Silence and Voice

I just read Beth's blog post on NetSquared about Stop Cyberbullying Day, a concept that was created by Andy Carvin. Given what happened this week with Kathy Sierra, I think this is a great way of making a statement.

I like Scott McLeod's graphics he created for this:

While this hurts, bandages only help us heal and do not confront the cause of the injury. That is what standing up for what we believe in is all about. Bullying does not stop until a bully loses power. When he or she is no longer effective at intimidation.

Don't allow bullies to silence you, Kathy. And Robert Scoble, that goes for you too -- consider using your voice and your following to help affect change. I am not sure what strategic benefit being silent has, which may make a bully perceive he or she has won. While this is not a wished for or hoped for challenge, be strong and show them that you will not change your life because of others and their threats.

I know, this is easy for me to say when I am not the one who has been threatened.

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Thank you, Darren Rowse, of ProBlogger, who scheduled and organized and found sponsors for a New York City meetup last night. While I have read Darren's work for some time now, this is the first time I met the Technorati Top-100 blogger in person. He was quite personable and attentive during the conversation I had with him. With a blog tag line being "helping bloggers earn money," I would have thought there would have been more of that marketing pushiness I have at times experienced with others; but to the contrary, Darren was pleasant and inviting and in his friendliness and calm, I believe he did more effective self-marketing than if he spoke loudly and gave out promotional materials. Amazing he had such a turn-out without marketing this event beyond his own blog. That is a testament to his writing and the extent that his readers respond to him (especially since this is his first time to the Big Apple).

I am somewhat new to the blogger meetup and more dedicated technology world. While my professional work is more in instructional design, organizational communications, and adult education (isn't all education communication, and isn't all communication education?), I was pleasantly surprised by the variety of people who attended last night. Yes, there were the marketers and blogging SEO devotees (which I have always found interesting since I did that sort of work a number of years ago using WebPosition), those who were more technologically oriented from a programming/software bent, and everybody in-between. While I did not win any of the prizes (too bad!), I am really glad I attended because it helped me put more of a personal position on blogging than just me sitting by myself writing posts or reading those posts of others. Without the F2F aspect from time to time, blogging can be an isolating endeavor. I am glad folks such as Darren work hard to add this human touch to their online world. Darren, until next time!

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I wish Tim O'Reilly would have elaborated on the BBC article today about his suggestion for a blogging code of conduct. While I think this warrants thinking about given the Kathy Sierra situation (not to mention her newest note on her blog today), I wonder how a code of conduct will promote free speech (cf. the Bill of Rights) without silencing those who wish to speak their mind (cf. ongoing Chinese Internet control issues). Where to begin?

This blurring of the public and the private, juxtaposed with reality and anonymity, and add in globalization with little start-up cost or technical know-how requirements, makes this a fascinating investigation. We live in interesting times.

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I thought today's article on the BBC about Kathy Sierra and her threats that led to her being (for the time being) silenced, was quite good. I am glad the word has gotten around the blogosphere so quickly, especially with so many words of support and encouragement.

In this light, I think Josh Bernoff's post on his Forrester Research blog (shared with Charlene Li), where he is doing an "unscientific sample" to explore the question "how big is this problem?" is a step in the right direction by asking people to share their experiences and answer a few simple questions. I only wish he would have tried to explicitly state what the problem is that he is investigating.

Perhaps the problem itself is the real problem? Is this a free-speech issue? Is it bullying? Slander? Intimidation? Virtual or real violence? Sexism? Theatening? Name-calling? Regardless of how we researchers quantify or qualify data to try to get the pulse of the online community, what happened to Kathy was wrong and horrible.

I hope we can discuss and explore what exactly is the problem, for only then can we consider our options for how to address it. 

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Kathy Sierra, who I have never met, is among the strongest people I know. Having been threatened physically and sexually and having the strength and fortitude to publicly admit and begin confronting this . . . wow.

She stands for what the United Nations proclaims in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights:

"Whereas disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience of mankind, and the advent of a world in which human beings shall enjoy freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear and want has been proclaimed as the highest aspiration of the common people, . . . "

Kathy, follow your beliefs and keep standing tall. Thank you for showing how to best not allow your voice to be silenced. 

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PodCamp NYC has changed its venue. It is still scheduled for Saturday, Aoril 6, but it will now be at the New Yorker Hotel, at 34th St. and 8th Ave. I have never been in this hotel (that was recently renovated, I understand), so this will be a great experience. While I did live nearer the New School (the former location and a more interesting area), I am still planning to attend and soak up everything about podcasting. To register for free, follow this link.

I have done a podcast with a colleague of mine at Phronetic International, so I am looking forward to learning more to do an even better job with more of them!

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The current Chronicle Review has an interesting article by Cathy Davidson entitled "We Can't Ignore the Influence of Digital Technologies" (that is unfortunately not available, even with a direct permalink, without logging onto their site with an account). While it discusses the Middlebury College History Department banning Wikipedia, her article begins with a very interesting critical analysis of the language used l, so I am quoting the very first paragraph:

When I read the other day that the history department at Middlebury College had "banned Wikipedia," I immediately wrote to the college's president, Ronald D. Kibitz, to express my concern that such a decision would lead to a national trend, one that would not be good for higher education. "Banning" has connotations of evil or heresy. Is Wikipedia really that bad?

I think that is quite interesting -- the use of the term "banning" as being equivalent with being "evil." How that sounds like the common approach to anything new, even ironically for an institute of higher education. It is often easier to suppress ideas rather than allow them to challenge us. As I am slowly becoming more liberal in my thinking, I still know that having my ideas challenged tends to make me defensive. What can challenge ideas more than an encyclopedia for and by the masses? I wonder if (when?) Wikipedia itself will eventually become more conservative in protecting its own way of approaching knowledge.

I wonder if what goes around, comes around as liberal and openness lead to power and the desire to conserve it?

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I tried to send a direct message to a friend on Twitter, and received the following page error message. I thought it was odd, since I did not know there was some connection between Google and Twitter (not to mention that Google is not my homepage and I do not work for Google). 

Notice the error and url? Any ideas as to why this appeared like this? Click the image to see it full-size.

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I have been thinking more about my changing blog focus, and the more I read of some of the ProBloggers out there and the edubloggers, not to mention those who also discuss organizational power and research and reflective practice (and theoretical and philosophical foundations under all of it!), the more I think I may be trying to bring together interests that defy easy classification.

How postmodern. Ahh Lyotard, Foucault, and Derrida, where have you all gone?  How else can I make sense of:

I wonder how or if other people sometimes feel their interests and abilities do not fit within the standard groupings that other people expect to see? Strange, how such a richness can at times seem so isolating.

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I have recently started reading some of the professional blogger / online marketing / SEO sites, and one of them, Darren Rowse's ProBlogger, has now arranged for a ProBlogger meetup here in NYC next Thursday, 3/28. The info, from his site, is:

THURSDAY, March 29, 6:30pm to 9:30pm at:
Connolly’s Pub and Restaurant
121 West 45th St (between 6th and Broadway)
(212) 597-5126 phone

http://www.connollyspubandrestaurant.com

I am looking forward to this. After attending Northern Voice (where the effects are still influencing my thinking and still settling in), this will be the first live meeting of blogging fans (and probably more marketing-driven and consulting focused people than me) that I will attend. I do not know what to expect from this, so shall have to do some planning to prepare. For me, I think I will consider:

1. What do I want to get out of the meetup?
2. How will I do that?
3. and, get more business cards!

I will do some thinking about this here over the next week.

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Walking around New York City last week, I was surprised to find a statue of Abraham Lincoln in Union Square Park. After living here for 20 years, I am still surprised by what I notice when I really start looking.

That seemed to be Lincoln's way as well. I uploaded a few other pictures I took in Union Square, as well. See my other Union Square pictures on Flickr.

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Thank you, Robin, for pointing out that Google indexes Twitter posts, or at least will lead to our Twitter posts. Very intersting implications, especially given the recent explosive surge in all things Twitter! I suppose we constantly need to remember that everything that happens electronically can eventually be connected.

 I tried my hand at this just now, and here are the results. Click to see it full-size.

Posted by Jeffrey at 9:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

I am amazed with Google's speed. Just tonight, I posted what was expected to be my final post of the day, after which I decided to look at the remainder of my newsfeeds that I follow with FeedDemon (though not by using Lee Lefever's method tonight), and what did I find in my Google keyword search that FeedDemon tracks for me?

Yes, my own post. I posted about my changing interest in what I post, and made reference to a qualitative methodology of which I am particularly interested, autoethnography.

Movable Type, which I use, pings Google with my new post when it is published. Google then indexed it and my own Google keyword search with my newsreader found it. All within 2 minutes. Yes, 2 minutes. Do the calulations since the time is captured in both places. I am wondering if we have our own keyword searches, perhaps with our own names or our organization's names or anything else we want to track, then within a very short time of posting, Google can tell us what has happened. Google keyword searches that can be followed with FeedDemon makes a powerful eyes and ears on the processing and indexing of information. Hmmm, so who is watching the watcher?

I am not sure if this is always so fast, but it certainly was on a snowy March night here in NYC.

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I just read Philip's 101 Great Posting Ideas That Will Make Your Blog Sizzle and got some good ieas about creating blog posts. I know that my intentions about why I blog have changed since I started to blog more seriously back in December, so this list and some of the other great idea-farms out there (such as Chris Garrett, who showed me this link in the first place).

I started to blog because I am interested in power issues and how they are manifest within organizations. As an:

• instructional designer
• educator, and
• student

I am also interested in those issues. I also like:

• social media
• online community development
• communications
• qualitative research (especially autoethnography)
• philosophical and theoretical foundations of
• adult education
• social and political philosophy
• aesthetics
• edublogging
• reflective practice
• coaching

to name just a few. While my interests are slowly moving their way into my blog writing, perhaps I may want to review my writing to see what themes are developing. Perhaps I may also want to reframe the categories I use here, as well as the tags I use. This is certainly an interesting endeavor! 

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Kathy Sierra really captured and expressed a nagging feeling I have been having about why my experience at Northern Voice was so important for me. While online tools and a Very Real Virtual Community (VRVC) are important for me, I feel completely energized when I meet live those who I read and correspond with online. I really like meeting people whose work I have read for years, as then it gives a new dimension to the community and sense of relationship. Rather than my just repeating what she said, take a look at her post. Thank you, Beth, for pointing it out!

Perhaps this explains why many online degree programs require some F2F time and why blended learning is considered a better learning solution than simple e-learning alone?

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Today is March 15, the Ides of March. On this day in 44 BCE Julius Caesar was killed by his friends and colleagues.

I think about this day every year as filled with good lessons to remember. No, I do not have a near-endless amount of hubris (I hope), nor did I begin a war that resulted in my gaining absolute power as a dictator, but it is a time to remember that we aren't always aware of forces and factors outside ourselves, especially when preoccupied on our work at hand or on our goals. Caesar was indeed fondly remembered, since two years after his death, far from again having restored democracy in Rome, he was proclaimed as one of the gods.

Not bad for being remembered after death. I think I prefer to be remembered more in life, however. So, perhaps in our times, it is better to think of today as the Ideas of March.

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I have been using MyBlogLog since before I attended Northern Voice, and it always worked fine until last week. Suddenly, the pictures of my site's visitors stopped appearing in the little box on the left of my homepage. I have tried to contact their support numerous times with emails, but no response. I am not sure if perhaps they do not have the staff to reply to their increasing customer base, and I am disappointed by this since I think their product is a great community-builder. I am considering canceling my account with them since I do not like having something that is broken on my blog, especially when its fixing it beyond what I can do.

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Did anybody see the new Red Bull commercial of the superhero who, after hearing a woman screaming for help outside his window, goes to his refrigerator and finds he has no more Red Bull? He then shrugs his shoulders: "No Red Bull. No wiiings."

And he does nothing.

This commercial made me shudder. I remember the story of the brutal killing of Kitty Genovese in Kew Gardens in Queens who was brutally stabbed outside and apartment building and then in the vestibule while neighbors did nothing. 38 people heard her scream for help as she was attacked 3 times by her murderer, and nobody did anything. Nobody helped her. Nobody called the police. Nothing.

Does Red Bull know they are repeating this horrible story of people turning a blind eye to those around them? In the commercial, the superhero even closes his window at the end, closing out the woman's screams just as those people did years ago. Truly distasteful. 

Posted by Jeffrey at 9:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

So, it appears the pope is ordering Catholic politicians how to vote.

Reuters recounts how the pope spoke about the moral duty of these people (yes, he speaks of politicians as moral), to support the Catholic Church's opposition to gay marriage as "non-negotiable."

Hmm, the pope ordering politicians how to vote? This recalls the American fears that John F. Kennedy, the first Catholic U.S. President, would take his marching and voting orders from Rome. President Kennedy clearly stated he would not do this. It seems that the current pope wants to return to an earlier time when the church dictated global political policy. How else can the statement "non-negotiable" be understood? Wow, what a way to try to maintain the last grip of power over people--by refusing to even discuss an issue. It may be easy for an older man of 79 to demand something and expect others to follow, especially coming from a traditional culture of obeying the orders of your elders. I can only imagine him jumping up and down yelling about it, too!

Posted by Jeffrey at 11:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I just received a contribution request from the Victory Fund, which is an LGBT organization that "provides strategic, technical and financial support to openly LGBT candidates and officials. It is the only national organization committed to increasing the number of openly LGBT public officials at all levels of government."

While this seems like a good mission to me (though I have never heard of them previously), I wonder if they support candidates simply based on the candidate's sexual orientation, or if there is a political agenda they require? Funding somebody only because they are gay seems a bit short-sighted, especially given the complexities in elected office.

I did notice they expect a candidate to:

• Be openly gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender;
• Demonstrate electoral viability;
• Publicly endorse federal Gay/Lesbian Civil Rights Legislation, and similar state and local anti-discrimination laws or legislation;
• Advocate aggressive public policies and positions relevant to HIV/AIDS research, education and treatment; gay and lesbian health and wellness; and women's reproductive freedom.

These are all issues that are very complex and can be understood on many different levels by those of us who are gay or straight. I am not sure there is a single "party line" (as if there is a party) on any of these, so I am still not sure what criteria they are using. Regardless of these issues and where one falls on them, I am not sure what "women's reproductive freedom" has to do with these gay-focused issues. Perhaps there is a larger agenda? After all, the donation request I received was from Senator Edward M. Kennedy.

I wonder if this insistence on advocating a set agenda is any different on the politically left than it is on the politically right? As I try to do for my own piece of mind and my own attempt at critical thinking, should playing the advocātus diabolī be any different here?

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So, it seems there is a lot of discussion about Twitter. I blogged about it a few days ago, and even mused about John Edwards who appears to be using it. Beth Kanter, one of my favorite bloggers within the education and training spaces, summarized it nicely yesterday, especially in light of all the Twitter chat that seems to be spinning around SXSW (which I am missing having to, yes, work).

While I have not yet been daring enough to try Twitter on my cell due to my 1000 texts/month and how not everybody has the energy and unlimited tech budget of Robert Scoble (another of my favorites to read!), I am still intrigued by this application. Somehow, I like knowing, a la 6 Degrees, that even now as I write this after midnight in NYC with a list of to-dos still clogging my Outlook, I can look at Twitter and see what Beth or Nancy or Betsy or Robin or Kristie or Lee have been up to, all without their knowing I am thinking about them now. This is not at all lonely; rather, I find it rather empowering to know that I am closer than ever to colleagues around the world in real-time without disturbing or interrupting their own loves. What a way to give voice to one another.

By the way, I just noticed the nifty RSS feed on the Twitter blog (and found Cole's blog in the process). No end to the discoveries, which is good for those of us who are restless . . .

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Anybody see this article about the 'Naked ambassador' recalled on the BBC? Poor Israeli envoy in bondage gear, complete with the rubber ball in his mouth. I am not sure what this may say about him, life in El Salvador, the Israeli foreign service, or the price of tea in China, but I found it rather interesting for a Monday morning story.

Of course, with the Israeli President Katzav also having some questionable moral issues, I wonder if and when the conservative religious backlash against anything other than marriage with children will hit.

Posted by Jeffrey at 11:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

There, I said it. Vagina. 

Did anybody see the interesting article in today's New York Times about three female high school students who were suspended for saying the word Vagina? I did not know this word was so bad or demeaning or cause of the corruption of youth, nor did I know that the book it was taken from, The Vagina Monologues by Eve Ensler, was so controversial that a single word in it should be censored. As an educator, I bristle when learning is closed in the very place it should be safe to be explored.

No, I never read the book. As a gay male, the topic of a vagina does not ordinarily arise in my conversations, but I hate censorship. I hate being told what I can and cannot say. I hate when my voice is silenced, and whatever the three girls did or did not do, I have great trouble seeing how this will somehow make for a better world. Censorship closes minds because it means that some things cannot be discussed or even considered. I wonder who or what feels so threatened that this was worthy of suspension? At least it reminds us the world is not as open as we may wish or suppose.

Posted by Jeffrey at 11:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (0)

It seems John Edwards is on Twitter as, you guessed it, johnedwards. I sent a direct Twitter message to this account, and received this direct message email back:

Yes this is his. So it is official. Staff will monitor the updates and pass along, but he and his traveling aide will update.

John Edwards

If this is really John Edwards, then I am impressed that current social media is being used well. I passed this to a colleague at Personal Democracy Forum as I thought it was interesting. 

However, I am a suspicious fellow. How can I be sure this really is a John Edwards' account? How can I be sure this is not somebody posing as him to potentially stir up trouble? I have used Twitter over the past week and like it, but I am not sure how to authenticate any of the people who are there. I could have opened an account using another person's picture and website, so how can I be sure this is true? While perhaps this is not the biggest issue in the world in this case, I think it has large implications for unsavory people who may want to pose as others to intentionally cause deceit.

How can we know the id of those behind social media unless we meet at meetups? The ability to confirm identities is now a topic of conversation, but there is nothing quite in place yet. With the presidential primaries already heating up, who knows what may develop with them? Perhaps to confirm identities we all have to list our own user names on our own websites? John Edwards did not do that with Twitter on his Social Networking page, so again I ask, how do we know?

Posted by Jeffrey at 10:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I started using Twitter, and find it full of possibilities. This is a social media community site where the simple question: "What are you doing?" is given 160 characters (get it? 160 is the texting limit) that in turn sends the comment to anybody entered as a "friend" or "follower." Claimed as a time-waster by some, I have not decided yet, but am intrigued with the idea. BTW, direct texts can be sent to "friends" using the site as well. I have this listed on my site as well to try it out.

I wonder what this may mean for access to information. Isn't knowledge power?

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It is lightly snowing in New York City this morning, so I took a few shots with my Palm to share.

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Remember this commercial for the former Volkswagen's Cabrio? I was always touched by the song, and just learned tonight that the artist, Nick Drake, committed suicide shortly after he released the album with this song, Pink Moon. Click it to go to the YouTube video.

 Ever see the lyrics? They are:

I saw it written and I saw it say
Pink moon is on its way
And none of you stand so tall
Pink moon gonna get you all
Its a pink moon
Its a pink, pink, pink, pink, pink moon.

Quite pretty until I learned they were about a nuclear mushroom cloud. After the recent storyline in 24, this is not so distant anymore.

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I have been thinking more and more about the work of our committee, and am wondering if definition of a Scholar-Practitioner from the pending committee charter shouldn't be agreed upon and posted to the main website ASAP. I think this will help us further determine the need for and work of our subcommittees for the coming year, as well as help guide potential researchers with S-P work for this year's research proposal submissions for the 2008 conference. 

This may not be a bad idea for all the AHRD committees, as it will help all the committees, members, and potential members know more about what is happening within the organization. Though we as an organization and a field cannot even agree on a definition of HRD, I applaud AHRD for publishing (both to the membership and to the website) the AHRD Newsletter right there on the homepage. Nice communication work there!

Next step, interactivity among the membership and committees throughout the year using blogs, wikis, Moodle, Skype, etc. Nothing like proposing and supporting democratic involvement without having the only collaborative business done at the meeting during the annual conference!

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While I was in Indianapolis for AHRD, I snuck away for an afternoon and visited the Eiteljorg Museum, which contains art of American Indians and Western Art. What a great collection! I uploaded the pictures I took there on Flickr, including:

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AHRD 2007 is the first conference I ever blogged.

Before I went to the conference, I asked my new colleague Lee LeFever about what he would suggest for blogging a conference. He made some helpful suggestions for me, and now that I have attended a conference as a presenter and participant and blogger, I have learned a few things:

1. Bring the laptop with me EVERYWHERE and to every session.
• Do not leave the laptop in the room and then blog later. Too much running back and forth. This should be easier once I get a new (and smaller) laptop.
2. Bring the camera everywhere as well.
• Same as the laptop. Now at least I have a Flickr account all set up and have nearly figured out how to use it and upload the photos quickly. Of course, don't forget to pack the camera cord!
3. Tell people what I am doing.
• I attend some very academic conferences, and many of my colleagues there do not seem to know much about blogging or social media. I decided to bring the same blog business cards I created for Northern Voice 2007, where it was a bit more understood. 
  
  
  
  
  I also learned something very interesting about using a card like this. After being asked several times what my website is, I realized that many (very bright) people do not immediately recognize a website address without seeing the www at the beginning. I have since added that to my card above. A number of people got interested in what I was doing when they either heard more about it or visited my blog themselves to have a look. This also allows my colleagues to see more about what I do! 
  
4. Use tags for everything
• How else will people eventually stumble upon my work?

I am sure there is more learning, but this is enough for now to help me prepare for the next conference I am attending and presenting at, AERC, which is coming up in June.

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Last night I attended our annual AHRD Scholar-Practitioner Committee meeting during the conference. It seems there is some new thinking about how the work of the S-P Committee will proceed, especially around the area of acting as a role between pure scholars and pure practitioners, since this group understands both worlds and concerns and needs. This will be an interesting year for our work!

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I just attended a really interesting Innovative Session that Isabel Rimanoczy facilitated at AHRD 2007. In it, she presented and then we discussed the Action Reflection Learning methodology that she works on. This picture is of her summary of the ARL methodology.

Some of the discussions the group had about this involved the theoretical foundations for ARL, what distinguished Action Reflection Learning from Action Learning, the benefits of using a Stop / Reflect in academic as well as corporate settings, the political dimensions of ARL, issues surrounding readiness for action learning, and how reflective practice and (self) narrative influences and can be influenced by this methodology.

One of the interesting take-aways I took from this session, even after knowing and working with Isabel over the past two years, is how LIM's removing the Trademark from Action Reflection Learning (though as of right now it is still present on their website) can finally foster discussion about this process that may in turn enlarge the discussion both in academic as well as in pratitioner environments. It is refreshing that Isabel's book on ARL is finally with the publisher, so when it comes out later this year or early next, the discussion will continue even more then. Who knows where this wider discussion will lead.

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I am currently blogging from AHRD 2007, the annual International Research Conference of the Academy of Human Resource Development, which is in Indianapolis. I will be publishing several posts from the three days I will be attending the conference, and will be uploading the pictures I take there on Flickr as jeffreykeefer

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