Joe Chat - Part 1

Posting messages on a newsgroup is a great way to share information, trade stuff, and in general, communicate with others in the online community. It's also fun to be able to have a real-time conversation with people who share your interests. In other words, a place to "chat". Chatrooms have been around for a long time, so it was only natural that the members of the Sandbox would also want one of their own.

"From: Keven T. Chapman
Date: Sat, Nov 23 1996

Greetings Joe Enthusiasts,

Just thought I would propose the idea of maybe establishing a GI Joe chat room somewhere. Unfortunately, I do not have the knowledge-base or experience to establish such a resource. I was wondering if there were any Joe enthusiasts which might be able to offer their expertise. I'm not sure what hoops one might have to jump through to establish such a resource, so I thought I would try to get some of the more WWW experienced folks involved.

It would be great if a GI Joe chat room could be established in which folks could drop in and out anytime to discuss GI Joe. What does everyone think? Anyone have any ideas, or suggestions?"

It was no more than a couple of days later that someone came up with a solution.

"From: Michael Cooper
Date: Sun, Nov 24 1996

Hey pals...

Some of you asked for this, so here it is.

Joe Chat is a WWW chat room for G.I. Joe enthusiasts (us.)

This is on my website, and free for all to use. You do need a JAVA-enabled browser (like Netscape.)

Try it out...LMK if it's worth keeping up.

http://home.earthlink.net/~mtcooper/joe_chat.htm [dead link]

Thanks,
Coop"

The feedback was positive:

"Check out the GI Joe chat room Michael has provided. Let's get some Joe talk going.
Keven T. Chapman"

"Why don't we set up a time to hold Presidential meetings. Or a time for the Joints Cheifs to get together. Maybe we can rap at the same time every week or something like that................................DUG"

"Sounds like a good idea to me. Right now I'm having trouble using the Old Sage's Chat.
THOR"

Of course, the first Sandbox chatroom wasn't without its share of bugs:

"From: Michael Cooper
Date: Mon, Dec 2 1996

1. Thanks to all who have tried out the chat room and provided me feedback on its operation.

1a. This is in Alpha testing, which means it aint perfect yet.

2. If you log into the chat room now you will get a message about a possible "Imposter Chat Room". There is no cause for concern. This is a result of an IP re-route at my ISP; Both EarthLink and ParaLogic have been notified, and are working to correct it. This message will in no way affect the operation of the chat room. The short version is: "don't worry about it."

3. It appears that Windows '95 is a requirement for the Joe Chat Room in addition to a "3.0" browser. If anyone has successfully logged on using a different operating system than WIN95 please LMK and I will stand corrected.

4. I propose a general get-acquainted Joe Chat on Wednesday, 04 December at 2100 EST (9 p.m. on the east coast - or 2 a.m Thursday in Greenwich...)

5. I know KTChapman and ProfessorX have sucessfully logged on, 'cause I talked to them both there. Has anyone else had a conversation on the chat room?

6. You do need to "connect" in order to see who else is logged on. If you just pull up the page on your browser, you could be missing a raging fight and never know it unless you connect.

8. In case you missed the URL:
http://home.earthlink.net/~mtcooper/joe_chat.htm [dead link]

9. When connecting, you only need to type in your username, the first line in the dialog box. Don't bother with real name, email address and password. These are for someday down the line when SSA secure capabilities are added for commerce purposes.

10. I want to publically thank [Maria Lee Bisonnette] for putting a link to the chat room on her excellent Joe page. Salute!

11. POC this memo is the undersigned.

Coop"

Initially a shedule was proposed for every Wednesday at 2100 EST. This seemed to work for a while. By August of 97 though, "Coop's Chat", as it came to be known, had evolved into an everyday habit for some.

"From: Greg Brown
Date: Wed, Aug 13 1997

Hey everyone, if you are wanting to talk Joe on Coop's Chat Room, four of my buds and I have been meeting at 9ish p.m., central standard time. Drop in and let's talk Joe. Over and out...

Greg"

"From: Robert Sorrels
Date: Thurs, Aug 14 1997

What day?
Rob"

"From: Greg Brown
Date: Fri, Aug 15 1997

Every evening at 9 cst. Hope to see you there. Bigger crowd tonight (lost count). Lots o Joe-heads.

Over and out..

Greg"

Another Sandboxer, Leo Sutedja, organized the first ever Sandbox Halloween figure contest that year. Coop's Chat became an important part of those proceedings:

"From: Leo Sutedja
Date: Fri, Oct 17 1997

...Dave, are you gonna make one for Halloween ? I've heard from 10 people so far, some will even make more than one halloween Joe :) All of the entries will be unveiled midnite 31st oct, and meet up at Coop's Joe Chat then ..

-Leo Sutedja"

For a long time, Coop's Chat was the place for deals and trades to be made, for fellow Joe collectors to shoot the breeze, and in some instances for general mayhem to occur.

"From: Rob Marshall
Date: Mon, Nov 3 1997

Just a quick note to say that I lurked for a while in Coop's chat room and found it to be fun, entertaining and really friendly.

Great idea Coop.

Rob"

A few months later, a change of server was announced:

"From: Michael Cooper
Date: Thurs, May 7 1998

Joe Chat has moved, as have I.

http://www.c2i2.com/~mcooper/joe_chat.htm [dead link]

Still fun, still free, still open to all.

//Coop"

Everyone followed the move to the new url. There were also some new folks joining the fun. Here is a sample "thumbs up" from one of the newbies of the time:

"From: Ken Davis
Date: Sat, Sep 26 1998

Last night, Friday Sept 25 I checked out the on-line "party" at Coop's Chat for the first time. Wow-- what alot of fun. All the famous and favourites from the Sandbox were there- countless conversations going on all at the same time--wild. If any of you haven't tried this out, DO so. These folks are swell people."

"From: Griffworks
Date: Sat, Sep 26 1998

And Ken was very entertaining as well! A good time was had, and several trade deals were accomplished, too! If you've not been the URL is: http://www.c2i2.com/%7Emcooper/joe_chat.htm [dead link]

I won't be there tonight, myself. However, go on by and have a great time! Party usually starts about 9pm EDT.

Jeffrey Griffin ITFC #0024"

Things continued to go well for several more months. Then at the beginning of the following year something happened to Coops.

"From: KevHead
Date: Fri, Jan 8 1999

ALLIED FORCES FULL ALERT!!!

ALERT!! ALERT!!! ALERT!!!!

Coops Joe Chat is down!!!
Says not found on this server!!

Thor and the A**es sorry, Axis forces have done something!!!

Coops Chat is Gone, all hope is lost, lost I tell you......."

"From: GREG BUCK
Date: Fri, Jan 8 1999

It's true,

Coop's Chat cannot be found ("URL not found on this server").

I hope this is some kind of internet burp.

Heck, I just re-designed my tin-foil helmet and got my "battle-armor" from the cleaners.

I'll be lighting a circle of candles around my computer and bowing to the cyber-gods as I attempt (and re-attempt) entry into Coop's Chat.

CHK6...See Ya!

Torch
(donning tin-foil Chat helmet now)"

It was true. No-one really knew why, but tin-foil helmets not withstanding, Coop's Chat was gone. Nevertheless, Sandboxers are a resourceful bunch and it wasn't long before other chat solutions were offered. In the next article, we'll see the various places Sandbox chat went to and where it finally found a home.

For the curious and nostalgic here is a link to an archived copy of Coop's Chat:
Coop's Chat @ Archive.org

(Caution: Watch out for pop-ups on the above link)