysops and NWI staff so they could find a new home for Ecunet.  Sherwin Levinson, manager of the NWI system, provided that first link.  He had been working on moving NWI's system from a DEC VAX computer to a UNIX computer system, and had completed the basic installation of the new system just a few days before the NWI crash.  Sherwin's UNIX test computer in Atlanta became the first reincarnation of Ecunet, a place where the board and the sysops and the NWI management could gather to plan strategy.  A second system opened in Baltimore several days later.  The Presbyterians had planned to have a demo system available at their General Assembly meeting in Baltimore; it became Ecunet's temporary home.  By June 11, 1991, 280 inbox names were registered on the Baltimore system.  Considering that all Ecunet members' names, phone numbers and addresses were stored on a computer system that was turned off, getting people signed on to the Baltimore system was no easy feat.

During the General Assembly meeting, Curt Ackley, Ecunet Inc's President, met with members of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) to work out a strategy for getting Ecunet up and running again.  The Presbyterians agreed to house the Ecunet system, maintaining the computer hardware for everyone and handling their own Presbyterian accounts.  The Baltimore system became the basis of the new computer system in Louisville.  On June 30th, the Baltimore system was shut down and moved to Louisville, and the meetings from the Atlanta system were merged onto it.

Coming back to life:

At the same time, other matters besides the hardware occupied the time of various board members and managers of the system.  Since the NWI system had closed so abruptly, there was no opportunity to remove the backup tapes from the premises, and no way to retrieve all the meetings and information stored on that system.  Phil Moore, president of NWI, after much negotiating with their previous service provider, managed to access the system for 48 hours, allowing a team of people to download the most important files from the NWI system.

The confusion of this time, and the number of issues to be decided kept Ecunet Inc. extremely busy.  Board members at that time were: Curt Ackley, president, Donel McClellan, David Lochhead, Gordon Laird, Paul Milner, Neil Topliffe, Sandy Johnson, Jim Collie, John Yoder, Dave Pomeroy, Susan Peek, Bob Cramer and Jack Sharp.  Curt Ackley was able to take some time away from his pastoring duties to give Ecunet his full attention for part of that summer.  Even so, the difficulty of communicating about so many issues convinced the board that a face-to-face meeting was needed.  On June 19, 1991, those members who could met in Donel McClellan's home in Bellingham, WA.  Others who could not be present were included in a conference call.

Key issues occupying the board that summer included the need to create a system for customer service and billing and necessary changes to the Bizlink software due to an update of the Participate software.  Donel McClellan, and other board members, spent many long hours negotiating agreements for the Bizlink changes and for pricing Bizlink for NWI members.  He also worked with Phil Moore and Sherwin Levinson, negotiating arrangements for customer support and billing.  On August 6, 1991, Donel officially posted the agreement between Ecunet Inc. and the newly formed company, Online Services Company (OSC).  Ecunet was now in the position of providing its own customer support for the first time in its history.  With a Presbyterian-financed computer system and OSC in place, Ecunet began to come back to life -- the Phoenix rose.  In October 1991 users made 97,086 phone calls to the Ecunet system.  By January 1993 that number had risen to 167,185.

Growth of the network:

With a growing membership and a growing need for telephone lines, modems and computers to keep up with the increasing numbers, Ecunet Inc. realized that it would need to do some serious fund raising.  Purchasing equipment, marketing, and development of new software all required cash outlays.  Dave Pomeroy and Neil Topliffe, on behalf of the board, spent much of their time and energy on this project, successfully raising $23,000 in funds in 1992 from many of the denominations that are active in the network.

On October 28-31, 1992, the board met at Camcon VI, in Dayton, Ohio.  Ecunet had come a long way by that time, and had become a network that was stronger than ever.  Ecunet was, as George Conklin, a sysop for the newest net on Ecunet ("NCC Link"), put it, moving from a period of being pioneers to being settlers.  But an amazing amount of work had been done to get Ecunet to that place.   Curt Ackley summarized the growth and development of the network from "The Crash" to that moment in 1992 in the President's Address to the Annual Meeting in Dayton:

"In the 16 months that have elapsed since our last annual meeting, the Ecunet Inc. Board has witnessed: The loss of a booming, growing telecom network; a change of platform from a VAX system to a large 486 PC; a complete restructuring from a simple purchase of services provided by a for-profit company to an internally-provided network; a huge added responsibility and importance to the role of the corporation; a complete rewriting of our operating software, Bizlink software, billing software, and all pieces related to it; a change in concept of what kind of system is required to run a network, with serious implications for a decentralized future; a change in ownership of that network; and a regathering of energy and commitment to a bright future.  As of last month, we were larger than were were before the crash. ... We have seen the development of links to the Internet, and have begun using other systems as means of moving information and even actual online connections to our system.  While large systems like CompuServe and Prodigy are made up of interconnections of many smaller databases, we now believe that Ecunet represents the largest single online database in the world!  And it is growing at a gratifyingly rapid rate." ("ECUNET PRESIDENTS REPORT")

Copyright 1993 Debra Farrington