Monday, April 19, 2010

cyberscribes on facebook

If you've been on either facebook or cyberscribes over the past week and a bit you no doubt will have noticed the establishment of the facebook cyberscribes fan page (such excitement) - seemingly overnight every calligraphic facebook soul jumped on board.... now I've got a confession to make... I've never been a part of cyberscribes (I know, I know - CRAZY.... but there's only so many hours in the day and webby things a small girl can be a part of) well, not that is until I connected via the FB fan page..... 

and talking connection, to tell the tale of the establishment of the page I've roped in the the creator of the FB page - June Maffin ..... over to you June...



Serendipity.  I love that word - the way it sounds - the way it looks - what it means - its history.  Horace Walpole coined the word in the late 1700's from a Persian fairy tale whose heroes were "always making discoveries by accidents and sagacity of things they were not in quest of."    In a nutshell, that's the story of the Facebook Cyberscribes Fan Page whose origins are quite serendipitous ...

After reading posting after posting after posting of Cyberscribers wanting to connect on Facebook, I decided to create an alphabetical listing for myself so I could delete the "Me, too!" emails that were coming fast and furious to Cyberscribes (a great Yahoo Group begun by Teri Martin (Yay, Teri!).  Then the "Others might welcome such a listing" thought came to me, so I sent a note to the group and before I knew it, the "Me, too / Add me" emails stopped going to the group and were coming directly to my inbox.  Mmmmm.

Something was evolving here that I'd not planned.  Then came suggestions that I create a Facebook Fan Page for Cyberscribers.   More evolution.  I contacted Teri for her thoughts and she joined the "Create it!" voices.  So, I did and on April 8, 2010, the Cyberscribes FB Fan Page was created. Before I knew it, Cyberscribers were joining the FB group - and calligraphers who were on FB but not on Cyberscribes were joining the Cyberscribes Yahoo Group!  Cross-fertilization, new opportunity for networking/discussing/sharing.  ;-)

Today, ten days later, 308 people have joined the group ... calligraphers who found the FB Fan Page discovered the Yahoo Group ... international connections were made ... friends discovered friends they didn't know were on FB through the group.  Such fun!  Along the way, I asked Nan de Luca if she would create a graphic which she did - a beautiful one done in Copperplate. And, she not only kindly offered to help administer the group when I'm giving workshops/on holidays but came up with the idea of inviting other calligraphers to create a graphic which would be used on the FB Fan Page on a rotation basis.  What a creative idea! Yay, Nan!

I love this idea ... many calligraphers sharing in the design of the group's graphic ... various members showcasing their talent and creativity ... seeing different ways the word "cyberscribes" can be calligraphed.  I hope Cyberscribers will take up this invitation.

As for the Cyberscribes Facebook Fan Page - all are welcome to join - begin a discussion - create a graphic for the group - let us know of your website - send photos of your work - share the URL of your blog - whatever!  Who knows where this will all lead.  What fun!

Serendipity?  Yes, the creation of the Cyberscribes Facebook Fan Page has indeed been serendipitous!                   

June Maffin, Vancouver Island




How great is that!




so here are the connection details - the facebook fan page lives here: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/pages/CyberScribes/107430969296032?ref=mf


and of course cyberscribes group is here: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cyberscribes/


just in case you haven't found both of them already - see you there or there!