But seriously, there are certainly plenty of tools available to choose from - forums, wikis, blogs, second life (hey, why not?) And everyone will have a preferred place to hang.

Some will exchange info through forums - a very good place for real time collaboration. Some will enjoy helping build up the collective knowledge stored in a wiki. Some will want to post their opinion in a blog. Others will want to debate those opinions. Some will want to play in all these areas. It’s all good.

To me, there can’t be one right tool for everyone. But a network (or mesh, as you say) of those tools would attract folks from all M.O.’s - and that’s how you gather your critical mass. I think it would be a mistake to just glom onto something like verification guild, just because it happens to have been around longest. It’s a strong constellation in the online EDA universe, but not necessarily central to it.

JMF

I’m somewhat overwhelmed by the positive response to my 2nd resolution to build an online community. There must be a real need / desire out there. Please keep the suggestions coming.

I’ll need to sit down and consider all your feedback. I don’t want to reinvent what is already working (forums) and I do want to try to connect the best stuff out there. If we can build a mesh that connect the best of the best, that would be really cool.

I’d also like to do something that fills a void. With all the layoffs lately, I think there is a real need for the displaced to access training materials (and even tools) to increase and broaden their skills. A catalog of free / inexpensive online training would be helpful and we could easily collaborate that using a Wiki. I’ve also initiated some discussions with the EDA folks to try to get them to open classes if space permits and have an inside advocate pleading the case. We’ll see how that goes.

Thanks again,

harry

I’m interested in contributing to your ASIC guild. Would you use something like PHP-Nuke, or phpBB, like http://VerificationGuild.com, and http://www.vmmcentral.org/forums/ use, or would it be more custom? I guess another idea would be to use a wiki.

Your blog has been an inspiration to me and I enjoy reading your posts.
I’m thinking of starting (actually restarting) my own blog now too.

You SaaS for EDA round-table is something I’m excited to participate in. Not sure if I’ll make DVCon this year though.

Jeremy

The trick is figuring out how to do this. Usenet groups are still around and offer a easy forum to ask questions and start discussions. But they tend
to get spammed and harvested.

Blogs are nice but tend to be one-way conversations. There are a ton of websites out there if you can find them.

I want a site where asic designers can hang out and swap tips and techniques and ask questions.

Second Life anyone?

John Eaton

I am glad that you have picked up on my suggestion for a SaaS roundtable, although on-line may prove to be a better venue than DVCon.

We’ve done two roundtables on SaaS in the last two years–neither specifically focused on EDA–one on “Rapid Release Cycles” and one on “VARS in the SaaS World.” You can take a look at http://www.skmurphy.com/services/workshops

You might take a look at a recent interview we did with Mr. Lenkov from SiteKreator where he explains how he re-organized his small but global firm to put out a new software release every day. It’s here
http://www.skmurphy.com/blog/2009/01/07/interview-with-ivaylo-lenkov-part-1/

This is something I’ve wanted to do from the beginning. I’ve discussed it with some others, but there is a lot of hesitation surrounding the more ‘legal’ aspects, if I may, of such a venture, especially when it comes to having integrated blogs, with all those opinions flying around.

I myself have a DFT Forum, loosely linked with DFT Digest, and it gets DFT-level traffic (read ‘not a lot’), but it’s there, and people get their questions answered for the most part.

The original idea, in my head, was for the same thing as DFT Digest/Forum, at an EDA level. But it will take a inter-disciplinary effort from a few people. And BTW, though it’s not the primary goal, if you look at other blog communities, you can be paid back for your efforts, if you do it right

JMF