Sunday, December 23, 2007
The next Recent Changes Camp
I've heard, unofficially, that next year's Recent Changes Camp will be convened to the south in the Bay area. (The link points to where "www.recentchangescamp.org" currently resolves.) But I know little more about it, except that Eugene Kim was in charge, and that Brandon Sanders wants to organize a WikiBus to carry attendees from Portland there -- which made it hard for me to make plans, let alone invite anyone to it.
So I'm happy to share that I've finally found its website, where one can also find a link to its working mailing list. More details as I learn about them.
Geoff
Tags: recentchangescamp, Wiki Technology
So I'm happy to share that I've finally found its website, where one can also find a link to its working mailing list. More details as I learn about them.
Geoff
Tags: recentchangescamp, Wiki Technology
Labels: portland tech, Recent Changes Camp, wikipedia
Monday, February 05, 2007
Recent Changes Camp: an afterword
The old saying is that when all you have are lemons, make lemonade. So I'm processing a couple of unpleasant experiences at this year's Recent Changes Camp.
One was the thought I had, Saturday morning, while I cleaned the sinks before I made some coffee for the conference. Take a number of people, tell them about a conference, and despite the fact no one seems to be in control assure them it'll all work out. I was reminded of the stereotype Hippie commune that eventually failed because every person assumed someone was busy doing the work that was done -- yet no one was doing anything except sitting around and talking. (No, I didn't feel as if I was supporting the whole conference, but as I pulled gunk out of the drain in one of these sinks I wondered whether the folks who once again came through to make the conference work might be feeling some frustration -- if they didn't do the work, nothing would be done.)
The other was one of the sessions, run by a woman who had talked her way into running it because it was what she did for a living. I'm not going to name her, because my point is not to shame her; my point is that she ran the session with such a heavy hand, constantly yanking the conversation to what she wanted the group to talk about, that I finally exercised my right of two feet: I got up and left. Sometimes a group of people need to be allowed to vent for a while so they can clear their emotions and think logically; and sometimes the solution to a problem is not what everyone thinks it should be at the beginning of a conversation, but something that the conversation stumbles across. Lastly, sometimes a session at Recent Changes Camp can't solve a problem, no matter how it is moderated: all it can do is offer a beginning to a longer discussion that will reach its solution at a much later time.
So how does the Open Space process succeed? How can Open Projects survive?
I'll offer the following points, based on examination of how Linus Torvalds made the Linux operating system into a successful project, and from watching Wikipedia grow and thrive:
These points all lead back to the question of leadership: like any project, Open Space or Open Source proejct succeed or fail due to the leadership. Some people can manage an Open Space session well, and some need another style. (And some people, like me, make crappy leaders regardless of the style.) Linus discovered that, despite his success managing the Linux software project, he was a lousy manager at Transmedia; some people, despite their success in the corporate world, make crappy Open Space facilitators.
Geoff
Tags: recentchangescamp, rcc2007
One was the thought I had, Saturday morning, while I cleaned the sinks before I made some coffee for the conference. Take a number of people, tell them about a conference, and despite the fact no one seems to be in control assure them it'll all work out. I was reminded of the stereotype Hippie commune that eventually failed because every person assumed someone was busy doing the work that was done -- yet no one was doing anything except sitting around and talking. (No, I didn't feel as if I was supporting the whole conference, but as I pulled gunk out of the drain in one of these sinks I wondered whether the folks who once again came through to make the conference work might be feeling some frustration -- if they didn't do the work, nothing would be done.)
The other was one of the sessions, run by a woman who had talked her way into running it because it was what she did for a living. I'm not going to name her, because my point is not to shame her; my point is that she ran the session with such a heavy hand, constantly yanking the conversation to what she wanted the group to talk about, that I finally exercised my right of two feet: I got up and left. Sometimes a group of people need to be allowed to vent for a while so they can clear their emotions and think logically; and sometimes the solution to a problem is not what everyone thinks it should be at the beginning of a conversation, but something that the conversation stumbles across. Lastly, sometimes a session at Recent Changes Camp can't solve a problem, no matter how it is moderated: all it can do is offer a beginning to a longer discussion that will reach its solution at a much later time.
So how does the Open Space process succeed? How can Open Projects survive?
I'll offer the following points, based on examination of how Linus Torvalds made the Linux operating system into a successful project, and from watching Wikipedia grow and thrive:
- The leadership needs to be hands-off, but not too hands-off.
Both Linus and Jimbo, leaders of these projects, claim to be lazy managers: they would rather do anything except make decisions. This is quite wise. Unless internal conflicts threaten to shatter the project and send it into a death spiral, they are hands-off. The volunteers are allowed to find what they want to do -- and invest their enthusiasm into their choices.
This works nicely with a volunteer project; for-profit projects might not succeed with such a light touch.
The next two items gain strength from this one: - Trust in the process: if members of the project worry about its proper functioning too much, then they will expect and create impositions that end up starving the project; and
- Ownership: if something needs to be done, do it. Most Hippy communes suffered an ugly death because no one took ownership of important matters (or too few did, burned out, and left), and the enterprise collapsed from lack of attention to critical matters.
When people want to belong to a community (which is what many Open Space projects are) often all that is needed is for someone to point out a need. The people who want to join the project often can't contribute to what appears at first looks to be the critical activities, and find these needs to be what they are best suited for.
These points all lead back to the question of leadership: like any project, Open Space or Open Source proejct succeed or fail due to the leadership. Some people can manage an Open Space session well, and some need another style. (And some people, like me, make crappy leaders regardless of the style.) Linus discovered that, despite his success managing the Linux software project, he was a lousy manager at Transmedia; some people, despite their success in the corporate world, make crappy Open Space facilitators.
Geoff
Tags: recentchangescamp, rcc2007
Labels: portland tech, Recent Changes Camp
Sunday, February 04, 2007
Recent Changes Camp, last day
Today the sophomore edition of Recent Changes Camp (RCC) came to a close. I use the word "sophomore" because this year, its second, the RCC suffered a notable dip in quality; not that it wasn't a waste of the last three days -- I enjoyed meeting new people and enriching old friendships -- but in many ways it could have been better this year, for example the publicity could have been much, much better. But everyone knows it, and plans are underway to avoid those mistakes.
Audrey Eschright posted some further thoughts about the session she and Dawn Foster hosted Friday, "Art of Community".
Yesterday, in Brandon Sander's session, a new idea was introduced: the idea of a group to promote Open Source activity in the Portland area, known as OGuild for "Open Guild", that is Open Source. (No report if Richard Stallman has heard about the choice of the name yet, nor when he'll demand that it should be renamed to "Gnu Free Guild".)
The concept is simple: to form a coalition from the individuals and small groups who depend on Open Source to make a living, then use that federation to provide each other support both financially (for example, this group of people can then negotiate a lower rate for health insurance than any one person could), and non-financially (for example, mentoring, networking, and so forth). In other words, it's not another themed real estate project with some additional benefits (also known as a business incubator for Open Source projects). The word "Guild" was picked as a nod to the medieval guilds, which provided its members mutual assistence and protection. With a number of local high tech leaders behind it who include Brandon Sanders, Bart Massey, Ray King, Ward Cunningham and John Sechrest, I'll be surprised if this project doesn't go somewhere and help solidify Portland's status in that area.
Geoff
Tags: recentchangescamp, rcc2007
Audrey Eschright posted some further thoughts about the session she and Dawn Foster hosted Friday, "Art of Community".
Yesterday, in Brandon Sander's session, a new idea was introduced: the idea of a group to promote Open Source activity in the Portland area, known as OGuild for "Open Guild", that is Open Source. (No report if Richard Stallman has heard about the choice of the name yet, nor when he'll demand that it should be renamed to "Gnu Free Guild".)
The concept is simple: to form a coalition from the individuals and small groups who depend on Open Source to make a living, then use that federation to provide each other support both financially (for example, this group of people can then negotiate a lower rate for health insurance than any one person could), and non-financially (for example, mentoring, networking, and so forth). In other words, it's not another themed real estate project with some additional benefits (also known as a business incubator for Open Source projects). The word "Guild" was picked as a nod to the medieval guilds, which provided its members mutual assistence and protection. With a number of local high tech leaders behind it who include Brandon Sanders, Bart Massey, Ray King, Ward Cunningham and John Sechrest, I'll be surprised if this project doesn't go somewhere and help solidify Portland's status in that area.
Geoff
Tags: recentchangescamp, rcc2007
Labels: portland tech, Recent Changes Camp
Saturday, February 03, 2007
Recent Changes Camp: day two
Some thoughts from today's sessions:
About that point all of the information from the conference caught up with me, and I began feeling more than a little punchy. That means tomorrow I'll probably post another collection of things I forgot to add to this post.
Geoff
Tags: recentchangescamp, rcc2007
- At "Using Wiki in Education", John Sechrest talked about using a wiki as a tool in teaching one of his classes. This allowed him to track student activity, and reach out to students that he felt neede help. When Tak mentioned teaching "how to write for a Wiki", this led John to the observation that Wiki writers need to be aware of the context of their articles, which is a function of linking.
- That context and Wikis are related was implied in something Evan Prodomou said in the session Wiki Ohana. He brought up the book Wikinomics, which defined a Wiki culture as any website which is predominately made up of user-generated material, like Youtube. Are the clips that people contribute to Youtube in the least aware of any other clip on that website? Do they interact?
- I was able to see a demonstration of WagN today by Ted Ernst (and his associate, whose name I forgot). Ted described it "Wiki is to word processing as WagN is to databases."
About that point all of the information from the conference caught up with me, and I began feeling more than a little punchy. That means tomorrow I'll probably post another collection of things I forgot to add to this post.
Geoff
Tags: recentchangescamp, rcc2007
Labels: portland tech, Recent Changes Camp
Recent changes camp: items I forgot to mention yesterday
(Somehow I clicked on the wrong button last night, and this was saved as a draft, not published. Here is my delayed post:)
I got home from recent Changes Camp about half an hour ago, although many of the attendees are continuing the fun: they have a pizza dinner planned, and at Evan Prodromou's suggestion they'll probably head over to the Lucky Lab afterwards and have a few beers.
I can't write about today's session until I discuss a few things I forgot to mention about yesterday's session:
Geoff
Tags: recentchangescamp, rcc2007
I got home from recent Changes Camp about half an hour ago, although many of the attendees are continuing the fun: they have a pizza dinner planned, and at Evan Prodromou's suggestion they'll probably head over to the Lucky Lab afterwards and have a few beers.
I can't write about today's session until I discuss a few things I forgot to mention about yesterday's session:
- During the "Art of Community" session, Julie Caldwell told a very insightful story related to the creation of her park in her home town in Nevada. She spent a long, steady effort reaching out to the local Native American community, first starting with one member, who after a year or so introduced her to the group's chief. Then after a number of different activities (which included cooking up a meal for one of their traditional ceremonies) which proved her sincerity towards them, she won their trust and brought them into the process of creating and maintaining that park.
The point is that community outreach is not a single act, but a long, steady process. - At another session, one of the group noticed that three of us all had Nokia 770s. Although Wikis and communities aren't always thought of as cutting-edge technology, this embrace of mobile computing shows that some of us early adopters are interested in this area.
- I met another Wikipedian, Simon Koldyk, who hails from Vancouver BC. I'm always surprised whenever I meet another of us -- even though I know I shouldn't be.
Geoff
Tags: recentchangescamp, rcc2007
Labels: portland tech, Recent Changes Camp
Friday, February 02, 2007
Recent Changes Camp, day one
I started the day by discovering that the 40-year-old oil furnace that came with my house stopped working; the inside temperature was 58 degrees. The burner refused to burn oil, and they no longer make new burners to fit the furnace, so the hit to our pocketbook was about one thousand dollars today for a rebuilt burner. (My thanks -- and love -- to Yvette for spending the afternoon at home so I could attend Recent Changes Camp.)
From a cold house to the cold former factory where this year's Recent Changes Camp was held. The building did start to warm up by the time everyone found the location and had settled in, but then a couple of guys unrelated to the conference, looking around the building, opened the door to the loading dock and left it open to the cold winter morning for too many minutes; my toes never did recover from that.
Recent Changes Camp started with the same gentle ringing of the bells that started last year's. The major change was Ward Cunningham, creator of the original Wiki, giving the opening remarks. He recalled the advice he offered to all newcomers to that community site: read around first before you edit. The other change was that Ted Ernst and Kaliya Hamlin were this year's facilitators.
I picked my sessions based on the discussion leaders more than on the topics. The cold weather affected the start of this conference, and the offerings for the first slot on the first day were markedly fewer than any other slot. I went with Brandon Sander's session, "Where do I fit in to the movement/network?", but despite my respect for Brandon, this discussion never warmed up; he had us split up in small groups to discuss the topic for 15 minutes, but we never got around to reforming in our larger group.
After a hot lunch of catered Thai food, the second round of discussions started. I picked Lion Kimbro's "Wiki and Process" due to the chronic disputes on Wikipedia over what some have called "process fetishism" -- and that I had met Lion at the first Seattle Wikimeetup. Here I learned about a new kind of Wiki software, WagN, which gives its users the ability to tag different articles. Something I admit I should a more careful look at.
For me, the best session -- and the one I most enjoyed -- was hosted by Dawn Foster and Audrey Eschright, "Art of Community". Maybe I enjoy talking about the social aspect of Wikipedia too much, but I found this was a valuable discussion of how to promote the community that nourishes the success of a Wiki. Mark Dilley, as well as our session leaders, offered a number of useful thoughts on the challenges of getting people attracted to a Wiki.
Recent Changes Camp will meet all day tomorrow, and Sunday morning. If you act now, and brave the cold, you might bag some swag that will put the usual freebie tee shirt to shame.
Geoff
Tags: recentchangescamp, rcc2007, wikipedia
From a cold house to the cold former factory where this year's Recent Changes Camp was held. The building did start to warm up by the time everyone found the location and had settled in, but then a couple of guys unrelated to the conference, looking around the building, opened the door to the loading dock and left it open to the cold winter morning for too many minutes; my toes never did recover from that.
Recent Changes Camp started with the same gentle ringing of the bells that started last year's. The major change was Ward Cunningham, creator of the original Wiki, giving the opening remarks. He recalled the advice he offered to all newcomers to that community site: read around first before you edit. The other change was that Ted Ernst and Kaliya Hamlin were this year's facilitators.
I picked my sessions based on the discussion leaders more than on the topics. The cold weather affected the start of this conference, and the offerings for the first slot on the first day were markedly fewer than any other slot. I went with Brandon Sander's session, "Where do I fit in to the movement/network?", but despite my respect for Brandon, this discussion never warmed up; he had us split up in small groups to discuss the topic for 15 minutes, but we never got around to reforming in our larger group.
After a hot lunch of catered Thai food, the second round of discussions started. I picked Lion Kimbro's "Wiki and Process" due to the chronic disputes on Wikipedia over what some have called "process fetishism" -- and that I had met Lion at the first Seattle Wikimeetup. Here I learned about a new kind of Wiki software, WagN, which gives its users the ability to tag different articles. Something I admit I should a more careful look at.
For me, the best session -- and the one I most enjoyed -- was hosted by Dawn Foster and Audrey Eschright, "Art of Community". Maybe I enjoy talking about the social aspect of Wikipedia too much, but I found this was a valuable discussion of how to promote the community that nourishes the success of a Wiki. Mark Dilley, as well as our session leaders, offered a number of useful thoughts on the challenges of getting people attracted to a Wiki.
Recent Changes Camp will meet all day tomorrow, and Sunday morning. If you act now, and brave the cold, you might bag some swag that will put the usual freebie tee shirt to shame.
Geoff
Tags: recentchangescamp, rcc2007, wikipedia
Labels: portland tech, Recent Changes Camp, wikipedia
