Category: events

The World Cafe Community – Virtual Cafes?

There is a very interesting conversation buzzing around in various locations online about how to do World Cafes online. I am feeling tortured, because I’d like to be fully participating, but due to the “to do list” I’m watching from the side. I think there is much more here than looking at how to do World Cafe gatherings online, but in a larger sense, how do we best utilize convening methods from our F2F practices in a distributed environment – and all the juicy questions that go along with it. For me, some of the key questions include:

  • What methods can “translate” into an online space – why or why not? What do we even mean by “translate?”
  • Are we being strategic and clear about what method to use when – online or off. In other words, lets not do the “move our dysfunctional offline meetings into the online space.” The bottom line is creating interactions that matter – online or off.
  • What are the social implications?
  • What are the technical implications? Existing and potential tools (especially free or low cost tools)?

The main thread about virtual World Cafe’s is on the World Cafe’s community space here –> The World Cafe Community – Virtual Cafes?. Some other side shoots and resources:

Truly, I’d love a month to research this sort of thing and things like useful patterns and practices in online events… and so many other things. Maybe in December…. 🙂

Thinking about “Slow Community” (particularly online)

Tonight I’m sharing a few thoughts at ZAAZ about “Slow Community” and I thought I’d share the slides. They can be found here as well as embedded below. This all came out of a blog post a few months back that generated some very interesting comments.

In preparation, I pinged my Twitter network – who gave some fabulous insights and suggestions. I’ve screen captured them and put them on a a wiki page to capture further thinking — slowly.

It is kind of ironic to use the fastness of Twitter to think about slowness. 🙂

EFQUEL Slides Featured on Slideshare

I was surprised to get an email that the slides I used at a keynote at the European Foundation for Quality in ELearning are currently featured on SlideShare’s SlideShare’s homepage. Fun! This is one of the things I still need to blog about, but in the meantime, here are the slides.

I was a little worried about keynoting at a conference about quality in elearning – not my normal bailiwick. But I was pleased to learn about the work of this group as it is not all about rubber stamping a certification that is meaningless outside of any particular context, and there was a great deal of interest in the space between formal and informal learning – a space I’m very interested in.

Another Free Social Media Event in Seattle July 12th

It seems there are some other cool “social media” happenings in Seattle so I thought I should also pass this one along – happening July 12th all day, plus a Mashable party in the evening. This one is SocialMediaCampSeattle:


SocialMediaCamp brings together the brightest minds in Social Media with people interested in learning more about the power of Community Based Marketing. It works like this – we find some of the top local names in Blogging, Podcasting, Live Streaming, and New Media and we give them the stage – BarCamp Style – to share what they know with the world.

We’re running at least 2 tracks at each event. A beginner track (think Blogging 101), and an advanced track (think What is Social Capital – and Why Should I Care?).

Perspectives on Social Media – Seattle July 8th

Are you in Seattle on July 8th? Then consider stopping by the Social Media Event at ZAAZ Seattle July 8th. I’m on the slate with what appears to be a very cool group of people and will be trying to unravel a bit more of the ball of string I’ve been calling “slow community.” (Caveat: I’m not the only one talking about this. So I’m not claiming the term, just referencing my recent use of it! Vanessa DeMauro had this thought in March)

Ryan Turner saw my blog post about slow community a few moons back and asked if I’d want to join in on the 8th. It is a good excuse to revisit the wonderful comments and think a bit more about the reasons for and consequences of slowing down some of our community activity – and what slowing down means. And is there an emerging “slow community” movement afoot? Are you part of it?

Because this event is aimed towards the interactive design/user experience communities, I’m going to have to figure out my bridge ideas, because I suspect I’m coming in from a different angle.

As to the rest of the evening, here is the run down! The Facebook event is here: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=66791410200.

By the way, check out the Zaaz/Ryan Turner blog posts on Social Media and Community Moderation from earlier in June.