I don’t have all the slides up yet (Wednesday!), but you can see the first blog post from Bernadette Harris of Harris Bromley. I loved how she connected many of the community concepts to her work in leadership.

In the afternoon we explored the purpose and some of the basic practices of visual facilitation and the role of visuals in our work online and offline. I love watching people play with paper, pens and chalk and seeing the beautiful things they create appear in minutes. This was echoed again in the evening when nearly 45 people crammed the walls at UTS taking turns bringing line, shape, iconography and color into the room. The images were stunning (see them here.) Visual, if nothing else, add beauty and joy which is reward enough for me!

It is not (yet) too late to join us in Sydney today for the intro and advanced online community workshops!

While a dense, misty fog kept us from seeing the sculptural grandeur of the Three Sisters formation, we had a wonderful walk. The weather kept away the tourists and for long stretches of the walk down the Giant Stairway and along the valley wall we had the woods to ourselves. We took our time going down the over 500 steps, but even still, my knees and legs were a bit wobbly.

As we walked along the ridge above the valley, the sounds of the birds were amazing. We saw vivid red and blue birds (I need to look up the name), small finches and heard many more. Along the way, we had the extraordinary good luck to come upon a male and female pair of Lyre birds. Apparently they are attracted to blue. I was wearing blue. Heh! The walked towards us, giving me time to pull out my camera and catch the pair before they flew up to a distant gum tree.

There were many small, colorful spring flowers – miniature show pieces – and burbling waterfalls. Thankfully, we did not have to walk back up the 500 stairs, instead taking the worlds steepest funicular train. We snagged the front seats (which are really the back seats going up) and in just a few minutes, we were back up at the rim and headed back to Echo Point were we started. Here are a few shots of the ride up:

Tomorrow the workshops begin – on Monday, Stewarding Technology for Communities in the morning, Graphic Facilitation in the afternoon. Join us?

All this inventive technology is being made available to just about anyone with a web connection.

How does it compare for engagement and collaboration with anything inside the firewall of organisations? I’ve argued before that, over the last few years, the technological advantage has shifted massively away from companies to individuals. I think we may only have scratched the surface of the impact this will have.

Yesterday I was talking to a potential collaborator who has some business inside of a big company. I usually work in the non profit sector, but this bit sounded interesting, I liked the potential colalborators’ expressed values so we are continuing the conversation. There was one bit that really struck me… a comment about their resiliience in dealing with slow moving, often self-contradicting companies.

My response was that I cope with the frustration and discouragement of working with monolithic organizations by focusing on the potential, possibilities and the growth that happens within individuals. Eventually these individuals influence their organizations, or they leave. It is potentially quite subversive. Change or lose your best talent.

Seriously, I need to write up my triangulation thoughts. This is relevant and is giving me a new frame to understand and talk about my work. But it is month end. Billing and Austraila prep rule the day!

Photo Credit: Creative Commons picture on Flickr from ElDave. Thanks!

In my work, I am finally seeing people budget for this role – even in tough economic times. “Build it and they will come” has finally come and gone and people have gotten serious about the strategic use of online groups, communities and networks and thus are willing to invest in their care and feeding.

What is happening with online community management where you work/play? Is the role legitimate? In what fields? What kind of value is placed on the role/job?

• …negotiable. Unlike words, where we make a silly assumption of accuracy, we are often comfortable asking about an image and entering easily into a conversation. This has been particularly important for me when working in intercultural settings where figuring out if we are all talking about the same or different things is REALLY important. Stories are conversation starters and help us make meaning.
• …validating. When someone takes the time to draw pictures about what someone said, they feel heard and validated. They tend to really enjoy seeing the visual artifact of their words or presentation and often take it with them. Pictures about us make us feel special. (I know that can sound a bit precious. But give me some slack!)
• …stimulate memories. Often graphic recordings of events make little sense to those who weren’t at the event. But when they hinge upon a central image or metaphor, they help us remember an event or a conversation. They are an interesting reification of what happened. Pictures help us remember.
• …anchor stories. When I have to explain what went on in a meeting, I love having the graphic recordings to tell the story. They prompt me through the key moments and conclusions. This can also be done with a slide show of photographic images. Photos help us tell stories.

As a result of my love affair with images, I now:

• try to embed a picture in every blog post
• link to pictures in delicious and Twitter
• embed images in discussion forums and email threads
• bring paper and pens to share at all face to face events.

What are you seeing in your practices?

Flickr Creative Commons image from James Cridland

I love working asynchronously in text. I can read and write quickly so it suits me. But it sure doesn’t suit everyone. One trend I’m noticing with my clients is a preference for synchronous online interactions, from quick Skype calls to organized web meetings using tools that allow desktop sharing, white boards and even video. (I have to say, for one who has a lot of meetings at 6am in the morning, I’m NOT a fan of video at that time of day!)

Even across diverse time zones, there is more synchronous. Even Twitter – which can sit both in a synch and asynch place, keeps us in that “in the moment” mode.

What are you seeing in your online life? More synchronous? Less? The same? What synchronous tools are popular in your communities and networks?

Laura Fitton Pistachio on Twitter
# Last 2 tweets are sweet potato spaetzle recipe for @NancyWhite. Amounts are wild-a$$-guesses. I never measure.

in reply to NancyWhite# Drop tiny bits of thick batter/ sticky dough into boiling water. Scoop with slotted spoon when it floats. Drain. Sautee in butter/meatballs.

# Nuke sweet potato thoroughly. Whip with 3T butter, 1/3 c water, salt, lots of pepper & 3 eggs. Stir in ww and white flour for sticky dough.

If the Mole chile that is cooking in the crock pot comes out, maybe I’ll have to share that recipe.

So what does this have to do with this blog?

Reciprocity, baby, reciprocity.

Photo Credit: Mollycakes on Flickr

Are people experiencing “social media fatigue?”

I’ve been working mostly with global groups in international development. This sector is a bit behind other sectors, so there is still a great deal of interest and excitement in social media. In fact, there seems to be a slightly greater amount of interest and actual adoption than a year ago and fewer signs of fatigue than I see with some of my colleagues in the United States.

What IS a challenge is discerning the strategic application of any particular bit of social media, and a great deal of concern about figuring out what is useful for one’s organization, and what is a silly waste of time. At the recent KM4Development gathering in Brussels, we even convened a Social Media Skeptics session which in the end was less about skepticism and more about identifying useful practices and paths. With one exception. Locations with poor connectivity and electricity are sick and tired about hearing about tools they can’t even see.

What have you seen in your work in Australia?

Below is a location by location, chronological listing of the events I’m involved in during my trip. There are links for more information and registration. Some of the details are not complete, so I’ll update this post as the rest of the information gets settled. You may notice there are some openings if you want to propose something!

Sydney

November 9th

9-12 am – Stewarding Technology for Communities

1-4pm – Introduction to Graphic Facililtation

6-9pm – Sydney Facilitator’s Network Evening Tweetup

November 10th

9-12:30 – Introduction to Online Communities

1:30 – 4:30 pm – Advanced Online Communities

November 11th

Open in the morning. Want to do something?

Transit to Canberra via train in the afternoon

Canberra

November 12th

Private workshop 1-3pm
Transit to Adelaide 5:30 pm

Adelaide

November 13th

E-Dayz Conference Keynote “Why should we “do” community (or why not) for learning?” (9:20 am as part of larger 3 day event!)

November 14th

Play day in Adelaide!

Melbourne

November 15th

Transit to Melbourne

November 16th

Private events in the morning and afternoon

6 – 8 pm KMLF Public Event – RMIT Graduate School of Business, 300 Queen Street. Melbourne, Lecture room 158.1.2B (Ground level – just behind reception).
Ample metered street parking nearby in Queen Street (between La Trobe and Little Lonsdale). RSVP: by email to melbournekmlf@gmail.com

November 17th

8:45-12:00 Introduction to Online Communities

1:00 – 4:00 pm Advanced Online Communities

Evening transit to Mooloolaba

Mooloolaba

November 18th

1 – 4:30 pm Stewarding Technology for Communities

November 19th

Keynote at Learning Technologies Conference

November 20-22

Play days

November 23

Return home

E-learning outside the training box

E-learning outside the training box with Nancy White and John Smith Once you’ve mastered enough of the new social media tools, training and development professionals are figuring out that technologies can change the boundaries around training itself, just as they can interrupt organizational boundaries. We offer two cases that illustrate the benefits and opportunities of these changed boundaries.

In one, Nancy White talks about triangulating internal training and capacity building with external actors who part of the training and who validate it; that leads to more connections between people and has gained manager support.

In the other, John Smith talks about a workshop that brings social activities into the center of the training experience, investing time in making the social connections a lasting and practical resource. We use the polarities that are developed in Digital Habitats to tie these examples together and give you design ideas for program development.

Check the rest of the schedule – lots of cool topics and people! And it’s FREE!