The Outlandish Companion - Diana Gabaldon [150]
Topic Discussions
Topic discussions are run in a semi-formal way with a great deal of preparation. Study questions are posted in the Main Outlander Reading Group topic board. The chat will normally include about ten minutes of hellos and open chat, forty minutes of topic, and then end with open chat.
Some topics will run longer and some shorter: we’re flexible. But… we are a topic driven discussion group—that is why we are in the Reading Group section instead of a public chat area.
(Note: The topic chats are usually based on a section [or partial section] of the book we are currently discussing. For example, next week’s topic is Drums of Autumn, part 8 “Beaucoup,” chapters 30 through 34. Ten to fifteen “study questions” are prepared and posted to the topic board in advance [or that’s the plan, sometimes it’s in arrears!] of the chat. Occasionally we’ll throw in a different topic, such as “secondary characters” or some such.)
Open Chats
Girls Night Outlandish … aka Open Chat… meets every other Thursday night at Book Central. We have Open Chat in the BC Salon II on the “other” (nontopic) Thursdays. Open Chats may be hosted by one or two of our coleaders but they are much more informal than our Topic Chats. Although we try to control spoilage in Topics, Open Chat is more of an anything goes … so be forewarned if you haven’t read all the books yet!
(Note: This is a free-for-all chat where members obsess to their hearts’ content about the books, Scottish Festivals, Men in Kilts, well… you get the general idea.)
Transcripts
Message Boards/Reading Groups/Live Events Library
Keyword: CAFE BOOKA Chat Log Library
Contains chat logs, message boards, and old log archives.
(Note: These are fairly self-explanatory)
Message Boards
Keyword: CAFE BOOKA Click 3 (Current Reading Groups) Outlander Reading Group.
Outlander Message Board—the primary message board for the Outlander Group is located in the Reading Group Boards at Cafe Booka. It includes the main postings for both the topic board and the open board. The topic board should be used for topic-related postings, postings about the books in general, and postings about group activities. The open board is for all other postings.
Keyword: CAFE BOOKA Reading Group Message Boards M-R Outlander Reading Group
Internet Message Board
www.insidetheweb.com/messageboard/mbs.cgi/mb61976
The Group Web Sites
Outlandish Central http://members.aol.com/Outlandish1/index.html
Chat Clan Outlandish
http://members.aol.com/tabbak/index.html
All Things Outlandish
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/
Aegean/5471/
Outlandish Timeline
http://members.aol.com/sassenak/timeline.html
Questions and Comments
If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to E-mail or leave a message at our Outlander message boards. Check our message board and use it to communicate with the group. Topic ideas are always welcome!
Okay, a word about the topic vs. open stuff. At last count, there were 569 members in the Outlander Reading Group (by far the largest reading group online). As you can imagine, keeping everyone happy is … difficult! One of the ways we’ve responded is to divide the “activities” into topic and open activities. Topic activities tend to focus more on the books … plots, characters, development, time travel, etc. Open activities are much looser. This has seemed to keep most members happy most of the time. There seems to be an almost equal amount of activity on both message boards. There are a far greater number of participants in the topic chats than in the open chats.
We try to keep this group enjoyable and entertaining. … If for any reason it is not, please feel free to contact us. Please understand that this is a large group with some history to it, but we always welcome new members! Tabbak … Leader
Sassenak, Hsdss. Website Communications BkCnRed, JksRead, JaneE2059, BkCnLaurel, ZanzibarBl… Chat Coleaders
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