Mon, Jul 05, 2004
Advocacy Developers Convergence in San Francisco
#
I enjoyed the Advocacy Developers Convergence last week, where
about 40 super-passionate folks -- mostly developers of
advocacy tools -- gathered in the Presidio to discuss ways to
collaborate. Among those represented were AdvoKit, CivicSpace,
IndyVoter, GroundSpring, IdentityCommons (one of three hats I was
wearing), and many, many others. AspirationTech organized and
facilitated the event, and BlueOxenAssociates provided the
Wiki. (1JJ)
While the scope of projects represented -- most of which were open
source -- impressed me, I was really taken by the collective energy in
the room. These weren't your average techies. These folks cared
about improving the world, and their passion was palpable. Even the
most hardened cynic would have walked away from that gathering with at
least a smidgen of hope about our future. (1JK)
I wore three hats. First, I was there to facilitate Wiki usage during
the event. In this regard, I basically did nothing. Most of the
people there were already highly Wiki-literate, and the rest picked it
up quickly. Second, I was there to help FenLabalme talk about the
IdentityCommons system and to identify other potential early adopters.
Third, as always, I was there both to share what I knew about
collaboration and to observe and learn from others. I was
particularly interested in watching Gunner's (AllenGunn) facilitation
technique. Gunner, who recently took over AspirationTech along with
KatrinVerclas, used to work for RuckusSociety, and has facilitated a
number of interesting events, including several international
OpenSource boot camps. (1JL)
Mapping the Space; Emergent Goals (1JM)
One of Aspiration's stated goals for the event was to begin mapping
the space of advocacy tools. That begged the question: What exactly
is an advocacy tool? It was a question most of us conveniently
avoided. Some tools are clearly and specifically designed for
supporting the needs of grassroots advocacy, such as email campaigns,
volunteer organizing, and friend-raising. Several (most?) other tools
used by advocacy organizations (such as MoveOn) have multiple
applications -- mailing lists, contact databases, and so forth. (1JN)
We never reached a collective solution to this problem, but we seemed
to be moving in the direction that BlueOxen has already gone in
determining how to map the collaborative tool space: Map functions (or
patterns) rather than tools, and show how different tools can be used
for different functions. (1JO)
The other goal for the event was to identify and pursue opportunities
for collaboration among the participants. (1JP)
Aspiration's stated goal for the event was to begin mapping the space
of advocacy tools and to facilitate collaboration among the
participants. A number of interesting projects emerged: (1JQ)
- Several people expressed interest in incorporating the
IdentityCommons protocols into their tools for SingleSignOn and
DataSharing? (all with user privacy built-in). (1JR)
- An OpenSource
legislative contact database that activist groups could freely use. (1JS)
- Face-to-face code (and other) sprints. A small group is planning a
VoIP
sprint somewhere on the East Coast later this summer. (1JT)
- Internationalization working group, basically a support group for
folks internationalizing their code. One of the great things about
the attendees was that international representation was reasonably
good. There were folks from Poland, Uruguay, and Canada, and
people dealing with many other countries. (1JU)
- Technical outreach to organizations. Connecting these groups with
the right tools, and explaining to them the virtues of open
source. A group is planning to use a Wiki to generate a
Nonprofit Open Source Almanac. (1JV)
The challenge with events like these is sustaining the energy
afterwards. Face-to-face events that go well are often victims of
their own success, because they create a level of energy that is
simply impossible to match online. That said, there are certain
things that can help assure continued collaboration: (1JW)
- Individual commitment to shared goals. (1JX)
- Group memory. (1JY)
- Shared workspace. (1JZ)
This group has all of the above. People were super action-oriented.
Tasks were getting accomplished on the spot. Requests for information
were often followed a few seconds later by shouts of, "It's in the
Wiki" -- music to my ears. In general, folks who easily acclimate to
Wiki usage -- as this group did -- are already inclined to share
knowledge and collaborate. (1K0)
Facilitation (1K1)
Gunner is both high-energy and easy-going. He's got a goofy,
infectious grin and is quick to drop gut-busting witticisms. It would
be easy to ascribe the effectiveness of his events to his personality,
but that would be largely inaccurate. A well-meaning and amiable
person can easily kill the energy of a group by under- or
over-facilitating. Gunner has a strong fundamental understanding of
self-organizing systems and very good instincts for when to sit still
and when to perturb. (1K2)
Every good event I've attended with large groups of people followed
MGTaylor's ScanFocusAct? model, and this was no exception. The
beginning of these events are always about discovery and
SharedLanguage. Discovery (or "scan") is inherently messy and
unsettling, but when done correctly, "action" naturally emerges. Most
bad events I've attended are bad because they try to skip this first
step. (1K3)
Each day consisted of several breakout sessions with groups of three
to five people, followed by report-outs, yet another pattern of
effective face-to-face events. The agenda for the later breakouts
emerged as the event unfolded. (1K4)
The first day began with a game called AStrongWind?, which was an
excellent way both to build energy and to get a sense of who was
there. Following that and at the beginning of the subsequent days
were InOrOut? exercises, a way to get a sense of everybody's mood and
to build individual commitment to the collaboration that would follow.
The first day, Gunner asked people to describe their moods in one
word. The second day, he asked for colors that described their
mood. The third day, he asked people to describe the most beautiful
place they knew, be it a geographical location (e.g. California) or a
situation (e.g. time spent with family, friends). (1K5)
As a way to accomodate a number of demos, Gunner organized a
SpeedGeeking session on Tuesday morning. I'm not sure yet whether I
liked it or not. On the one hand, I enjoyed the interaction and the
energy. On the other hand, it was incredibly draining for the people
giving demos (including me), who also missed out on the demos
happening simultaneously to theirs. I think the PlaNetworkForum model
of eight demos -- four minute presentations (PowerPoint highly
discouraged) and two minutes of Q&A -- followed by two hours of
unstructured socializing/networking is more effective, but I'm not
ready to discount SpeedGeeking entirely. (1K6)
Good Folks (1K7)
The most important prerequisite for good events and good collaboration
is having the right mix of people. I really like MGTaylor's strategy
for achieving this: The larger the group, the more likely you are of
having that mix. This group was relatively small (40 people), and I
suspect that Gunner and Katrin's people instincts played a huge role
in making sure we had a good group. (1K8)
I hate to single people out, because I really liked and was very
impressed by everybody there. Nevertheless, I can't help but mention
two people. First, I was glad to finally meet KellanElliottMcCrea,
the author of LaughingMeme, in person. Time and again, I meet folks
whose blogs I enjoy regularly and whose work I admire, and I
constantly walk away even more impressed with their authenticity and
their decency. It's how I felt when I first
met
RossMayfield and when I
met
SebPaquet, and I felt it again when I met Kellan. (1K9)
Second, I was glad to meet MarkSurman, who's based in Toronto. Mark
founded the CommonsGroup several years ago, which is very similar in
spirit to BlueOxenAssociates. I meet a lot of like-minded people, but
it's a rare treat to meet someone doing similar work. Mark and his
group are doing great stuff. They're an organization folks should
keep their eyes on. (1KA)
/events |
Posted at 11:23pm
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