Forums General Discussion Newbie question

When I open mIRC and go to #beginner I see a centre column that says now talking in #beginner. In the right column shows a list of nicks. Left column shows IRCnetVale52 - Channel: 1 - #beginner
Nothing else. There is no conversation and nothing happens no matter how long I stay connected.
Should I see conversations that are happening in the centre column? Or, may I only initiate a conversation with one person at a time?
Sorry, very new to this and am frustrated.

The center "column" is your channel window. If anyone talks in there, you should see it. However, there's no guarantee that anyone will be talking in a beginner channel like that. If you want to make sure you're seeing conversations, you might want to try a popular channel that has a lot of people in it.

I've been trying lots of channels (when I list channels the number of users is shown). Nothing shows in the centre column.

Try another network such as Undernet or Efnet. Then try asking if anyone is there. If you still have problems, make sure you're using a copy of mIRC that was downloaded from mirc.com and that you're not using any scripts or DLLs because those may not be working correctly.

FYI: As you are referring to them, the first column is mIRC's Treebar which can be turned on/off.
The second column, as already mentioned, is the channel window, where you would see any messages sent to the channel. Your messages are included in this.
The third column is called the nicklist.

One can't force others to chat, but a good way to start a conversation is to type something interesting.

I too am a newbie and have a few questions.
I always tell people I am only half nerd/geek.
I pretty much get the basics of it.

I have been told that IRC chat is a nice powerful tool for connecting with other business orientated people.
I was hoping to meet new contacts this way.

It almost sounds like I have to have already met a contact with their own IRC channel/room.
I was hoping I could use some sort of search box to connect with other business owners, loan officers, private investors, people interested in joint ventures.

If anyone has a simple solution to this. Your help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for listening

First, please start a new topic rather than trying to take over someone else's topic. Your post relates in no way to the original topic. Being a "newbie" like the OP doesn't mean your question relates.

You can use a website like irc.netsplit.de to try and search for a specific topic, but it won't necessarily make it easy for you to find what you're looking for. You would probably have more luck with Google using a search like "irc business chat" or whatever.

In any case, I really don't see IRC as a good way to meet people for joint ventures. Businesses that use it usually use it either internally or as a help platform, not as a way to get in touch with new people. The majority of IRC is used for support, "general" chat (sometimes it's specific to a topic, but is still just normal chat), or file sharing. Those 3 types likely cover around 99% of IRC. As you can see, what you are looking for isn't in that group and would be part of the very small remaining percentage. You might find what you're looking for, but you'd have more luck in other more appropriate venues.