Kelley, WØRK, asked the million-dollar question for us ISS newbies: "To achieve an "official" contact, what does one do? Do I just send "Hi JoAnne" and you send "Hi Kelley" back and that's it?"
Is there an official protocol or approach? The meteor-scatter and EME community have had an official format for a "good" QSO for years, which has been made even more official with the introduction of the WSJT software, which has a pre-programmed message sequence that is followed to completion. It's not considered a good QSO until both parties have confirmed reception of the other's info.
Even on the voice sats, you generally exchange grids and get a "Roger" or "QSL, 73" knowing that you have made a good QSO. I haven't seen such a standard on QSOs made through the ISS digi.
Sean Kutzko Amateur Radio KX9X