Electronic follow up

[Murli]

Koos's observations are excellent, and I agree with him almost entirely.
I've had a fair bit of experience in three kinds of environments:  face to
face, computer-mediated face-to-face, and computer-mediated
non-face-to-face interaction.  None of these are Open Space episodes, but I
think there are some transferable lessons.  Three very critical factors, in
my experience, have been: whether or not the group has a history, whether
group members belong to one organization or are members of a relatively
open-boundaried community, and the task undertaken by the group.  In
particular, there is a huge difference between an open community, which is
what OSLIST is, and members of an organization with multiple, ongoing
relationships.  The dynamics are very different.  Koos's suggestions
regarding posting visuals to a website are especially important to a
community like OSLIST.

My tuppence worth.

Murli


At 12:22 AM 6/19/99 +0200, you wrote:
>At 09:28 18-06-1999 -0400, Steve wrote:
>>As for electronic follow-up, I don't think it has as much to do about skill
>>or confidence but lack of intimacy. On-line web sites are a far cry from
>>intense face to face interaction.
>
>I think both are true. A few thoughts that I have been thinking
>about this:
>- This mailing list is a great example of an electronic Open Space.
>  The exchange that takes place here is almost always interesting
>  and very often inspiring.  Sometimes the intimacy of the things
>  people share here is moving me.  And when a topic does not
>  interest me and/or I do not feel I can contribute, I follow the
>  law of two feet and ignore it.  The people on the list are always
>  the right people, and so on... both in form and in content, it
>  resembles Open Space closely.
>- There are also great differences. The whole dynamics of being
>  together, the sharing of coffee and meals, the listening and
>  speaking to each other in person, the process of determining the
>  schedule for the day, etc. all add to the OS experience and we
>  don't have any of that on line. I have been trying to imagine what
>  it would be like to get the people on this list together physically
>  in a real OS. To add the power of the personal encounter to the power
>  already there. Wouldn't that be great?
>- It might not be. Because the power of this list could just lie in
>  its occasional character, its loose structure, its almost anonimous
>  bumblebee-like atmosphere. Or maybe partly. I have had experiences
>  with people I knew through email and chat and who felt close to me
>  in the electronic communication, while the friendship did not work
>  at all after we met in person. It would certainly be an interesting
>  experiment with this group.
>- In order to share personal experiences and stories through a certain
>  means of communication, one has to be reasonably familiar with annd
>  have a certain amount of trust in that means of communication. When
>  you are not comfortable with internet, you will not easily use it
>  for sharing. It might even be awkward to read other people's personal
>  stories when for you it would not feel right to communicate similar
>  things in that same way.
>- I think for an OS event to have an electronic follow up (maybe
>  combined with an electronic exchange beforehand), it is also necessary
>  to create a connection between the real and the virtual part of the
>  conference. I think that could be done by:
>  - making the virtual conference part of the invitation - it has to be
>    an integral part of the whole project;
>  - letting the electronic conference run continuously from before the
>    physical conference, during it and a while afterwards;
>  - having internet computers available at the meeting site(s) so that
>    participants in the physical conference can communicate with those
>    not physically present and the proceedings of the physical conference
>    can be shared with the electronic participants;
>  - putting pictures of the physical conference on the internet site of
>    the electronic conference, both for those not present to get a visual
>    impression and for those present to view afterward, maybe even have
>    one or two webcams in the main meeting room;
>  - and maybe more (ideas welcome).
>Those are my thougts at this moment. Any comments, experiences, or
>invitations to discuss trial projects welcome ;-)
>
>Koos
>
>------------
>koos de heer
>auryn management advies
>utrecht, netherlands
>mailto:koosdhr at auryn.nl
>http://www.auryn.nl/