Ward Christensen
                                 February 16-17, 2002
                                 Schaumburg, IL
                                 4 Hours

        [1][p1010017.jpg] [2][p1010025.jpg] [3][p1010026.jpg] [4][p1010029.jpg]
        [5][p1010030.jpg] [6][p1010031.jpg] [7][p1010032.jpg] [8][p1010033.jpg]
      [9][p1010034.jpg] [10][p1010035.jpg] [11][p1010036.jpg] [12][p1010037.jpg]
      [13][p1010039.jpg] [14][p1010040.jpg] [15][p1010041.jpg] [16][p1010042.jpg]
      [17][p1010043.jpg] [18][p1010044.jpg] [19][p1010045.jpg] [20][p1010046.jpg]
    [21][wp1010001.jpg] [22][wp1010002.jpg] [23][wp1010003.jpg] [24][wp1010007.jpg]
    [25][wp1010008.jpg] [26][wp1010009.jpg] [27][wp1010010.jpg] [28][wp1010011.jpg]
    [29][wp1010013.jpg] [30][wp1010014.jpg] [31][wp1010015.jpg] [32][wp1010017.jpg]

   SUPPORT FILES AND RELATED DOCUMENTS

   [33]cache1178.jpg ()            Front page of CACHE Newsletter (1978)
     [34]cdto.zip    () Utility: Find a file, and then CD there, by Ward Christensen
     [35]res86.zip   ()      Utility: Disassembler (RES86) by Ward Christensen

   JASON'S NOTES

     Ward's interview stands as the most stressful of all of them, simply because
     of the pressure of interviewing the guy who invented the thing the documentary
     is about.

     I had done everything I could to ensure there'd be no "surprises" with the
     session. I'd interviewed folks for a month beforehand, and even scheduled a
     flight to Washington DC a week before I went to Chicago, simply to see if
     going on a plane with the equipment would cause any issues. It didn't and it
     hasn't (although I've had to take all of the equipment out of my camera bag
     and show them to security guards more than I care to mention). I pored over
     historical documents related to Ward and the history around him, and I had a
     list of questions in my mind to ask him. We had the interview scheduled for
     that night, a few hours after I'd get in, figuring I'd need a little time to
     get my rental car and find the location.

     Disaster struck when I arrived at T.F. Green airport in Providence, walked up
     to the ticket counter, and was told that since I had arrived 45 minutes before
     the flight, there simply was no way I was going on it. Not only that, but I
     got the real great "you're an idiot" attitude from the ticket counter person,
     like I'd worn a silly hat to a debutante ball. I begged and pleaded for
     something to be done, some other move or action we could take that might get
     me in the air that night, even paying more money, but they were adamant; I was
     not going anywhere.

     I was basically in tears; here I had assembled this history-filled weekend,
     starting off with the father of it all, and there was no way I was going to
     make it there that night. I went downstairs and called Ward at a payphone. He
     was gracious and understanding, and even went as far to say that my cancelling
     Friday was in fact a boon, because he had a major project at work and this
     would give him the whole night to work on it.

     I went back to the counter and asked if I could have my ticket moved to a
     flight the next morning, and was told I'd need to fly standby. I figured
     that'd be no big deal, and since Ward had basically indicated I was doing him
     a favor by moving things to Saturday, I went home and slept.

     Coming back to T.F. Green at 6am (so as not to miss any flights), I waited for
     the first flight to Chicago... and was told there was no space for standby.
     The next flight came an hour and a half later... no flights. An hour and a
     half after THAT... no flights.

     It was obvious that I was getting jerked around here. Instead of just being
     told "there are no flights not booked", I was being made to wait for flight
     after flight without a hope. Finally, I took my bags and went over to the
     Southwest gate, and was told I could get on the next flight for the price of
     $300. I dropped that on my credit card immediately and gave them my bag to
     check. I could not ask for a simpler process.

     I arrived in Chicago, got my rental car, and headed off into the city. The
     place where I'd meet Ward and other CBBS alumnus was pretty nearby and I had
     some hours to wait.

     I drove around Chicago to get my bearings; interesting town, and the last time
     I could recall spending any time in it, it was the endpoint of an insane road
     trip I took when I was 18 with two friends, Chris and Paul. We were supposed
     to go camping in Maine, but they decided at the last moment to do a "Blues
     Brothers" run to Chicago, and while I had no drivers' license, I was brought
     along on this insanity. We drove from White Plains, NY to Chicago straight
     through, no stopping. And spent a bit of a night in a nice hotel, and then
     straight back. I still remember tons and tons of cornfields.

     Now, an actual licensed driver, I drove around thinking about what Ward would
     be like, what questions to ask him, and how much time I would get to ask those
     questions.

     The CBBS party is held in February (around February 16th) at a pizza place,
     with all the various members of this community (now basically CHINET) bringing
     cool technology, conversation, and a general sense of fun.

     I recorded some footage at the CBBS party, but it wasn't very usable; the
     major problem was that there was a loud, constantly blaring speaker in the
     party area that was playing all sorts of pop hits. Pop music in the
     background, even incidentally, causes major issues with clearances, so there
     you go. The people were interesting, though, and it was good home movie stuff.

     Ward was, as I guess I should have expected, an aging quiet fellow with
     glasses and greying hair, with his flute-like voice able to be heard across
     the room as he got excited talking about things.

     Randy Suess didn't show, but I got the impression from others that he
     generally doesn't show. My hope of interviewing them together was dashed, and
     in fact I never did interview them together.

     A bunch of people came back with me to supervise the interview with Ward. We
     also brought the original CBBS hardware, which I set up next to Ward during
     his interview, and which was a real neat thing to have. At one point, it had
     been sold in a garage sale, but was now coming home to stay with Ward. (It was
     originally Randy's, of course.)

     This was the only time in all the interviews I've done where there were so
     many people behind the camera and only one in front of it.

     Ward was, as I had hoped, both talkative and informed. He'd forgotten some
     details but remembered so many more. I tried to ask him questions along two
     major lines: his memories of things from the beginning of BBSes, and his
     perspective on trends that occured throughout BBS history.

     At the end of the interview, I asked all the onlookers if I'd missed anything.
     They said no, I hadn't, they were satisfied with all the questions and
     answers. Excellent!

     Ward and I had dinner on Sunday, just chatting, and then we went back to my
     hotel for another hour of interviewing. It turned out to be pretty
     content-free, since we'd covered so much in the previous 4 hours. We did our
     best, though, and got a few more paragraphs out of him before deciding to
     wrap.

     INTERVIEW IMAGE

     [.screen.jpg]

References

   1. http://www.bbsdocumentary.com/photos/015ward/M/p1010017.jpg
   2. http://www.bbsdocumentary.com/photos/015ward/M/p1010025.jpg
   3. http://www.bbsdocumentary.com/photos/015ward/M/p1010026.jpg
   4. http://www.bbsdocumentary.com/photos/015ward/M/p1010029.jpg
   5. http://www.bbsdocumentary.com/photos/015ward/M/p1010030.jpg
   6. http://www.bbsdocumentary.com/photos/015ward/M/p1010031.jpg
   7. http://www.bbsdocumentary.com/photos/015ward/M/p1010032.jpg
   8. http://www.bbsdocumentary.com/photos/015ward/M/p1010033.jpg
   9. http://www.bbsdocumentary.com/photos/015ward/M/p1010034.jpg
  10. http://www.bbsdocumentary.com/photos/015ward/M/p1010035.jpg
  11. http://www.bbsdocumentary.com/photos/015ward/M/p1010036.jpg
  12. http://www.bbsdocumentary.com/photos/015ward/M/p1010037.jpg
  13. http://www.bbsdocumentary.com/photos/015ward/M/p1010039.jpg
  14. http://www.bbsdocumentary.com/photos/015ward/M/p1010040.jpg
  15. http://www.bbsdocumentary.com/photos/015ward/M/p1010041.jpg
  16. http://www.bbsdocumentary.com/photos/015ward/M/p1010042.jpg
  17. http://www.bbsdocumentary.com/photos/015ward/M/p1010043.jpg
  18. http://www.bbsdocumentary.com/photos/015ward/M/p1010044.jpg
  19. http://www.bbsdocumentary.com/photos/015ward/M/p1010045.jpg
  20. http://www.bbsdocumentary.com/photos/015ward/M/p1010046.jpg
  21. http://www.bbsdocumentary.com/photos/015ward/M/wp1010001.jpg
  22. http://www.bbsdocumentary.com/photos/015ward/M/wp1010002.jpg
  23. http://www.bbsdocumentary.com/photos/015ward/M/wp1010003.jpg
  24. http://www.bbsdocumentary.com/photos/015ward/M/wp1010007.jpg
  25. http://www.bbsdocumentary.com/photos/015ward/M/wp1010008.jpg
  26. http://www.bbsdocumentary.com/photos/015ward/M/wp1010009.jpg
  27. http://www.bbsdocumentary.com/photos/015ward/M/wp1010010.jpg
  28. http://www.bbsdocumentary.com/photos/015ward/M/wp1010011.jpg
  29. http://www.bbsdocumentary.com/photos/015ward/M/wp1010013.jpg
  30. http://www.bbsdocumentary.com/photos/015ward/M/wp1010014.jpg
  31. http://www.bbsdocumentary.com/photos/015ward/M/wp1010015.jpg
  32. http://www.bbsdocumentary.com/photos/015ward/M/wp1010017.jpg
  33. http://www.bbsdocumentary.com/photos/015ward/FILES/cache1178.jpg
  34. http://www.bbsdocumentary.com/photos/015ward/FILES/cdto.zip
  35. http://www.bbsdocumentary.com/photos/015ward/FILES/res86.zip