Digital Habitats: Stewarding Technology for Communities

In order to fit in with Nancy’s travelling schedule, this month we will depart from our usual meeting schedule (again), and will meet on
Monday evening, 16 November (at the usual place).

Technology has changed what it means to “be together” for teams, groups and networks. We can now connect and interact across time and space, co-create and share our creations across the globe. This also means we face a dizzying array of tools and platforms which seem to morph and change daily. We all seem to use the tools in different ways, creating gaps and friction in our groups. What’s a person to do? Consider technology stewardship, the practice of scanning for, choosing, implementing and supporting useful practices using technology in a community. Nancy White will share a few frameworks and stories, then we’ll open the conversation.

• What is community technology stewardship?
• What inherent tensions does a steward work with in a community?
• How can we explore a community’s activity orientations as a way of making decisions around technology?

Agenda

6:00-6:30 Networking with other thinking collaborators (over drinks and nibbles).
6:30-7:15 Nancy White: Digital Habitats
7:15-8:00 Informal conversation amongst the group to explore the ideas and concepts.

Venue

RMIT Graduate School of Business, 300 Queen Street. Melbourne
Lecture room 158.1.2B (Ground level – just behind reception).
Ample metered street parking nearby in Queen Street (between La Trobe and Little Lonsdale).

RSVP: by email to melbournekmlf@gmail.com

About Nancy White

Founder of Full Circle Associates, Nancy helps organisations connect through online and offline strategies. Nancy is an online interaction designer, facilitator and coach for distributed communities of practice, online learning, distributed teams and online communities. She has a special interest in the NGO/NPO sector. Nancy blogs as well as teaches, presents and writes on online facilitation and interaction, social architecture and social media. She is co-author with Etienne Wenger and John Smith of Digital Habitats: stewarding technology for communities.

Nancy confesses to online interaction, learning and chocolate addictions. She lives in Seattle with her husband and two grown sons.

But wait, there’s more!

If you would like to spend more time with Nancy learning about online communities and online facilitation, there are two half-day workshops being held on Tuesday 17 at Abbotsford Convent.  These are as follows:

• Introduction to Online Communities (08:45 – 12:00) – Price $250 + GST – Register Now
• Advanced Online Communities (13:00 – 16:00) – Price $250 + GST – Register Now

More information and alternative payment methods are available here.

These workshops are being arranged in partnership with Innotecture (Matt Moore’s company). (Disclaimer: I am assisting  Matt with these sessions.)

CoPs – a Personal Journey

Peter Chomley’s slide pack for last month’s event: “CoPs – a Personal Journey” is now available for download here.

Some of the things that struck me from the presentation, shared on Twitter during the session (see the slide pack for more details):

• How many “communities” have you been a member of over your life? How many things have changed over that time?
• Looking back, you can see times when you made decisions that fundamentally changed your life.
• Information Management is  explicit, individual, and about technology. Organisations do it for efficiency and productivity.
• Knowledge Management is tacit, and is about people in teams and communities. Organisations do it for effectiveness, learning, competency, responsiveness and innovation.

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Free event – Intranet Innovation Awards

Also, Step Two Designs will be announcing the winners of the annual Intranet Innovation Awards on 5 November in Sydney.  They will then be taking the show on the road with a free event in Melbourne on Tuesday 10 November:

“This year’s winners come from the USA, UK, Denmark, Russia, Australia and New Zealand. One winner has demonstrated $8 million of savings from their intranet project, and others have delivered solutions that have become core to how their organisations work. With ten winners, there are ideas that can be implemented by every intranet team.”

The event will be at the Telstra Theatrette, 242 Exhibition St, at 2:00 to 4:00 pm.  Step Two will share insights, screenshots and ideas from this year’s winners. Note that while this is a free event, registration is required before attending. Get all the info, and book your place promptly here!