Stories: Our Experiences Hosting Online Events & What We're Learning

Replies to This Conversation

Permalink Reply by Benjamin Aaron Degenhart on December 27, 2009 at 3:47pm

heyja, great group Amy, that moves me to share reflections from being the host for the virtual participation of a satellite event :)
In August the Survival Academy organized a satellite event with Margret Wheatley. She talked about the "human capabilities that will enable us to influence and adapt to the future of climate change". She talked from her home in the US and we had screens in the Hub Berlin, the Hub community Copenhagen, and three more locations with a physical circle of participants who paid entrance. The technical difficulties on that main channel are a story for itself - but i had additionally four people sitting on my lap, witnessing the satellite event through my webcam. The day after i felt moved to write some reflections to my virtual lap-guests - Filiz, Julie, Maria and Kamyar.

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thank you for your virtual participation yesterday! I was enjoying the dance with you in this powerful context!
Some social-energetic meta-reflections from my side... and i maybe you feel also invited to reflect and contribute to our (collective) learning process with this technological toys...

technical
i think best solution was having a conference call on skype for the sound channel and parallel a video-conference on Tokbox with muted mics.

social presence
After i introduced you into the Face2Face-circle, people were aware of the fact that there are some international people sitting on my lap - as i am the only physical manifestation of this invisible group i had the feeling my social presence got blown up, or i took a special role in that group... maybe something similar to a medicine man in a tribe that is communicating with spirits or ancestors? thats a funny thought but also very serious... our bodies & basic operation system haven't changed much in the last thousands of years and therefore deep old pattern get triggered with new technology for sure.
I am also grateful for the responsibility that Julie took in the online group to communicate technical issues directly to me. It also felt very supportive that she was aware on my role and e.g. gave me quickly the countries of you guys when i introduced you... so it helped me enormously to know about Julie's presence.

subroom of conversation
What happened (and i experienced the effect from your side at #AoH_Istanbul) was, that you guys started your own conversations and group interactions. People start sharing when they trust and when they have something in common or a resonance point... what you had in common was being reduced on two senses of connection and having a more or less one-way-presence (besides being aware of you they did not interact with you) in a face2face group. And i think thats perfectly fine, no need to push interaction (like i did at #AoH_Berlin)
with F2F... they are socializing on 5senses and have therefore a much broader spectrum of nonverbal communication which opens other spaces of interaction - which does not necessarily mean "more meaningful" ones (added value part later). I also see the F2F as a source of human-experience/energy where you did connect to (just by being aware of them) and it acts like a trigger for your conversation - it's maybe like coffee breakes... the action momentum or excuse is "coffee" but the point are the conversations that happen besides and around the coffee. Also people split up in subgroups in coffee breaks :)
And yes, of course you could have online meetings without an offline F2F-group... but my sense was that there was an influencing awareness-connection to the F2F ?
..."raw experience material" thats triggering all kinds of dynamics and reflections in different circles...

my attention, energetic membrane
As your host AND a 5senses-F2F-participant i have the full range of where i can place my attention. It happened that i was so into chatting & talking with you that i didn't notice that the F2F group formed a circle and were waiting for my presence to start the welcoming circle. It also happened that i left you alone, got coffee myself and had F2F conversations.
This easy shift of attention into different groups (just by looking into my monitor and having the hands on the keyboard the F2F thought that i am now interacting with you) can be an escape - so i shift then when it gets uncomfortable or when it gets boring in one group.... so in a way i have the chance to create my own exciting group flow :-D
Some processes i was not able to go in with you... for example when Filiz said goodbye i was not able to go into the goodbye-space because it takes energy away. And as i finally said goodbye in the skype-conference (because i had to be the key-guy to let people out of the building) i didn't took time to go into the goodbye-space there... not sure if this was ok with you? I think thats a crucial point for the membrane-person - how much does i allow myself to go into online-spaces that consume more energy & attention. Or maybe we just postpone the thank-you-and-good-bye part and leave the space quickly? I think what happened - that i leave and you can say good-by-and-good-night to each other was a good way. Maybe offline and online groups need their own rituals :)
And i was definitely missing out on building deeper F2F connections - i was this mystical figure talking to the ancestors... so this might trigger processes concerning a lack of F2F interaction or even questions of belonging and identity - i am emotionally stable enough on this playground to easily handle that... and yes, i found myself often in recent times in roles of holding online presence and i actually built much more connections to people online in these days than offline... mhm...!?
I also realized that it can be very easy to feel very overwhelmed with the challenges of double presence - it is an organic challenge to cope with this 'chaos' and it needs a high and social intelligence and a fast intuitive adapting to the group flow - you need an attitude and the ability to drop your own attachements/processes in half a second and align yourself again to energy of the group.
Also it showed me again how much is actually possible parallel if you don't get stuck and keep dancing... as you might have noticed i was also responsible for collecting the questions of the group in the break and emailing it to Meg. And when she spoke about the "hope and fear pdf" i printed it out for people to take home.

the added value
it was sooo great that you guys started tweeting, i love it!! I was so much into technical and social issues that i was not really able to listen to Meg's content. I sensed the meaning of her words by witnessing her energy and the effect she had on the people listening... but my harvesting-processor was not working at all.
But as you had just one channel of connection at this time you were really able to focus on what you hear from Meg! So this is really a highly valuable contribution and people were appreciating your harvesting a lot! ... narrowing down channels helps focus... interesting point. Contraction opens up opportunites...

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Filiz, Julie and Maria posted some very good replies to that one...

And i would like to share experiences from harvesting Art of Hosting trainings online on Facebook and Twitter since Filiz and me co-developed the seed for the AoH in Istanbul ... just don't know quite where to start :)

Permalink Reply by Amy Lenzo on December 30, 2009 at 4:04pm

What a great story Benjamin - and it brings up a number of interesting points. The idea of riding the wave of connection between and among the face to face and online environments is especially interesting to me... I love the image of medicine man or shaman to describe that space... we are certainly poised there on the edge of awareness, catching all the nuanced consciousness that can be communicated without the physical gestures if one is paying close enough attention.

Permalink Reply by Amy Lenzo on December 30, 2009 at 4:07pm

I'm very curious about streaming "live" media - is that what you did with Meg's talk? How did you do it??? You say there were technical issues? What were they and how/did you resolve them?

Permalink Reply by Mair Alight on January 7, 2010 at 9:10pm

I'm intrigued at your referencing the different ways you experienced the event with your full sensing (or focused sensing) and the movement between and among the different communities you were interacting with. I just saw an article on research on the ways in which elephants communicate with each other over distances. Apparantly they do so through waves sensed through their FEET. There are so many other unacknowledged senses we are learning to name and use in our "virtual" worlds! Just watched a video on Ted.com about mirror neurons, that seems to me to tie into what we are experiencing on a global scale right now. As we witness what others are experiencing through present time, recordings, reviews and expressions, we are experiencing it also within ourselves...as we develop the capacities and awareness of what is occurring! Oh, there is much I would say about this, but I am now uncertain if I am being clear. Anyone want to comment on my comment, I'd like that.
OK. One more thing....I find that I am developing what I am calling Three Ears Mediation informed by my using Nonviolent Communication; two ears hear the words being spoken and the 'third ear' listens to hear what is important to the person in that moment. Richly satisfying and connecting! I also call it "Elephant Ear Empathy", as I am using more senses to hear with than just my ears. :-)

Permalink Reply by Mair Alight on January 7, 2010 at 8:50pm

Thanks for the invitation, Amy! :-)
I have been using the MaestroConference technology. I'm an affiliate with them and I've also worked with them co-hosting and conducting calls in Oct and Nov 09 during their promotional MaestroMonth. I help others use MC for their online training events and sessions, either with the tech part, or interviewing them, or hosting for them so they can concentrate on their own content.
I am a Certified International Trainer of Nonviolent Communication (www.AnotherWay2Communicate.com) and since Nov 09 I have been hosting two 2-hour calls twice a week on Tuesdays 6-8am (PT) and 6-8pm (PT). I call these calls FREE "Public NVC". Links to register for these calls:
morning:

http://bit.ly/NVCCallTues6amPT

night:

http://bit.ly/NVCCallTues6pmPT Contact me if these links don't work. The linking for the registration has been more challenging than I would like. I have used the bit.ly to shorten them, and sometimes those "pufferfish eat them" and they don't work.
What has worked so far WELL for me and also for those who have been on calls (feedback) is that those who show up on the call decide together what we want to do on the call and how we want to do it. So far every call has been collaborative in that way. The partnership and collaboration as we build our understanding and expand our community has been deeply satisfying for me. I invite anyone who is interested in experiencing the MC technology and/or Nonviolent Communication to join the calls, and I welcome any feedback, comments or questions about what I have said.
My vision is that people who want to practice Nonviolent Communication, or who want to learn about it, or share it with others, and people who just want to experience an 'empathy bath' can come to the calls. The calls are also recorded so that anyone who registers for the calls can access the recordings later (by requesting links from me). The recordings remain my property to use as I decide.
A feature that has been used frequently on the call is if someone wants NOT to be recorded, they request that and either all of us, or just the people involved in their conversation, are moved by me to a "private breakout room" where what they are saying is not heard by those in the main circle, and is not recorded. I ask them to push #5 on their phone keypad when they are ready to rejoin the group. All participants have only phones (or computers if they are using a Skype type system). I, however, have a console shown on my computer screen letting me know who is on the call and who leaves the call. There are many features for me to use. The breakout feature and the ability to poll everyone quickly and efficiently by just asking them to push for instance, 1 for yes and 2 for no and 3 for don't know/care. In a matter of seconds I have everyone's answers! I LOVE the ease and simplicity of that. I can then say, for instance, 5 people have agreed and 2 want something different right now. SUCH a time saver! AND everyone still has the capability to express themselves.

ALSO, I am beginning this month a Global NVC TeleMentoring Six Month Program which offers group and 1-to-1 sessions with a certified trainer, a buddies component, and participation in a dedicated interactive website. The entire program will be only on the phone and the website; no f2f meetings. There are four levels of engagement, priced from $240-$1,440 for the six months. Program is starting on Jan 11th at noon (PT) and I invite anyone wanting mentoring in using NVC in your personal, professional, and/or inner life to join us. Just contact me.

Attachments:

• Global TeleMentoring NVC Program Email Document.doc, 30 KB