Birthday? Time for a Conference! (And a BBQ)

Last year we used my birthday on May 12th to invite people from both our different on-line and off-line circles of friends and bring them together for a BBQ. We thought that worked out great!

This year Elmine turns 30 next week on August 30th. We have taken that as an opportunity to invite a broad selection from our friends and family. Just like last year, but bigger and better. To make a longer trip more attractive this year the BBQ will be accompanied by a 1-day conference on August 29th.

The BBQ will be about good food, but what will the conference be about? Both Elmine and I work in a networked world. Not only in terms of technology (though technology is a very visible aspect), but in terms of skills, attitudes, work forms, organisational forms and who our peers are (or our fellow global villagers as Gerrit Eicker put it in my last post). Though we often like to create models and use abstract terms to describe these changes, we think how these changes affect our day to day lives and work is often shared and shown too little. For the conference we would like to put those concrete changes in your and our own lives, little and big, in the spotlight. The format depends a bit on what the participants want, but will probably be a mixture of what usually happens at a BlogWalk and a BarCamp.

We welcome you to Twente University for the (un)conference day (photo by WJ Maaskant)

We therefore would like to invite you to share your stories on:
- what the driving forces are in your work;
- what you struggle with;
- what projects/things you're working on;
- how you connect with other people and sustain these connections;
- what type of organisations, teams, settings you work in;
- how you take charge of your own life
- how you balance work and private life, or if that distinction still exists
- how your life has changed, or not, in the past years
- what your typical day looks like.
- how you create value for yourself in what you do

Or whatever story you would like to share to make what we often discuss in abstract terms more tangible.

On August 29th, some 25 of our friends and peers will come to the University Campus here in Enschede to learn, share and inspire. But this being the end of August means lots of you could not make it, due to vacationing. Nevertheless we would like to invite you to contribute to the event by sharing your stories with us on the topics mentioned above. Via e-mail, in your own blog (as Bev Trayner already did here, here and here), in the comments here, or on any other platform you think appropiate. Elmine and I would love to hear your stories!

Want to attend after all? Or come to the BBQ on August 30th? Well, sure you can! Send me an e-mail that you would like to attend. And read more info on what's planned for next week in Elmine's wiki.

We welcome you to our house for a BBQ party

Tags: worklifebalance, walkingthetalk, elminewijnia, tonzijlstra, bbq

Immediately at Home, Half-way Around the Globe

Weaving the network fabric
When I talk about the effects of internet and mobile communications as an infrastructure I try to point to the effects this is having off-line. My use of the internet since the late 80's has always been about connecting with people. Nothing virtual about it. Our summer, which Elmine and I spent in Canada, was again proof of the fabric that gets woven thanks to the internet collapsing obstacles of distance in space and time to 0.

In the woods with Chris, and cooking with Boris (photo Elmine)

Globalized villagers
Gerrit Eicker a while ago asked me to respond his statement that there is no global village, just many globalized villages. (I'd add 'and globally oriented villagers'). The short answer is I agree, and I don't see it as the balkanization of the internet or as a threat either. My personal global village gives me neighbours I would not have had in any other way, without taking away me being rooted in a local community. Globalized villagers, as I tried to convey in my recent talk at Reboot, are people who have seen their circle of empathy enlarged to a global scope, which informs their local actions. It used to be nation states served as the middle man between the individual and global level and as a conduit for empathy, motivation, (as well as hate). The internet and mobile communications as infrastructure are taking out middle men left and right, and they are chipping away at the relevance of nation states in much the same way. Nation states are on the way out, I am sure (but it will be a long way).
Our trip to Canada (and the US) this summer was basically a tour of part of our globalized village.

Dinner with Jon, Raman, Cyprien and Renee, cycling with Roland and Simon

Canada, a place, a group of people
We had never been to Canada, yet we immediately felt at home.
Fellow globalized villagers, contacts and friendships originating in on-line interaction, followed by f2f meetings in Europe, have had an important role in finding our step in new cities and a new country for the past month. They formed catalysts into the rhythm and pace of Vancouver, introducing us into the local life. Within two days we started being part of those hanging out in coffee bars for conversations, spend a summer evening on the porch with neighbours enjoying a BBQ, doing our own cooking as well as ate at great little restaurants tourists wouldn't find. Jon and Raman, Cyprien and Renee, as well as Roland, and Boris made us part of their daily lives in Vancouver, as did Nancy and her family in Seattle. On the other side of the continent, on Prince Edward Island, Robert and Robin, and Peter and Catherine did the same during our stay on their red island inviting us into their homes. Along the way we also met up with Andy, Lee and Sachi, walked in northern rainforests with Chris having conversations that were basically an exploration of shared values and notions, talked about the potential of globalized villagers to network themselves out of problems with Marc and Christine, had a first f2f meeting with Dave over dinner in Toronto, and (again) met up with Jon giving us an insider tour of Montreal and dining with some of his friends. Meeting all these friends, some for the first time, was the common thread through our trip for me, next to being a 'regular' tourist in some amazingly beautiful landscapes, three major cities and musea, and seeing various kinds of wildlife.

Photo fun with Nancy, drinking Grolsch with Lee and Sachi

Take it forward
Touring our globalized village, or at least the Canadian neighbourhood of it, (not surprisingly) turned out to be inspiring both personally and professionally, and will probably be felt in a lot of the stuff I will be thinking, reading and writing about in the coming 6 months. And I intend to make sure it will lead to some tangible collaboration with at least some of those we met this summer.

Dinner in Toronto with David, dinner party on PEI with Peter, Catherine, Rob and Robin.

Tags: canada, social networks, globalvillage, friends

Metaverse: 50 Virtual Worlds

Gary Hayes posts his video impressions of vacationing in 50 virtual worlds. Of those showed I visited about 10, and use(d) 3 regularly. In his blog Gary also shares a few interesting observations across all virtual worlds. (found via Marketingfacts)

The Anthropology of YouTube

It's raining here today on Prince Edward Island, so time to read books and RSS feeds. I came across (at Johnnie Moore's blog) this presentation of Michael Wesch. With his anthropology group at Kansas State University he's made some very worrthwile video's already. This is a video production of a presentation he gave last June at the US Library of Congress. An hour worth of worthwile watching.

In general I think anthropology is important in making sense of the internet-induced/katalysed changes around us. The Monster-theory, based on the work of anthropologist Mary Douglas, is an example of that as well. The participatory observation Wesch and KSU do is something I try to stress in my presentations as well: you have to use social media tools to better understand what they can do for you.