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BlogWalk 2.0 in retrospect

The second edition of BlogWalk is over, and it's been great fun. After two days of intense conversation, now is not the time for deep thoughts. That will come in the coming week, after some digestion time...
A few remarks however on how it was are in order.

our host Sebastian
Our host Sebastian

A big thank you to Sebastian Fiedler for arranging everything and being our host in Nuremberg. And just as big a thank you to all present for the conversations we had, and the thoughts and ideas you all enriched me with. Also thanks to Sebastians parents for letting us enjoy the hospitality of their home. The breakfasts in the garden in the sun were well appreciated, as was the table conversation.

Intense conversation
Intense conversation

As last time I facilitated the Open Space-formatted parts of the day, and I actually enjoyed doing it more than the first time, probably due to more confidence and experience. Even if Elisabeth Neun dubbed my intro-round as early seventies hippie stuff, I think it all went very well. Then again, Lisa was the one that managed to break the one real rule we have at these open get togethers: access by invitation only. An e-mail would have done it. All that ask for an invitation get one usually. I appreciated Lisa's presence and contribution, let's be clear about that, and I also only fully realized she was there as a gate-crasher afterwards when she was long gone (though she told me when she came in, but I assumed she had checked it with Sebastian), but I still think it was a rude thing to do.

Nurnberg Altstadt
The old Leper-hospital, and former University mensa

These open get-togethers work because it's transparant up front who you will meet and what their background is, which makes getting into meaningfull conversations quickly easier. And also, it is up to us organizers to try and get a nice mix of people coming to these events, that we think will be able to add perspective to the topic at hand. This time all went well, let me say that once again, but coming un-announced can disturb the context of openness and trustworthiness we need for our dialogues, which then will reflect back on us as initiators. If anyone thinks of showing up unannounced next time, I promise I'll bill you my usual day-tariff for facilitation, E1000,- excluding taxes.

Doing the BlogWalk
Blogwalk: bloggers walking in Nuremberg

Back to the meeting. After a morning of intense conversations, concentrating somewhat on organisational level problems around education and learning, educational systems and the politics behind them, we enjoyed lunch on a sunny terrace overlooking the Peglitz river. Living up to the name BlogWalk we then strolled through Nuremberg and some parks, crisscrossing and following the river. Around 4pm we returned to the Krakow-tower, one of the towers in the medieval city walls, where we tried to bring our discussion to the very personal level by combining our own stories about self directed learning to the vast number of post-its we created in the morning. Story telling gradually grew into group discussion, which rounded of the day. Drinks were served, and dinner was enjoyed on top of the city walls.

Windows Wiki
the First Windows Wiki: all yellow notes, seen from the outside

Saturday was spent relaxing over drinks and cake with Gabriela Avram, sightseeing with Sebastian Fiedler and Lilia Efimova, and with the two of us alone. This was rounded off with a tasty asparagus dinner, prepared by Katja, Sebastians partners. Thanks!

Even the trip back brought interesting conversations with Lilia, while we drove over the sunlit Franconian hills towards home at a leisurely 160km/h (100mph). German highways are nice that way.

All in all a great BlogWalk, and I am already looking forward to the next one, on July 4th in Krems near Vienna.

Some things I will reflect on and maybe blog about later:

  • Search engines for sound and images, not text based. (Siegfried Hirsch)
  • Personal Knowledge Management (Lilia Efimova)
  • Light-towers, access to experts, peer discovery, fun and jumping of trains, with regard to personal learning choices (Oliver Wrede, Lilia Efimova)
  • Personal Presence and too positivistic approaches (Oliver Wrede)
  • Natural language as information architecture, and/or vice versa (Thomas Herr, with a tip of the hat to Ludwig Wittgenstein)

    For more postings about BlogWalk 2.0, see Topicexchange where they are all aggregated.

    sightseeing
    Nuremberg, medieval streets

    More than enough words for now, on to the pictures.

    Permalink

    Walking and Talking
    Excerpt: Ton and Lilia on BlogTalk 2
    Weblog: Headshift
    Tracked: June 1, 2004 2:19 AM
    Now in Sweden: BlogWalk 5 - blogging on the move
    Excerpt: After travelling its Netherlands - Germany - Austria - UK root BlogWalk is coming to Sweden.
    Weblog: Mathemagenic
    Tracked: October 5, 2004 9:29 PM
    BlogWalk 6.0 - Social software in corporate settings - Chicago
    Excerpt: After blogging on the move in Umea, Sweden BlogWalk
    Weblog: Mathemagenic
    Tracked: December 13, 2004 6:01 PM

    Fantastic! Thanks for the pics Ton! Would've looooooved to have been there. AM looking forward to reflections around the web.

    Posted by: James Farmer at June 1, 2004 3:50 AM

    > Even if Elisabeth Neun dubbed my
    > intro-round as early seventies hippie stuff

    Hey - it was late seventies hippie stuff - and i loved it :).

    Sorry again for breaking the round.

    Really - it was not my aim to break anything... When I read Martins posting I really was embarrassed - on one hand. On the other hand - I am member of some conferences - also international - and normally its no problem to get an accreditation also the last day it takes place. When I entered the room I sayed "Sorry, I am not accredited" - and it SEEMED not to be a problem....

    Nevertheless - Yes its my fault! On the other hand: I think it should not be a big problem - it just should be a nice anecdote..(?)

    Love & Peace :)
    Rude Lisa

    Posted by: Lisa Neun at June 2, 2004 12:13 AM

    Hi,

    hmm reading Sebastians entry this moment I am not sure if there is any folklore behind this...

    The pillory is still growing...

    As I am not able to post a comment to his entry (might be I really am tooo stupid) - and as I do not want to create a trackback on this ( I think there are enough words spoken about this really small and unimportant thing) I ask you:

    Could you please ask Sebastian to give me his account to transfer some Euros (although I did not drink and eat anything...)

    About my company and the behaviour there:
    I think I am working in a very good company.
    In my company people normally are very polite to each other.
    If there are people coming to conferences also uninvited there NEVER would be such a kind of rudeness afterwards.

    About implying only business needs on my visit:
    Thats definitley NOT true. I was interested in the social part too. I am interested in techology and people. And I really did not even think that there was something wrong about it.

    Regarding my blog and my entry: its a blog where a little bit of humour and irony is a special part. Its a kind of friendly irony, I never would publish this kind of hate, which I meanwhile saw in your society.

    sorry about this....

    Posted by: L9 at June 4, 2004 12:08 AM

    Beautiful pictures, Ton. And hi, Elmine, looking out over the square.

    Emergence is a great book, no ? !

    Posted by: Jon Husband at June 15, 2004 8:17 AM

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    ton2small.jpg Weblog by Ton Zijlstra,
    Enschede, Netherlands
    I write about knowledge work and management, and the tools and strategies that help us navigate the networked world.
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