Seminar explores electronic future.

JOIN US IN MIAMI April 16-18 to discuss the future.

What will be the role of opinion and opinion pages in the new electronic future? Will there be a place for us on the information superhighway?

We'll look for answers and explore what we can do now to apply the new technologies to the opinion pages.

The NCEW technology seminar, which will be coupled with a gathering of the Florida Conference of Editorial Writers April 15-17, is being sponsored by The Miami Herald. Home base will be the lovely downtown Marriott on shining Biscayne Bay -- for a mere $65 a night, double or single, plus tax.

You can register for one or both meetings. Martha Musgrove, the Herald's associate editor, and a faithful committee of NCEW members at the Herald is pulling it together with the help of NCEW's Op-ed Committee, which I chair.

We'll talk about navigating the Internet and commercial computer services to research editorials and find material for op-ed. We'll have some hands-on graphics and design sessions to learn more about typography, layout, and photos as we move toward pagination.

We'll discuss when it makes sense to use audiotext on the opinion pages and explore computer bulletin board services. We'll grapple with some of the legal and First Amendment issues that will arise in the new electronic future. And figure out if there's going to be a dividing line between news and opinion on the superhighway.

And just so you know you've been in Miami and cyberspace, the staff of El Nuevo Herald will introduce you to the variety of Latinos in Miami and the issues confronting that multi-ethnic city. And for any down-to-earth environmentalists, there also will be an optional tour and slog through the Everglades. More in a minute.

The Florida conference commences at 6 p.m. Friday, April 15, and ends Sunday at 2 p.m. The technology seminar begins at noon Saturday, if you sign up for the Everglades field trip, or at 6 p.m. Saturday, April 16, if you choose to keep your feet dry.

Conference participants who want to take the specially arranged tour of Everglades National Park should plan their travel to arrive at the hotel by noon, when the buses will leave. There will be box lunches aboard. The tour will include a slog off the trail and through sawgrass; old clothes, including long pants and shoes that can get wet, are the dress code of the day.

If you've any questions about the Miami arrangements -- you will be receiving detailed information in the mail -- please contact Martha Musgrove, associate editor, The Miami Herald, I Herald Plaza, Miami FL 33132, telephone [phone], fax [phone].

Any other concerns or offers to help with the program should be directed me at The Hartford Courant, 285 Broad Street, Hartford CT 06115, telephone [phone], fax [phone].

NCEW member Elissa Papirno is deputy editorial page editor for commentary at The Hartford Courant in Connecticut.