Category: community

Online Community Still Crazy After All These Years

After months of trying to get our schedules aligned, I had the chance to be a guest at the IBM “CommunityBuilders” monthly call. These are hour long sessions where people who facilitate/manage/care about communities within and across IBM talk about things together.

I am a big fan of Luis Suarez, one of the hosts of these gatherings, so it was easy to say yes. Plus I know some of the IBM community builders -some over many many years, so this was a great opportunity to think together. It was the good folks at IBM who helped me actually see my own practice and it’s value in the late 90’s and I’m grateful.

Luis has his reflections up on his blog, so I thought it would be worth pointing to them and reflecting a bit myself.  CommunityBuilders – Online Community Still Crazy After Years with Nancy White. (Luis, do we have a chat transcript too? There were lots of great comments and questions!)

If you have been involved with virtual communities and online facilitation, I bet it’s almost impossible not having come across the absolutely fabulous work on facilitating online communities Nancy has done, and shared across!, over the course of the years. Her work around Online Community Toolkit is probably one of those essential resources for any community manager, leader, facilitator out there who may want to get things started with their own online communities, or take existing ones into the next level of interactions. Her book, co-authored with Etienne Wengerand John Smith, on Digital Habitats – Stewarding Technology for Communities is probably what I would consider a bible on online facilitation, community building and community tooling…

It was an hour long session, where Nancy covered some of the basics behind the concept of Community (And how not everything out there, other groupings, may necessarily be a community), how both technology and community are walking through a rather thin line influencing one another, for the better, in defining how community members connect with one another and how those connections influence the path technology is following; and from there onwards she dived into an engaging conversation with the rest of the audience through a rather lively Q&A session covering a whole bunch of topics going from examples of effective community tooling, communicating efficiently with your community members, measuring the value of communities towards their stakeholders, biggest new challenges for online communities today, promoting and engaging activities for communities, etc. etc.

Thus I guess I better stop here, for now, and cut right to the chase, sharing with you folks the link to the materials, so that you can have a look right away and dive into them. The link to the video recording can be found over at “CommunityBuilders Monthly Call – Online Community Still Crazy After Years with Nancy White” (30 MB download) and you can download a copy of the slides over at Slideshare or start checking the deck through the embedded code below:

Online communitystillcrazyafteryears

View more presentations from Nancy White.
Luis also wrote something very sweet – which I want to say works in the other direction right back at him!
She probably doesn’t know this, but one of the reasons why I am so passionate about collaboration and online communities in general is due to her own contagious passion, expertise and know-how that she continues to share over the course of the years!

When I started getting interested in online communities there weren’t very many practitioners to talk with. Today it is a rich ecosystem. The evidence is everywhere. The practices have blossomed and diversified. We have gone beyond older notions of “community” and layered on “networks.”  Look at the Community Managers Rountable (see their “State of…” report here), Gautam Ghosh’s guest post on Luis’ blog. The proof that this is a maturing field are everywhere – and the fact that no one of us can keep up with it all. I keep thinking I need to redesign my online facilitation workshop (which I have not offered for several years now – shame on me). But the territory is almost too rich. What a delight.

We didn’t get to the slides at the end of the deck – the “looking forward” stuff. I’d love to know what you think are the learnings agendas still in front of us for working in and with communities and networks. Hit the “comment” button and let me know!

Community for the 21st Century Harvest

On April 1st, amidst all that was going on in my family, I had the chance to step into a different “space” and participate in WeDialog’s first online world cafe on “community.” Since this was a “audio” online experience, I grabbed my pens to try and add a visual aspect for myself. Here are my images:

But hold on to your socks, because Amy Lenzo also recruited two of the BEST graphic facilitators to listen and scribe what they heard, Nancy Margulies and Susan Kelly.

. Here is some of the text from the WeDialog official harvest page:

“Conversations for the 21st Century” launched on Friday, April 1st, with more than 200 people participating in a three hour conversation on the topic of “Community for the 21st Century.”   The series is a production ofweDialogue, the new partnership between Amy Lenzo and Ben Roberts, which was formed to offer online services for the World Café Community Foundation.

Participants came from around the world – the US, Canada, Mexico, Europe, South Africa, India and Australia, responding to email invitations from the hosts, conversation starters, special guests Heartland Circle, the Powers of Place Initiative, Berkana Institute, and the Tamarack Institute, our sponsors the World Café Community Foundation, and a wide variety of friendly networks and a robust social media campaign using Facebook, Twitter and various other blogs and online communities.  Over 550 people registered.

A 20 minute round-table of “conversation starters” (a term coined by Heartland in their Thought Leader Gatherings) – Peter Block, Maria Scordialos and Sarah Whiteley and Nancy White – set the context for the full World Café conversation that followed.

Together, the conversation starters offered a wide range of perspectives on what “community” means to them and the ways that they see it evolving as we create, in Peter Blocks’s words, “a future distinct from the past.”

There is a 22 minute audio file of the conversation starters’ words on the World Cafe community blog (for some reason the audio file wouldn’t embed here).

We were very fortunate to have experienced World Café graphic recorders Nancy Margulies and Susan Kelly with us – Nancy for the morning session and Susan Kelly throughout the whole day. Their gleanings from the conversation starters follow.

via Community for the 21st Century – The World Cafe Community.

I simply LOVE these harvests. Brilliant. And hosts Amy and Ben did a terrific job. I look forward to the next offering from WeDialog.

Monday Video: Art, Creative Messages and Attention

Via a Tweet from John Hagel comes the Enormous forest xylophone plays Bach’s Cantata 147 (Wired UK). A phone handset advert? Yup. But in it beauty, art and music. In our communities and networks, can we use art and music as a way to focus attention, learn and share knowledge? What ideas do you have? Post a comment!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_CDLBTJD4M&feature=player_embedded

Conversations for the 21st Century – Community on April 1st, 2011

My friend, colleague, teacher and fellow GiGee (Girl Geek) Amy Lenzo has launched a new venture, weDialogue. She has asked me to be part of a launch event, a free, wide-open conversation on “Communities in the 21st Century” on April 1st. I decided it was so exciting it was worth saying yes even though I’ll be in Australia and it will be 3am for me. That’s how easy Amy makes it to say “yes” to her! Seriously, how can you resist the invitation to talk about community!!

Here is the information:

“Just as the tumultuous chaos of a thunderstorm brings a nurturing rain that allows life to flourish, so too in human affairs times of advancement are preceded by times of disorder. Success comes to those who can weather the storm.”
~ I-Ching, The book of change
In association with the World Café Community Foundation, weDialogue is hosting a series of interactive online “Conversations for the 21st Century” designed to stimulate collective innovation and new patterns of thinking in response to the global challenges we face today.

Each session will focus on a different key topic–e.g. Democracy, Food, Money, Aging, Creativity, etc.– and begin with a round-table exploration from the perspective of three “conversation starters” who are making significant contributions in the field being discussed. Conversation starters are chosen for their diversity in order to give the widest possible “opening” for the dialogue that follows.

After the round table, we’ll move into a World Cafe format with three rounds of small group conversation, followed by a “harvest” when the whole group comes back together to share insights and experiences.  Conversations for the 21st Century will also feature a “Call to Action” where participants can learn about cutting edge initiatives related to the topic at hand, and how to get involved.

We encourage everyone with an interest in our subjects to participate – we all have something valuable to contribute. The World Cafe is based on the idea that we are wiser together than we are alone, that together we have the answers to any problems that beset us.  So, we believe it’s important to hear from all of us and that every voice is necessary for the re-imagining of a better future.

Conversations for the 21st Century are held over the telephone and you must register to participate. We’re pleased to announce our first session:

“Community for the 21st Century”
DATE: Friday, April 1st
TIME: 9am-12pm PST/12-3pm EST/5-8pmGMT / 7-10pm South Africa / 5-8am New Zealand

COST: Free (except for any long distance charges you may incur)
Your donations to the World Cafe Community Foundation, however, are very much appreciated:

REGISTER: Please use THIS LINK to register (you must be registered to participate).

“Community for the 21st Century” conversation starters:

Peter Block, author of Community: The Structure of Belonging, and The Abundant Community: Awakening the Power of Families and Neighborhoods

Nancy White, co-author of Digital Habitats, and an experienced guide in the realms of online community and e-learning.

Sarah Whiteley and Maria Scordialos, co-founders of the land-based community Axladitsa Avatakia in Greece.

If you know someone you think should be part of this conversation, please invite them, too. Here is a downloadable pdf to pass on: C21C

Chocolate Guinness Cake and Disaster Relief Donations

Back in 2008 I posted about  a cake I made that richocheted around Twitter, much to my amusement. With St. Patrick’s day coming around, I thought I would repost it, but with a twist. Just a small echo to the culture of love as people respond to the earthquake in Japan.

If you like the cake, the idea, the beer – whatever – donate to help the good folks of Japan who are suffering so much from the earthquake, Tsunami and nuclear challenges. I’ve copied in a list of donation options for you. Thanks in advance. Below the donations information is a snipped of the original post and a link to the recipe.

Bake. Do good.

Aid and Charitable Organizations From the NY Times

Each of the following groups have set up fundraising sites specifically for the victims of Friday’s earthquake and tsunami.

AMERICAN RED CROSS
Red Cross officials say donors can text REDCROSS to 90999 and a $10 donation will automatically be charged to donor’s phone bill, or donations can be made directly on its Web site.

AMERICARES
Information is available on the organization’s Web site.

CARE
CARE is one of the world’s largest private international humanitarian organizations. Their offices in Asia are on high alert and have ensured that staff are informed of the tsunami warnings and other related developments.

DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS
Information is available on the organization’s Web site.

GLOBALGIVING.ORG
GlobalGiving is working with International Medical Corps, Save the Children, and other organizations on the ground to disburse funds to organizations providing relief and emergency services to victims of the earthquake and tsunami. Donors can text JAPAN to 50555 to give $10, and larger increments can be submitted on GlobalGiving’s Web site.

INTERNATIONAL MEDICAL CORPS
Information is available on the organization’s Web site.

LIONS CLUBS INTERNATIONAL
Information is available on the organization’s Web site.

THE SALVATION ARMY
The Salvation Army has been providing food and shelter to Tokyo commuters who were stranded when public transportation was interrupted by the earthquake. They are to send a team to Sendai, a city about 250 miles Tokyo, to assess the situation there. Text JAPAN or QUAKE to 80888 to make a $10 donation. (Make sure to respond “YES” to the Thank You message you receive.) Donations can also be made on the organization’s Web site or by calling 1-800-SAL-ARMY.

SAVE THE CHILDREN
To make a donation, visit Save the Children’s Web site, call 1-800-728-3843, or text JAPAN to 20222 to donate $10.

SHELTERBOX.ORG
Shelterbox.org is a disaster-relief organization that focuses on providing survival materials such as tents and cooking equipment to families displaced by disasters.

UJA-FEDERATION OF NEW YORK
Information is available on the organization’s Web site or by calling (212) 836-1486.

Repeat. Bake. Do good.

I was making a chocolate Guinness cake last night, and I was trying to figure out how to weave it in with the rambly theme of my blog. After all, this isn’t a food blog, as much as I love food.

I had tweeted that I was going to make this cake in celebration of our finally naming “the book,” and I was amazed how many people wanted the recipe. I kept sending the recipe url to people who tweeted in reply.

It is interesting what captures our attention, what stimulates us to want to experiment.

Is it the chocolate? The Guinness? The cake? Cooking? Food? In any case, the interest prompted me to blog about the cake. Oh, and the cake is really good – though I’d suggest using a little less butter. I added some grated unsweetened coconut and I’d suggest adding some chopped, roasted pecans as well. I substituted mascarpone for the cream cheese in the icing (because that’s what I had on hand) which makes a subtler icing. I think I’d prefer the cream cheese!