Perhaps I'm getting a little too far ahead of myself here. Yes, do I hear some murmuring? (“Wait a minute...that’s not Robert...”) Well, it isn’t Robert at all. It’s Keith. Bob invited me to write this month’s editorial, so here it is.

But hey, let’s get back to where we were. I asked for a raise of hands - where are the hands?

I don’t feel that there is an actual lack of hands. Perhaps there aren’t enough eyes and ears here to justify the hands. Maybe there is a fear that I will suddenly pull someone out of the audience and ask a few silly questions. But surely there are hands out there.

I do not understand it - is there a fear of speaking up? Last month Editor Robert complained about not getting any submissions. So it seems alright to follow that up with a complaint on dearth of discussion. Sure, we have some discussions in the forums, but they are rare, and most stall after a week or two.

Maybe everyone is too busy. Maybe people are afraid of having their ideas criticized, or even rejected totally. Maybe there just isn’t anything worth talking about. Maybe...I don’t know. But you can chuck that all into the bin.

No time? It doesn’t take a lot of time to pop into the forums, does it? It isn’t a very difficult thing to do, just go in there and socialize - there’s plenty to talk about. We have always strived to provide interesting material for discussion here in the Vienna Online, and you’re always free to make any comments. (The good thing with an e-zine is that you won’t have to wait until the next issue to see your comments published.)

If you fear sharing, throw that away too. The beauty of knowledge is the way that it can be shared. Share an apple, and each person will get part of it. But share an idea or an opinion, and all will have the benefit of added knowledge and a different perspective.

If everyone can adopt a positive attitude and discuss ideas and opinions in a constructive manner, then there is no need to fear being struck down. We certainly hope to have this sort of constructive discussion happening in our forums.

I personally feel that the common aim in any discussion is to benefit from each other by accepting other viewpoints. One of the best ways to learn is, perhaps, to share and synergize, so don’t let anything stop you from doing that.

So, don’t hesitate to let us know what you think. Use our guestbook, or pop down to the Vienna Message Board. Alternatively, you can always stop by the Vienna Residents’ Group, our very own Y! Club.

PS: If you've been really observant, you'll have noticed the Konzerthaus Cafe, a new section dedicated to the discussion of the content of articles in the Vienna Online. You’ll also discover that we’ve started a discussion based on two of this month’s articles there.