Full Circle Associates

Before I share my interview with Sue, it is important to consider she was in Australia during the conference, 18 hours out of synch with the F2F event. Yet Sue hosted EVERY live chat with presenters. I think her average number of hours of sleep never got above 2. She gave her heart and soul to this wild experiement and really did an amazing job.

1. Sue, tell me a little bit about how you came to working with AI? Where did your AI journey begin?
My own AI journey began about 18 months or so ago, when I was browsing in St Luke's Innovative Resources bookshop here in Victoria and came across the Thin Book of Appreciative Inquiry. I started reading as much as I could - and indeed, think I've added to the shares I should have in Amazon as a result! :-)

I then had a six week trip to the US last October-November - a self-funded "study tour". During this trip, along with some other things I was doing, I met with a number of wonderful people involved with AI and have remained in contact with them ever since. I also attended PCC's Leap of Faith gathering in Cleveland at the end of my trip - and that has also been a fantastic network with which to be involved, along with AIC, which I joined last February.

Through all of this, I have increasingly incorporated AI in my own work - though not necessarily the full AI process or cycle, certainly the principles and spirit of AI has permeated almost everything I have been doing. As far as I'm concerned, encountering AI felt rather like "coming home" to me - and it has certainly become more a way of being, rather than a tool or technique!

2. What are you personally most looking forward to in the online conference?
I had hoped I might get to Miami - but my budget woudn't stretch to another overseas trip this year. It therefore made sense for me to volunteer for the online conference planning team and help to make this online conference a wonderful and exciting event for everyone - including myself! :-) I am mostly looking forward to learning more about what is happening around the world with AI - much as I did in the BAWB conference last January. For me, it is also very exciting to have this sense of global community - no more so than with our wonderful hosting team. Twenty two volunteers, who have come together from the US, Canada, Israel, Hong Kong, the UK, Australia and New Zealand! That in itself is something that gives me a great thrill, so working with this team is also something I have very much looked forward to from a personal perspective.

3. What are you most paying attention to, as mistress of ceremonies for the online event? How do you see your role unfolding?
My role so far has been to support the team of online hosts, coordinating the hosting timetable and making sure they are comfortable and experienced with the online environment etc. That support role will of course remain a priority for me throughout the conference. I am also acting as moderator for the online chats with presenters, so that is another role for which I've had to prepare - for example learning appropriate chat protocols to manage the conversation with a large number of people online in chat at once. Another thing I am doing is keeping an eye on all the various conversations and topics in the online environment, making links as appropriate, adding relevant items or discussion threads to the library etc. So far I've not done as much of that as I'd like - the hosting coordination has been my first priority of course. However as hosts log on for their later shifts, they'll be more than able to go it themselves, so my support role should diminish. :-) That's when I will be paying even more attention to creating appropriate links and connections between the various elements of the conference environment - particularly as it becomes even more populated with different posts and conversations etc.

4. What would you most like to know about going on in the F2F space.
The things that will be most beneficial to know about the F2F space will no doubt be those that are not being otherwise posted to the online environment. For example, not all the Round Table or Plenary sessions are being added to the online space - so it would be great to have some sense of connection with those "other" sessions that are not automatically included for the online conference. It would also be a wonderful thing if as many of the f2f participants as possible could be encouraged to log on and join in the online discussions - adding their insights and perspectives from the point of view of someone "on the ground" in Miami. :-)

Here is a picture of Sue!