 For decades it facilitated communication and the spread of organizational information across the Far West region of the United States.In 1988, the PLATO Society and Meyers spearheaded the formation of a USA-wide institute network, the Elderhostel Institute Network, by working with four other well-established lifelong learning institutes and the travel corporation Elderhostel.That network, now known as the Road Scholar Lifelong Learning Institute Network, has over 400 member institutes.