Silence and Voice

I have completely revised and added to my initial list of LiveBlogging Best Practices that I initially published on 6/26/07. This comes from feedback I received and having reflected on my learning from the 3 separate conferences I liveblogged. [this post was revised later in the same day with another item (#15) added based on a comment from Robin Yap.]

Liveblogging Best Practices

1. Have an extension cord. You never know how far away the outlet is.
2. Plan on there NOT being any wireless Internet access. Regardless of what may be expected or promised you never know what may happen with it, who may be downloading every DVD ever made and clogging the network in the process, and how even the most stable technology fails when we may need it most (not to mention when the access is "free" after a daily credit card payment).
3. Use an offline blogging program. I am using Ecto for this here. I also tried ScribeFire for Firefox, but I could not get the image uploading FTP to work to save me, and their help pages were not too helpful. I do not mind paying developers for their work, and think those who created Ecto certainly deserve what I paid them for what they delivered. As I am about to migrate from XP to Vista, it is important to check compatibility (such as with Macs) and have a freely-available trial period.
4. Have a fully-charged battery. This goes without saying, but often the unstated is forgotten or assumed!
5. Create entry shells prior to the sessions. This way, you are assured to have the correct names of the sessions and the spelling of the participants for each entry.
6. Disclose what editing is done later. I consider myself a researcher-practitioner, and as such want full-disclosure of what I liveblog in real-time, as I conduct research with my entries as they are. These are real data, and as such it would be counter to the research process to go back and edit, spell-check, and otherwise clarify what happened at a previous time as the point of liveblogging is to capture the experiences in real-time. Of course, if I am able to spell-check and otherwise edit as I go, then that is another situation.
7. Distinguish between internal and external experiences. I am a constructivist qualitative researcher, and as such do not believe the researcher can separate himself or herself from the research experience. When I am liveblogging a conference, I find myself writing about what I see, hear, and experience, as well as the meaning-making that occurs in real-time. I cannot separate an objective happening from my perception of it, in that I do not believe there can be any objective meaning or experience apart from one who experiences it. In practical terms, I can record what I hear and what strikes me, but then I often begin to process the experience and add to the meaning-making event. This means that liveblogging makes me more than an active participant--the public-blogging and my ability to discuss my own thoughts and feelings of the event makes me in effect a co-presenter. [I think I will have to revisit this to try to develop it more]
8. Have a camera and its sync-cord. While picture taking while liveblogging may be icing on the cake, it does add a nice touch.
9. Have an international adapter/plug. Liveblogging in Canada, for example, uses the same plugs as in the US. The AHRD conference I am liveblogging in England means I have another device I have to carry with me if I want to plug in.
10. Adjust the computer time to the local time. I have blogged around the world, and prefer to capture the sessions in the real time where I am.
11. Consider a hyper-link policy. If I am liveblogging and there is wifi, then it is easy to add links to the presentations or papers or the people who present themselves, However, with the editing policy I listed above (see #7), determine how to find the links and add them, with full-disclosure, at some point in time. This allows the readers to try to see as much of what you experienced while it happens. If there is no wifi available, I consider it appropriate to add hyperlinks after the session when the Internet access is again available.
12. Plan for breaks. I blogged with a laptop, and had to decide what I was going to do with it when I went to the restroom and getting coffee. Without a personal contact whom I could trust it with when using the restroom or otherwise, it came with me. I had to close it and carry it as a notebook (I wonder if that is how the name originated?)
13. Get a comfortable seat. Liveblogging is tiring, so get comfortable because it will be a long session.
14. Consider keywords carefully. I have started to include Technorati keywords in all my posts, and use common keywords if they exist for the event, as well as names of participants and the primary topic. While I blog for many reasons, I want my experiences to be found by those in attendance or otherwise interested in the events I attend (if they so choose). 
15. Tag the posts with an agreed-upon tag. Technology-related conferences often announce a unique tag that they encourage people to use when uploading posts or photos so they can be found by searchers and other attendees later. However, not all conferences or events do this. If not, create a unique tag for the event that will be easy to locate and share it with anybody else liveblogging the event (for consistency). Finally, name it in a post so readers and potential searchers will see it.  

This list is a work in process, and I hope to add to it as new issues arise or as feedback and research dictates.

Technorati Tags: live blogging, liveblogging, live-blogging, liveblogging best practices, Technorati

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Usha Raghavachari, Car and Crossover Communications Manager, Ford Motor

She makes no apology that this is a marketing presentation. She gave her background, where she was born in India and grew up in England. Her presentation will be in a few pieces. This includes an overview of the environment. From the EPA work, there is an increasing sense of environmental awareness, from the 2007 Cone Consumer Environmental Survey / EPA / AdAge. Al Gore has also made an impact, with the book and movie.

What does green mean for the automotive industry. Bloomberg stated that the taxis in NY will increasingly be more energy efficient. Most presidential candicates now are driving around in a hybrid. People also think of green as being hybrid. But, for the auto industry, being green often means having smaller SUVs or smaller cars. Diesel in Europe is more efficient than current US hybrids. Efficiency and green also means making vehicles lighter. She stated that people are happy to pay more money for this investment. However, when I shopped for a new car, I saw that the hyrbid was $10 K more in cost and 1/5 less in power (hp towing).

Quick education--component parts, hybrids have smaller and efficient and technologically advanced engine. There is an electric motor/generator acts as a motor and as a generator. Benefits of a hybrid is more efficiency with electric assist and better fuel economy and less emissions. When an Escape Hybrid runs on the electricity and has turned off the engine component, the tailpipe gives our clean air. All hybrids are not equal--some are partial and some are complete. Some need to use gas at all times, and some can run completely (at times) on electricity.

The Ford Escape is the first hyrbid SUV and the first hybrid in the US. The emphasis is that people want hybrid and green, but they do not want to give anything up.

Looking up at the slides after typing all this without looking up, I see an enormous amount of text on the slides. Wow, too much for a communications perspective. Makes me long for Seth Godin's PowerPoint recommendations.

Hybrid customers are the most affluent and well-educated consumer they have. This population takes action in their lives toward being green (organic food, compost, recycle). They want an outdoor life and do not want to compromise. This sounds wonderful and as part of a group I want to be a member of; what a good marketer she is.

She is clear she is a marketing person, and was focused on communications. Ironic that as she stated that, she opened a Background slide with 3 paragraphs with a total of 14 lines. I wish the slides would have been as engaging as her marketing and PR campaign. I am now so distracted by all of it, that her credibility is called into question in my mind since there is a disconnect between what she is saying and what she is showing. She talked about how brilliant Kermit is and how much fun and engaging their ads (including the American Idol ad that she played) are. Is she showing us what they did as a professional engaged in this work, or trying to sell us this car? As a visual learner, I can't watch since the slide text is so overwhelmingly full.

She then showed the Ford advertisement with Kermit the Frog, "Easy Being Green." Kermit has cross-generational appeal and it was launched during the SuperBowl. Now the Ford Escape Hybrid faces luxury and non-luxury competition. Thus, saying "green" today is no longer enough. Thus, they are now focusing an environmentally friendly, off road and on. It is a true hybrid and a true SUV. She then stated that they buy carbon credits to offset the manufacture processes of the vehicle.

I still do not understand the concept of buying carbon credits.

The moderator has been unsuccessful in giving her the sign that her time is over (already 35 minutes, and still not entry for questions). Ahh, is this true to marketing form?

Technorati Tags: EPA, Ford Escape, hybrid, Cone Consumer Environmental Survey,, Usha Raghavachari

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Linda Recupero, EVP Public affairs , HSBC USA - "It's Not Easy Being Green"

HSBC has been involved in corporate stewardship for a long time, and has a lot of green initiatives for some time now. She joked about being green and banks having a lot of green (money), but there is a belief that they should be environmentally green and believe it from every aspect of them as an organization.

Their core beliefs and strategic initiatives include corporate responsibility. They want to be one of the world's leading brands for corporate responsibility and thus reduce their environmental footprint.

They look at their stakeholders with an environmental stewardship lens. There are a lot of people to consider. Their business and communications perspective. They want to engage customers in an emotional relationship and then having a positive sustainable impact on the communities where they work. There tag line, "The World's Local Bank" and the fact tha HSBC is the 3rd largest banking organization in the world, this message rings true for them as well. For HSBC, environmental stewardship is central to who they are.

Great focus on engaging their clients and customers, but the slides were not terribly engaging. Rather dull, which is something she even stated when she considered her slides compared to the National Geographic ones that preceded here work.

Rather than write a big check, they are trying to have policies and initiatives that support their work and mission. They encourage their employees to be active and engaged in nature conservation programs.

They focus on partnering with other organizations, and partnered in the WWF and EarthWatch. They then wanted to fund organizations that were focused on climate changed. The HSBC Climate Partneship was with four credible organizations--The Climate Group, Earthwatch, WWF, and the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute. They funded this 5-year program with $100 M and want to encourage long-term work and involvement with people to be on expeditions and research projects.

They have the first Gold LEED certified bank branch in Greece, NY. Moving forward, they want every branch to have a component of being green and reducing their footprint.

Another of their tag lines for one of their campaigns is "there's no small change" www.theresnosmallchange.com, which has incentives for making small changes in people's banking and personal lives support these efforts.

It seems HSBC is very active in this area, and I am glad to hear it. I had no idea they were doing to much, so from a corporate communication perspective, they are quite active. As an organization with their people and customers and consumers and facilities, they are really making strides toward following their mission. Their chairman, Stephen K. Green, promotes this and believes and espouses promoting the green movement within HSBC.

The questions once again came from a global audience. The first question was about that most people are probably not aware of all the work HSBC is doing within this space. The question is about how HSBC can promote itself as a green-focused firm, and how they can use that within their marketing efforts. They are planning to actively begin marketing their work, especially as they are somewhat new at marketing and promoting their CR and Philanthropy and PR groups. They now realize how important this message and the PR can be (compared to their marketing efforts). They have been humble and quiet in the past, and now are becoming more proactive in their approach. There was another question about how to filer this CR and green message to filer down, especially when the CEO is already in favor or and an evangelist of this message. A big piece of this is within employee education and e-learning and individual employee goals. They encourage people to be involved in conferences, and have a sustainability officer who then promotes this and working with outside groups. Another question is if they have done a sustainability report, which they did. She believed this is critical, and they just released their report a month ago and offered to get it to the questioner (yet, oddly, did not share any of the results with those of us here).

Technorati Tags: Earthwatch, HSBC, Linda Recupero, Smithsonian Tropical Research Insitute, The Climate Group, WWF

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Stephen P. Giannetti, VP and Group Publisher, National Geographic Magazine

He broke his presentation into 3 sections. At National Geographic, they are focused on where the consumers are going. Then, he wants to share about what the organization does with their employees. Finally, how they will communicate the message as a sustainable lifestyle.

1. Consumers want to feel better about what they have. They want to enjoy themselves and live their lives, while also knowing they are being good. 250 M people read the magazine and watch the cable channel. Really? Much greater reach than I expected or supposed. They are now referring to people today as a population that lives and has a "Valuable Life."  This means living life to its fullest while also taking on personal responsibility. Thus, aware of impact on the environment and living with the consequences. There are also more opportunities for making a difference now. The slides he was using are very full with a tremendous amount of text. I have been typing by listening to him, but as I looked up at the slides, I am overwhelmed by the amount of text and columns and data and information. I think I will listen again, as I am distracted by looking at the slides. He stated they are focusing on the full-committed consumer or supportive consumer, which are now 41% of the population ( but not clear which population, the US or the world?).
2. National Geographic with their employees. Their new mission is to inspire people to care about the planet. I like this new mission, though it has been current for two years now. They want their employees to be brand ambassadors of trying to live this way around the world. This will help them to be more credible, as the employees will see this in their lives and not just in their message. Thus, they want attainable and sustainable goals. Their building is the first certified green building in the US, and they have a lot of internal initiatives (such as aggressive recycling in the cafeteria, Earth Day initiatives, and other ways to professionally and personal live greener lives, great use of wind power). National Geographic Magazine reaches 6.5 M readers each month, and they are looking to make a difference in how they create and print the magazine, as well as how their work and stories support their mission. They will then work with the World Wildlife Fund to do an internal audit of their green initiatives, as well as a new green section on their Intranet.
3. Communicating green and how they leverage their brand. Their global Mission "Inspiring People to Care about the Plant." They are a non-profit and all their income supports their magazines and worldwide cable channels (communications vehicles) and they then also support people and projects who support their missions. They will bring these people together and then brainstorm how they can better support and spread what they have learned about the melting of the glaciers and the recession of the Redwoods (from projects of people who have walked across these areas to record this information). Climate Connections is a segment on NPR every morning, where they discuss articles and components from their work to further spread the word. They also licensed a cruise ship for a National Geographic expedition where passengers learn from their experts based on where they are traveling and what they hope to learn. He really encouraged and praised the work they do, and recommended people look at the practical and free resources on their website. They also purchased the Green Guide, a print and online publication for health and practical suggestions for living a greener life. Their article in the July 2007 issue, The Big Thaw. It was greatly read and the feedback is that people decided to take action after reading it, so from a financial perspective, it was somewhat lucrative for them. He also spoke about another magazine; National Geographic Traveler.

His content was very interesting, but toward the end it seemed almost too sales and marketing focused. There is a lot of great work they are doing. Being Green Is No Longer and Option was a focus. We then saw a preview of a new movie that National Geographic is about to release--Arctic Voice.

There were then questions. One asked about how to educate without just trying to make money. Everything they do goes through a group consensus filter. For them, ratings (on tv) and mission are not always synonymous, so that is why they partner with NPR and PBS and the like. Another question asked about how to address the green issues of perception vs. reality, and what is acceptable for them and for the consumer. At worst, things are left in the same condition, and at best they are left in better condition. The people who asked questions came from all over the world (the Caribbean, London, etc.). Another question was about the brand -- are more people coming to the brand and then looking at what their clients and advertising are doing. The corporate social responsibility (CSR) advertising is doubling. Climate change as a problem and the solutions, and there is a lot of misinformation there. He thinks Europe is ahead of us, though this is not my experience in England, where I did not see any recycling whatsoever three weeks ago. Another question asked about education for children, and he stated that they are actively involved in curriculum development and a kids' magazine, which is now the most read children's magazine in the world. The question about fully recycled paper, and how expensive this is, is a great challenge they are striving to do (they are committed to 100% recycled paper in the future). Hilton  in New York, has installed a fuel cell and encourages people to not wash their linens every day).

Technorati Tags: Green Guide, National Geographic Magazine, NPR, PBS, Stephen P. Giannetti, corporate social responsibility, WWF

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Steve Etzler, Founder and CEO of Business Development Institute

He stated that there are 250 people here and 1000 attending live online.

He took a pole and asked people to raise their hands (corporate communications people, pr people, green people, etc.). The venture people did not really raise their hands, somewhat understandably. BDI presents conferences and sessions in the area of communications, and as an organization it sounds interesting.

They did not do any paper-based marketing--only. no plastic bottles, no plastic, and only using large water bottles with paper cups. Even the flatware is made from corn (how, he was not sure). The brochures were all from recycled paper, also.

He then thanked people on the staff and those sponsors who gave space and other forms of leadership for this event. What a wide range of sponsors: corporate and non-profit and government. Engaging and energetic kick-off and welcome.

Adrienne Garland, VP of Marketing, PR Newswire

She explained how BDI and PR Newswire bring groups and people together in marketing and communications, especially with corporate social responsibility and the green movement.

Her speech was very good, excellent, actually. However, she read it word-for-word and it did not come across as authentic or heartfelt. If only she would have looked up and engaged the audience more, it would have continued the momentum Steve began.

Her description of some of the products that PR Newswire offers made it seem like a goldmine of resources. I will have to check it out later.

Technorati Tags: Adrienne Garland, Business Development Institute, Green Communications, PR Newswire, Steve Etzler

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I am sitting in the Microsoft Executive Customer Briefing Center at 1290 6th Ave. in Manhattan, waiting for the Green Communications: The Case Studies event to begin. I recall seeing this in the Social Media Club email and website, but the title did not strike a cord in me until I received a call from Howard Greenstein yesterday encouraging me to consider attending. Billed as an event that bridges the area between corporate communications and green / corporate social responsibility initiatives, this is directly within my area of personal and professional interests as a corporate communications instructor at NYU Stern School of Business.

While I am awaiting the beginning of the event, there are a few things about this space that strike me as somewhat unusual.

• Firstly, for being in a large conference room at a Microsoft facility, I am surprised there are so few power outlets. I have one of the only two near any of the seats that I found in the entire room (which I scouted out as I arrived early).
• Another thing that surprises me is that I am the only one with a laptop out and in use. Not that I expect others to be liveblogging this event (can I ever stop my research once I have started it??!!), but for an event that targets corporate communications people, I wonder if more traditional note-taking strategies (I see lots of pads of paper and pens) are still more commonplace. Nevertheless, live and learn.
• Another thing that I find somewhat interesting is that there is not any publicly available wifi that I can determine. There are lots of available streams, but they all require authentication (which I as an attendee do not appear to have). Of course, without live wifi, this liveblogging will again be done using Ecto, where I will maintain things as written and post them later in the day when I again have wireless.

Ahh, two others now have laptops out . . .

Technorati Tags: Green Communications, Howard Greenstein, Social Media Club

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One of the interesting blogs I have recently started reading is Talking Philosophy: The Philosopher's Magazine Blog. Aimed more at scholars and practitioners alike who are interested in applied philosophy (with articles that are readable by and for a wider audience of laypeople), some of the editors have been presenting at a camp associated with The Center for Inquiry, and I posted a question and have been participating in a discussion there about liveblogging the experience.

As liveblogging conferences (particularly academic ones) have recently captured my interests, I asked if they have considered doing so. In the process, I found myself reflecting on the differences between getting a transcript / recording of a presentation (like the news or a dvd) vs. studying the internal learning and change process while attending the sessions themselves (liveblogging) vs. the writing or posting that can be done after enough processing of the information (traditional journalism and academic writing).

I find myself finally beginning to articulate why I am interested in liveblogging as a learning experience in itself, and in this capacity just posted a response on their blog about this that I want to recount here (in part so I can then readily index them later for this ongoing research and reflection):

I am not so interested in recordings or the transcripts, since I personally have trouble reading / paying attention to them without being involved in the tone and setting of the experience.

My interests are more about how learning occurs and how information and experiences are processed during the attending of the sessions themselves . . . I am interested in seeing how ideas develop from a comment here and a feeling over there with some content from this one and a paper I may read from that one--all of which happens simultaneously at times. When we write things later about how we have come to understand something, it takes all of the initial work and shows us the results. My interest in this is in the initial work and process itself.

My theory is that the more we learn about the process, the more we can take that into account while we are presenting our work to help our attendees and learners see what we are trying to communicate.

So, as I am developing my work in liveblogging, it seems it is oriented toward understanding the personal and reflective learning process to better be able to communicate. Ahh, this is an exciting development . . .

Technorati Tags: Talking Philosophy, The Philosopher's Magazine, liveblogging, The Center for Inquiry

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Monica Lee -- Plenary Session

She was one of the founding members of UFHRD (University Forum of Human Resource Development).

She will talk about what she means by a holistic perspective, global changes, effects of change, holistic perspectives and implications for HRD.

SHe has had trouble putting into words what she has been trying to say, and this language problem is being addressed through the help of chaos theory.

I wish she would use the microphone more, as she id difficult to hear.

She discussed issues that were deliberately outside of HRD:

1. Climate Change - she referred to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change: 2007 Draft Summary. She then gave several slides of data that described the predictions for what this climate change will mean.
2. Technology Change -- affecting data management and communication, and it is increasing social division. SHe made a political comment about how the poor are being asked to pay for the power consumption of the rich (though I am not sure I understand this).
3. Population Growth and Decline

She has a soothing voice and an appealing speaking tone, but I cannot follow her thesis / main idea. I feel like I am in a lecture. I am not sure she is aware of how people in the back (where I happen to be sitting) are fidgeting and losing touch with where she is going. I have trouble focusing right now. At this point, this is enough blogging for the day.

Now she is back to her initial issues, and has slides that are a bit full and complicated. Now she is speaking to the slides. Ok, enough blogging for the day, as I want to try to end on a positive note.

Alas, at least there is the formal dinner tonight (but only so formal as me not wearing suit).

Technorati Tags: Monica Lee

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Rob Poell, Tilburg University

They compared research data from both Dutch and US perspectives from what the data are saying from two different angles.

He spoke about actors within an organization, and the theories of learning processes,policies, and programs that lead to content structures, organizational structures, and learning climate.

The four ideal types inlcude:

1. liberal-contractual
2. vertical-regulated
3. horizontal-organic
4. external-collegiate

This is also called the Actor Network Perspective

Critical-Pragmatist Perspective -- four ways in which act action-learning projects can take place

Tacit School

Scientific School (people reflect in order to solve problems)

Experiential School (reflection on individual action)

Critical Reflection school (reflection on norms and values, such as double-loop learning)

They was a re-analysis study of previously-recorded research -- four Dutch cases and four American cases that were compared.

I was a little confused as to why this comparison was done as a research project. I am not clear as to the "so what?" factor with this research. The discussion of the Findings were interesting, but I was not clear as to what to do with them.

Ahh, the Relevance slide -- one really good point is about theory triangulation, where "using more lenses generates better insights in data." This is a really good point.

Technorati Tags: Rob Poell, Tilburg University

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Darlene-Russ-Eft & Robin Yap

Darlene gave the background of their presentation, that was supported by ibstpi

Robin explained ibstpi. It has 15 directors and, while based in the US, it is international. It is a non-profit organization. they have developed four books of competencies:

1. Online training and teaching
2. Instructional design
3. Training  manager
4. Instructor

There are a number of organizations that have guidelines and they are often around evaluation programs that are around the large governmental agencies. ibstpi tried to look specifically at organizations and how these relate on that level.

Their call for these competencies are since executives are increasingly asked to evaluate their success, and teachers are asked, as well as funding agencies.

There is a little empirical base that is international in scope -- thus, ibstpi's work. The literature base does not necessarily reflect the work of those working in the field.

They then asked 11 international experts in evaluation, and 10 of them responded. They had 470 evaluator responses, and while most of them were from the US and Canada, this was the first time (as Darlene claimed) that a global evaluation survey and research was done.

QUESTION from me -- what do you mean by an "Evaluator?"

The lowest rated results include a demonstration of the awareness of the politics of evaluation and the pilot test data. The most significant differences include collect data & analyze and interpret data. Thus, the people who are in evaluator roles are people who manage the evaluation function, and other people are doing the data analysis and evaluation itself.

A number of useful areas for future research (see the photo I took on Flickr).

What does this all mean? This could be used by evaluators for professional development. Also, can be used to enhance the quality of the ir own academic offerings.

Questions by the audience -- do the specific competencies have different meaning in different domains? They were not interested in the government areas of policies evaluation.

Question from me -- your use of the term "evaluator" seems to imply people who have that as their title, and does this perhaps affect the respondents?

Technorati Tags: Darlene-Russ-Eft, Robin Yap, ibstpi

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Jules Beck & Bobbie Biggs

This is the culmination of a 2-year qualitative study. They used Blackboard

Many states in the US are rural, and there is not an infrastructure that supports this work.

This is a hermeneutic / phenomenological study

Looking for 2 points to follow-up. They have information from cohorts that began 10 years ago.

Purposive sample. They used Van Manen's bracketing method, with response followed by probing questions.

Preliminary Themes:

1. accessible
2. achievement
3. enlightenment
4. useful at work
5. useful personally
6. personal interaction
7. structured
8. educational
9. group support
10. technology
11. stressful

I found it interesting that this presentation had people with me being the only person with a laptop that is being used.

They then presented their other findings, in order.

They then had some quotes about the students, and their experiences and what they learned.

This research looks really interesting, and I am wondering how the initial findings can be useful for research as well as for practice? I will ask this question, knowing that this research project is still ongoing. Little research has been done that is blended, rather than just online. For practice, the immediacy and for those who do not have the immediacy, since the technology and support within a home community rather than just online. Also, this helps to bring smaller communities together across the state. This helps to develop the talent that is already out there.

Technorati Tags: Jules Beck, Bobbie Biggs

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Joost Robben and Ida Wognum

Joost presented his working paper, with the initial results of his master's thesis. The research came from a problem of practice, where the average age of the staff was over 50. They wanted to design a work and learning program.

He discussed the theories of Mark Krinsky (sp?) and the names of those who are now heavily users of digital media and web technology. They seems to have virtual social networks or multi-server virtual environments. Those who grew up and are growing up with these technologies and are labeled as N-gen. They designed research and asked what the actual use of digital media. Also, what is the effect of this N-gen for HRD. What are the differences between gender, educational level, and socio-economic status.

The outside door was open to let some air into the room, and the curtains were blowing and blocking my view of the presenter, Joost. He moved a chair there so he can see me, as he stated, and then I commented that it was fine, as I am doing exactly what they were talking about; I am liveblogging.

From the research population they found:

98% of respondants use MSN, which seems like an unusually high number. I wonder why so much with that IM client. Perhaps it supports the local language?

79% play (video) games -- are these online or console games?

Weblogging -- odd they found that 47% reads blogs, and 15% write blogs. I wonder what this number may mean, as it seems low.

They found a wide adoption of digital media and web technology, but no gender differences / none with educational tracks. Any results on socio-economic status?

Questions from the audience. One asked about the teachers, but that was not reviewed in the literature.

It seems clear that this paper presentation raised more questions than could have been answered in this short period of time that was given to this paper.

This was a very interesting paper presentation.

Technorati Tags: Joost Robben, Ida Wognum

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Paul Tosey and Jane Mathison

Their topic is about the research behind NLP. He quoted Herodotus, and he spoke of the tension between something fabulous as being like a fable and beyond belief, as opposed to something remarkable.

They both work in the center of management learning and do some work on their website, NLPresearch.org. They are both trainers and consultants and educators.

Their overall interests are in tranformative learning. There are 3 main points for their work:

1. Developing research community
2. Using NLP to further understanding of TL
3. Developing a critical appraisal of NLP (especially for the book they are writing

They wanted to see practitioners who were very effective, especially with how people were behaving and enacting what they were doing. They discussed how those they studied followed the same theories that others were using, but some people were more effective then others.

They see NLP as being primarily phenomenological, and is not a stranger to HRD (and even seems to be widespread). There are many people who use NLP in their coaching sessions. It is very widespread in the practitioner community, but there is very little research done in NLP.

Gregory Batesan was an important reference for their research, but little formal work.

NLP can support everybody's quest for achieving excellence and happiness.

There is a great need for reflectivity in the field,

Is there an underlying list of principles that are used by all people and can be gathered as foundational.

I am getting a bit drowsy. I wish he would have provided his definition for how he see NLP. Also, I wish the room were not so hot.

The voice of the user is missing from almost all the literature in the field right now.

Technorati Tags: Jane Mathison, Neuro-Linguistic Programming, Paul Tosey, NLP

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Nicholas Clarke - University of Southhampton

His paper won the prize for the best paper in HRDI.

He began engaging the audience with his slides that had some nice pictures and images (getting a few laughs in the process).

He discussed how the concept of emotional intelligence (EI) is not completely clearly agreed upon by all authors. He started a divergence of EI as competencies and traits (mixed models) and cognitive abilities. There was a useful slide that discussed the differences between the two models that are developing within the literature.

Wow, there is somebody else here in this presentation that is using a laptop. That makes 3 people, including me, who I have seen using in a presentation here.

EI -- associated with leadership and building social capital, networks, and teamwork.There is some resaerch that is beginning to come up in the literature.

There is beginning to be a shift in the management literature to show that perhaps there is something that EI may be important.

But, the interesting question is CAN emotional intelligence be taught and if so, does it make a difference. What is the evidence that this can be done and is teachable?

He then discussed some of his previous study, and at this point I am getting confused as to what he is trying to do with this research. He then wrote about the research project he really used, where he wanted to investigate team diaries from MBA students. Those individuals that gave evidence of EI, it was when teams met more than once a week and had team conflict followed by conflict resolution.

Interesting that all the power outlets I have seen here in the hotel have their own on/off switches. I wonder if this is a British requirement or only happens here.

There were some interesting and most polite questions. I have noticed that many of the questions that are asked in an academic conference are polite and collegial. I wonder if this is to further develop knowledge or because this group of people often know one another.

Technorati Tags: Nicholas Clarke, emotional intelligence

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I wanted to attend this paper session, A Conceptual Expansion of Critical HRD: Towards a Progressive Agenda for Workplace Learning and Democracy by Allan Ramdhony, but the session was canceled since he did not attend the conference. I am interested in critical HRD, as I recently presented a paper on it at AERC.

The irony? Critical HRD and critical management studies began here in the UK and is slowly crossing the pond to the US; and this was the only critical HRD paper here at AHRD in Oxford. I wonder what this may be a sign of? Perhaps I should consider this as my topic for next year's conference in Lille? 

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Why did this session begin early? We had a break.

What session is this? It is not on the printed schedule.

Critical Reflective Practice

there is a wonderful set of knowledge

Organizational -based management development

This session was added on to the other presentation, and we were told there would be a coffee break, many of us left for it and, upon our return, there was this presentation that already began. I thus did not catch their names, not their presentation.

Will critical reflective practice give me an immediate result or ROI?

How threatening is critical reflective practice as an empowering experience if I come and use this while in front of my colleagues and done with a subject matter (me) where I may already be satisfied with how I am doing what I am doing?

How does a training program deal with critical relective practice, that does not clearly have objectives as it focuses on change.

Does this work, and what is the evidence that may support this?

What is the group and community and organizational experience? If there is no evidence, then does it really belong in the workplace?

What is the impact of this as a transformative element for change and how it may relate with critical hrd, especially as it is evidence-based.

They want to build a larger community of those who are working in the critical reflective practice, and they want to bring those researchers and practitioners together.

What is the notion of self-disclosure and how this emotional baggage can be addressed, which may be done within an academic context as opposed to within a work environment.

Technorati Tags: reflective practice

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Paul Turner (keynote presentation)

Introduction by somebody who did not introduce herself. SHe explained how some sessions were canceled or when some people did not come, so there is a revised list of sessions. Ask at the welcome table if there are any questions. This should end by 10:15. There will be more coffee that is added. Lunch will be in the Medio restaurant, past the bar in the afternoon (but don't stop at the bar!).

The dinner tonight leaves at 7:15. It is pricey - 45 pounds (around US $100).

Paul was introduced by Jim Stewart, the Chair of UFHRD. Jim stated that Paul personifies the meaning of the term scholarly practitioner. He has Trotsky's 3-volume history of the Russian Revolution. Paul has written 3 books that are used within the UK in teaching HR. Paul just returned from a conference in Thailand. Paul was the HR director of Lloyds and Convergis.

Paul seems to be a practitioner who conducts research and teaches in Nottingham Business School.

People really seem to be dressed up here. Lots of ties and jackets. How European proper. Needless to say, I am not that dressed up.

Paul spoke about the conference with the opening session. The person had those in attendance look at the person next to them, hug them, and tell them you love them. As a British fellow, it was a bit much for him, especially as he was going to speak about Change Management next.

Paul then spoke about Thomas Friedman's The World Is Flat, with significant economic implications. Friedman spoke about glocalization as well, where some counrties are able to adapt global forces and cultures into their nations. He spoke quickly with a lot of interesting issues raised in Friedman's book, but his slides did not really support what he was saying. It would have helped if there would have been the definitions that he was using. The text on his slides was too small, which was distracting especially for a global presenter.

Really interesting material, but I could not follow the point of his presentation.

He distinguished between globalized nations (which are fully integrated) vs. international or regional corporations. Global strategy is utopia, and glocalization is on the way to that utopia.

He then stopped to consider that this is a very messy situation, and instead to look at some cases rather than discuss his learned paper.

He tried to show a portion of a Convergys DVD, but the sound was not working. It seems the equipment was not tested prior to his presenting.

I REALLY wish he would have written the definitions of his terms on a slide, as I cannot remember how he used the two terms--globalization and glocalization. His presenting strategy did not meet the needs of all the learners (by which I mean my own style).

Global--can manage economies of scale.

When he was in the US company, Convergys, he brought his non-union team from Cincinnati (all staunch Republicans) to meet with some of the trade unionists from Germany (including one who was tattooed head to toe). I did not understand the point for this story.

His PowerPoint slides has a lot of text and bullets. One slide had seven bullets with on average 9 words per slides. I took a photo of it for an example.

Interesting how this liveblogging is an outlet, in narrative and visual form, for my experience in this conference.

He then told a story about another American company, about which the person sitting next to me commented how he had worked with that firm and knew the story first-hand. He named the firm as Avaya.

His second case study was about another company which he named as AB and Amro, which is a target of acqusition sby Royal Bank of Scotland / Barcley's. I wonder why he named these companies as his case studies, and what the purpose of his case study research was all about.

He is speaking in tangents and pointing to parts of his slides that people in the back (me included) cannot see. I am not following his point at all, especially since I cannot remember his definitions. 

I found that he has been speaking and giving a lot of examples, but I have not been paying attention for the last ten minutes or so, since the slides were overwhelming and I was not able to follow his point (what was it again?).

Jim's summary slide (which I took a photo of and will upload to Flickr) helped me to finally make sense of what he was discussing. I wish this slide and a definitions slide were included up-front.

He mentioned that his views have changed considerably since he was asked to do this presentation based on his research. This is the most refreshing thing he said, that this area is open to research (glocalisation), as this is a messy area of study that is not as simple as he initially thought. I really like the fact that he spoke about how what he initially perceived as being simple and able to be put in a box is certainly more complicated and messy.

There were then some questions. In the process, he stated that the challenge is how to get economies of scope with the need to understand local cultures and how they are implemented. Once  again, this is very helpful and would have been useful to have stated closure to the front of his presentation.

I wonder if he did state this but since there were not visuals to support this, then I just missed it?

It seems that HRD programs in Europe (or at least the UK) have HRD in business schools.

Technorati Tags: ahrd, ahrdoxford2007, Paul Turner

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I have given a lot of consideration to what worked and what did not work when I liveblogged the AERC conference two weeks ago. Gathering these best practices together, the following is my working list of liveblogging best practices. I will test this list next week, when I travel to Oxford to present at the 8th International Conference on Human Resource Development Research & Practice across Europe.

Liveblogging Best Practices

1. Have an extension cord. You never know how far away the outlet is.
2. Plan on there NOT being any wireless Internet access. Regardless of what may be expected or promised you never know what may happen with it, who may be downloading every DVD ever made and clogging the network in the process, and how even the most stable technology fails when we may need it most (not to mention when the access is "free" after a daily credit card mayment).
3. Use an offline blogging program. I am using Ecto for this here. I also tried ScribeFire for Firefox, but I could not get the image uploading FTP to work to save me, and their help pages were not too helpful. I do not mind paying developers for their work, and think those who created Ecto certainly deserve what I paid them for what they delivered. As I am about to migrate from XP to Vista, it is important to check compatibility (such as with Macs) and have a freely-available trial period.
4. Have a fully-charged battery. This goes without saying, but often the unstated is forgotten or assumed!
5. Create entry shells prior to the sessions. This way, you are assured to have the correct names of the sessions and the spelling of the participants for each entry.
6. Adjust the computer time to the local time. I have blogged around the world, and prefer to capture the sessions in the real time where I am.
7. Disclose what editing is done later. I consider myself a researcher-practitioner, and as such want full-disclosure of what I liveblog in real-time, as I conduct research with my entries as they are. These are real data, and as such it would be counter to the research process to go back and edit, spell-check, and otherwise clarify what happened at a previous time as the point of liveblogging is to capture the experiences in real-time. Of course, if I am able to spell-check and otherwise edit as I go, then that is another situation.
8. Distinguish between internal and external experiences. I am a constructivist qualitative researcher, and as such do not believe the researcher can separate himself or herself from the research experience. When I am liveblogging a conference, I find myself writing about what I see, hear, and experience, as well as the meaning-making that occurs in real-time. I cannot separate an objective happening from my perception of it, in that I do not believe there can be any objective meaning or experience apart from one who experiences it. In practical terms, I can record what I hear and what strikes me, but then I often begin to process the experience and add to the meaning-making event. This means that liveblogging makes me more than an active participant--the public-blogging and my ability to discuss my own thoughts and feelings of the event makes me in effect a co-presenter. [I think I will have to revisit this to try to develop it more]
9. Have a camera and its sync-cord. While picture taking while liveblogging may be icing on the cake, it does add a nice touch.
10. Have an international adapter/plug. Liveblogging in Canada, for example, uses the same plugs as in the US. The AHRD conference I am liveblogging in England means I have another device I have to carry with me if I want to plug in.
11. Consider a hyper-link policy. If I am liveblogging and there is wifi, then it is easy to add links to the presentations or papers or the people who present themselves, However, with the editing policy I listed above (see #7), determine how to find the links and add them, with full-disclosure, at some point in time. This allows the readers to try to see as much of what you experienced while it happens.

As this list is a work in process, I hope to add to it as new issues arise or as feedback and research dictates. [See revised entry on 7/25/07]

Technorati Tags: liveblogging, live-blogging, live-blogging, liveblogging best practices

Continue reading "Liveblogging Best Practices" »

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Powered by ScribeFire.

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I isolated the data I collected from the AERC2007 conference by giving all entries a similar category--Liveblogging AERC2007. Click the link, and you will be brought to all the entries done in real time while at the conference. Another way of accessing the same information is to select the "Liveblogging AERC2007" category listed under "Categories."

As the purpose of this research was to type and post my direct experiences while attending paper presentations and other parts of the academic conference, the notes and thoughts are unedited and seemingly arranged in a flow-of-consciousness. I hope to bring meaning to this through the research project itself.

Now that this can be more readily found, off to begin preparing for the data analysis.

Technorati Tags: AERC2007, liveblogging, research

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Now back in New York, I again have Internet access and just uploaded the liveblogging entries I wrote while at AERC 2007 in Halifax, Nova Scotia. I now have some work to do with interpreting what is there, and expect to write and work extensively on them over the next two weeks. The liveblogging entries remain unedited, exactly as I wrote them while attending the conference.

I will need to consider a way to identify them on my blog as research data, rather than just other posts. This is my next step.

Technorati Tags: AERC2007, Halifax, liveblogging

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Robin Grenier

Theoretical FOundations for adult learning. Is often anecdotal, and not with a theoretical base

idea for a roudtable is to have a discussion of what people see as possibilities

Create a triad -- share with them an experience we have had as an adult at a museum or national park. Speak about this as a learning experience, what may have been learned

now, put on an adult facilitator / educator hat, and discuss what we have heard based on adult learning theiry, and how can you explain them from the adult ed persepctive

we then discussed this in triads

Robin then wrote some of these themes on the board, and then asked us how we could translate those into adult ed speak / lingo

Learning in Museums themese Robin heard from our groups

1. trnasformative
2. social-constructivism
3. spirituality
4. meaning making
5. perspectives
6. analogies
7. experiential learning
8. knowledge creation
9. tactile learning
10. emotionally laden
11. reflexive
12. critical consumption -- who is controlling the learning and the context

then she asked us to discuss this

she has found her place in Canada

having a home place, where we can go back to again and again

emotionally-laden experiences

i began this project without knowing the methodoloy, as I had a limited area and time for data. Not sure what will learn from this, but that will be determined.

While working in our small groups / triads, I did not write here, as I thought that would not be conducive to a conversation we are having. Thus, I am blogging while I am a particpant who is not actively engaged in dialogue.

a participant in the room - knowledge in museums has been consturtced from / in various frameworks , and we have to be aware of that framework and how it was constructed.

Another person became a reflexive visitor

some museums are bevoin more critical, having multiple avenues of experiences and lenses

as a critical educator, can i take a crtitical lens to whatever museum / experience

I also need to find a better way to code the tags for these blogs. Futue resaerch elemtns

if we know we can have a converswation about this and what museums can do and their purpose, the next question is why don't we.

somebody mentioned she is passionate about the British Museum, it is busier than ever especially since they removed the price.

It seems there is lifelong learning that is more established in Europe.

The question, is why aren't we studying this any longer

one person specuulated that with the advent of technology, is it removing the social element of going to the museum

i am feeling like a researcher during this conversaiton

are museums still high-brow? They seem to have changed,  but if we are interested in seeing how an emotional and transformational experiences (eg in a Holocaust Museum). There are missed opportunites for authentic learning within museums. So, why are we missing out on this learning.

what can we do with a colleague or our own research agenda--how can i engage in scholarship to look at adult capacity to learn. We have a responsibility with adult educators to partner with musems. The museum educators have content expertise, but that does not necessarily meet the needs of adult visitors. How can we help adult visitors of multiple persoectvives and bring them in and help them to

Technorati Tags: AERC2007, liveblogging

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Jeffrey Keefer & Robin Yap

I cannot livebog my own conference, so I will discuss it before I present and then recap what I learn during and after it.

This is really a delayed liveblog, as the Internet access is still not present in the building.

At the end in discussing the reesults, Julie Storburg-Walker suggested looking at the new learning work from learning at a conference. She suggested speaking with Colleen Weissner

we had abut 12 people, and there were a few pictures

Technorati Tags: AERC2007, liveblogging, Adult Education, aerc, Critical HRD, Critical Management Studies, live blogging, live-blogging, Critters

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Nice lunch spread.

St. Louis , Missouri next year -- here we come! The presentation they made makes St. Louis seem nicer than I remember when I was there many years ago,

The proposal for having the next conference in England sounds like a great idea, but the airfare costs may be prohibitive for many, especially as next year will be the 50th Anniversary.

I left the luncheon mid-way, since I wanted to tweak our presentation one last time.

Just met Patricia Cranton, who I studied with in an online class and who has been one of the people I have been looking to meet during the conference. She is most gracious and nice.

I then just met Rosemary Cafferella. Nice to meet her as well after using so many of her materials over the years.

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Elizabeth E. Bennett

intereested in how the designed look and feek t web pages may provide an experience for learning

little is know about how culture shapes technology

Intranet - definition - Intranet defined here as a private organiaational  enwetwork baase dprimarily on Web technology and is comprised of shared documents and software application that help members fulfill their organizational mission

Research questions--

1. How does the Intranet  provide an opportunity for learning about organizational culture?

To support the purpose, the culture of the case organization was examined

First wanted to understand the culture

Organizational culture is the shared beliefs, values, and assumptions that determine how members interpret events and act in an organizational environment

knowledge management - tacit and explicit knowledge, she sees a connection between knwoeldge management and organizational learning

she was given open access to the organization--Beacon Communityu Hospital in the Southeast USA with 3000 employees. she was given as much of the same openness as any emplitee, especially as IT staff. HIPAA and other confidential information was of course offlimits, That would have been beyond the focus of her work anyway. She searched for organizations, and while searching, a colleague of hers gave her contact to the CIO at the hospital.

MY QUEESTION -- How did you get access to this organization? I work in healthcare, and know how difficult that can be.

Used a book - Quick ethnographies - for studies with small time frames

Edgar Schines book on typical subcultures - operatives, engineering group, clinical people

Strategic use of the INternet.

Range of ages and positions for variation

As she was in a cubivcle embedded within the organization, she staretd to do participant observation. She moved from a non-participant to a participant role,.

The hospital won custimer service awards, and used to be known as a high tech hospital for clinincal work, but that had changed with them being more internally technical savvy. The current administration  helped to make the transition to being more high-tech, and they then started to win customer service awards.

The Intranet was 6 years old, and the CIO inititiated this, and it was not forced on the organization. It started to get more widely used because departments started to get more interested for their own and their department uses. They named their Intranet a name -- IAN -- Information As Needed -- they treat the INtranet as a colleague, with a personalized component

The culture at the Hospital -

1. People-centered
2. Highly congruent with values
3. strategically decentralized
4. date driven
5. organic in nature

Tremendous emphsia on values and th culture-- the information is listed on the back of their nameetage

Findings-

1. Experiencing the wider organization, since people feel isoltaed, IAN helps them to feel more connected. Fostered a sense of being colleagues (even in with their internal classifieds and daprtment pages
2. Recognizing aand reqrding performance. There is the belief that recognition builds relationsips . Even performance reviews and evaluations are managed and tracked via the Intranet. 20% of notes were notes of thanks
3. Reinforcing organizational expectations -- ingrains procedures and ensures response. OSHA counter is cultural symbol that holds meaning for employees. They also track who digitally signs articles that they have read things, so all that can be tracked. At first when she saw the OSHA counter on the homepage, but she found that evey interview mentioned the OSHA counter. She initially did not code this, but then through the interviews, that it was very important
4. Modeling corporate communication style. Graphics convey imporatntace of information

Conlsuions - CUltural knowledge is conveyed and renewed through the intranet

Discussion - shows culture and communication style

reflects and integrative culture that is aligned along shard values (sheridan et al. 1993)

communication through the INternet not statis

shapes culture

culture could changes over time in positive and negative ways

change could occur "under the rader"

95% of the employees have access to the Intranet. Every new emlpoyee has acces to the INtranet  They believed that access to the Intrant is  a xopr right, so all people had access, even in the nursing stations, there were PCs i the breakroom and the and nursing stations. Every new employee is oriented to the INternet

I am now thinking about some other issues, such as to what exent should I add something I missed from yesterday's Brookfield / Peterson discussion. ELizabeth mentioend how the room was so full to see Broeekfuield, not necessarily their subject of their research. This now seems familiar, so I am not sure if I ewrote this yesterday. This issue needs to be explored-- how much more complete should the data be if I missed something from the previous day but then recall it? In more traditional resaerch, I would adjust the reaults of the unterview notes if member checking shows me I missed something.

A question about how people can update the Internet, such as chatrooms (which they tried and did not work), nor do people tend to use blogs. Somebody in the audience was pushing the issue about how dissent and critique are handled, in relation to the intranet. They have a culture where people, without their managers, meet with the senior leadership to air issues. There are avenues outside the intranet to address and handle problems. They have anonymous suggestion box in the intrant as well as offline as well.

MY QUESTION - what technology platform so they use for the internat. They do not use Sharepoint. They use Oracle databases, have an internal email, and people connect in a variety of ways.

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Kris Wells & Ray Johnson

Policy and Practice - Positive Space

Ray began by reading a poem

He works in a rural area. Policy #795

Race Relations Cross Cultu