Field Building: Digital Media and Learning

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This summer I discussed field building with Ben Stokes. He works in the Digital Media and Learning program at the MacArthur Foundation. In this post, I will insert both what he shared with me and my additions and interpretations. He talked about how field building often incorporates existing threads, weaving them together. For example, games, cognitive science, learning theory, media, and the internet may all be existing pieces that unite around Digital Media and Learning. One approach Ben mentioned is building this field by working within privately owned and operated spaces such as My Space and Google. And that may reach audiences effectively, and yet there is more to be done.

Bridge-building offers a weaving opportunity that binds the threads together. Ben shared that one way to build bridges is convening people, and a foundation has the power to do that with ease. People want to be associated with or be beneficiaries of the foundation, so they want to attend gatherings sponsored by the foundation. So the foundation can support events selectively bringing people together with the call to collaboration face to face. Another opportunity is the written word. Ben pointed out that journals about the field create branding, messaging and a body of documentation for the field. In some sense, field building is about brand building. How do we get this brand adopted?

Building knowledge within the field creates a gravity, a magnetism for the field. Creating a knowledge network website offers a common repository, events related to the field, a directory of people, and access to articles about the field. There is also, according to Ben, a need to coordinate public discourse regarding the field. Using a communication team to assist with clear messaging that is consistent and creates a coherent field. Ben said they work with their grantees to use common languaging which helps bring the threads together from the many different existing threads/fields. If we are all talking about the same thing but we call it by different names, we can’t clearly recognize the convergence of thinking about that thing. And recognizing common ground and increasing visibility is critical to developing recognition of the emerging field.

Press coverage is also vital to developing visibility. And the message to the press needs to be consistent too. From all parties. If I google the field or a core idea of the field, there should be some degree of uniformity in what I find or the field lacks coherence.

Network weaving, a favorite topic of mine, also plays a significant role in field-building. Asking grantees who they would like to have involved, making connections between then, and rewarding introductions and collaborations helps weave the relationships within the field, naturally leading to greater cohesion of the ideas and practices. It also facilitates identity development of the field and its practitioners. As a foundation, Ben noted, there must be care around the power relationships of funder to grantee and potential grantees. Care must be taken to grow and emerge something that feels vital to participants and acts as more than a financial incentive. To grow the field is to open new eyes. Yes, the foundation selects who they think should be there, but it tries to do this based on the advice of the community itself through a range of advisory boards and outside reviewers. One benefit is that participants who attend can often open more “edgy” conversations without the power dynamics that restrict foundations’ public voices.

I asked how we would know if we are successful. Ben warns that we not pursue field-building as an inherent good, because all change has unintended consequences. Field building is a transformative process. Looking for metrics about whether it is going well, here are several observation techniques:

  • mapping the topical linking of websites (which happens visibly if we are all tagging and naming with common terms and definitions)
  • mapping the social networking of people (both through citations and social networking associations) and watching for the weaving of the network using social network analysis through time
  • listening to the network to see how they are thinking about the field and how they talk about themselves–looking for coherence of identity and language

Field building may be called by other names. Some influencing strings that inform it:

  • movement building
  • trends and tipping points
  • network theory
  • community of practice

Many thanks to Ben Stokes for the time and conversation. I am eager to see how the field of Digital Media and Learning flourishes.

I am conducting more research and continuing to reflect and write– so stay tuned for:

  • Foundations and the Role of Philanthropy in Field Building
  • A Whole New Mind of Field Building: Design, Play, Symphony, Narrative, Empathy, and Meaning in Network White Spaces
  • Persuading the Field: Applying Influence and Motivating Emergence
  • Field Building and Social Change: Tipping Points, Phase Transitions, and Global Crisis
  • Sticky Fields: Simple, Unexpected, Concrete, Credible, Emotional, and Narrative

Play, Persuasion, and Field Building

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Recently, I was searching the internet for this unusual thing called Field Building. And I found some gems. Included in that is a section I pasted below from the Digial Arts Studio, which I found useful in that list of concrete things sort of way.

But today I am wondering, great, all this sounds rather cold to me. I just finished reading a Whole New Mind earlier this month. And so I wonder where the six senses: Design, Story, Symphony, Empathy, Play, and Meaning get integrated with this clinical approach to field building. I mean, really, we want people jazzed about the field so that all this delightful connection happens and the gift economy thrives.

The other thing on my mind is where is the intersection with work on persuasion, see Cialdini’s work.

Dr Robert Cialdini states that there are six principles of persuasion:

1. Reciprocation
2. Commitment and consistency
3. Social proof
4. Liking
5. Authority
6. Scarcity

How do these play a role in influencing the emergence of a field? I am merely playing with the intersection of these disparate pieces, my friends. I have not come to conclusions. I would love to hear your thoughts, want to play with me?

Now for that clinical approach I mentioned:

What is a Field?
A field is an area of specialized practice encompassing specific activities carried out by trained practitioners in particular settings. Typically a field’s practitioners require preparation in research- and craft-based knowledge, share a common language (including jargon), and have access to ongoing opportunities for professional education. They also acknowledge standards for practice, use vehicles for communication and information exchange, and enjoy credibility in the eyes of critical constituencies. These common factors are often called the “elements” of a field. For new fields of practice, advocates often aim to build the field by pursuing strategies to improve these “field elements” and thus strengthen, scale up, and sustain standard practice.

Eleven essential elements of a field include:
# Identity. A field is based on a distinct and recognized practice that can be clearly described.
# Knowledge base. A field has credible evidence, derived from research and practice, of results, as well as of the best ways for practitioners to obtain these results.
# Workforce and leadership. A field has trained practitioners, researchers, and practitioner educators; the structures and institutions for training, credentialing, supporting, and retaining this workforce; incentives and organizations for leaders and leadership development; and ways of attracting a workforce reflecting those served through the practice.
# Standard practice. A field has descriptions of standard practice that meet an acceptable level of quality. A common language is used to describe practice. Interventions meriting best-practice status demonstrate a capacity to achieve desired outcomes in culturally and developmentally responsive ways.
# Practice settings. A field needs places that are appropriate and equipped for practice.
# Information exchange. A field has vehicles for collecting, analyzing, and disseminating information and knowledge, such as newsletters, conferences, journals, websites, and graduate curricula.
# Infrastructure for collaboration. A field has structures and institutions that facilitate collaboration among its members and critical allies, including professional organizations, special convenings, networks, and conferences.
# Resources. A field has adequate financial and other resources to ensure standard practice.
# Critical mass of support. A field has the support of key constituencies––organizations and individuals critical to sustaining it––including practitioners, researchers, administrators, policymakers, clients or customers, influential leaders, and so on.
# Advocates and systemic support. A field has adherents who work to foster the support of critical constituencies, garnering good will, securing various forms of support, and ensuring an appropriate policy context at all levels of government and within pertinent institutions.
# Systemic support. A field also has systemic support, including appropriate public policy and incentives that encourage practitioners to learn and use standard practice.

A guide to visitors (on tv)

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well now, that seems a little confusing.

I went to college with this brilliant, funny, playful woman, Jeannie Yandel. We were the two “Jean’s” in a Feminist Theater class. Smirk.

Now she works in NPR out in Seattle (KUOW). And she, with some other friends, created a story-telling stage show, A Guide to Visitors. Curated real stories by real people. And this has gone over pretty well in Seattle. They have been doing it for years.

I just checked in on her….now they are on TV!

So you and I can watch people tell stories from where we are. Enjoy!

Gratitude and Net Neutrality

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How appropriate for One Web Day! Gratitude for the internet we have and concern for the freedom we enjoy.

Lucy posted a terrific post on why net neutrality matters, with help from one of my favorite mags (which is so good at visuals) GOOD. Copied below. Keep an eye on Savetheinternet for ways to help!

And yes, foundations and philanthropists better care or their other causes will suffer dramatically! We all need to care or we will give up our freedom and ability to make social change and profit from good capitalism!

Friday, September 21, 2007
Why foundations should care about an open internet

As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words. I’ve easily posted 1000 words about internet access, the media, and patents as philanthropic issues. So here is the photo that better states the case:

If those in philanthropy care about job creation, education, health, children’s rights, elderly involvement, civic engagement, environmental awareness, sustainable communities, economic development, or anything else that involves issues of equity and access to information then “Net Neutrality” matters. Take action here.

Shout out to GOOD Magazine for the photo.

One Web Day!

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I love a good celebration, especially for things we so easily take for granted because they surround our life so completely.

One Web Day!

What will you do to celebrate?

I plan to email and blog my gratitude for the internet. And then spend the following day fasting from the internet to remind me how lucky I am to have it. (And I will then, finally, get my place clean too!)

OneWebDay

The Web is worth celebrating.

OneWebDay is one day a year when we all – everyone around the physical globe – can celebrate the Web and what it means to us as individuals, organizations, and communities.

As with Earth Day – an inspiration and model for OneWebDay – it’s up to the celebrants to decide how to celebrate. We encourage all celebrations! Collaboration, connection, creativity, freedom.

By the end of the day, the Web should be just a little bit better than it was before, and we’ll be able to see our connection to it more clearly.

OneWebDay is September 22 every year, starting in 2006.

More on Community Managers…

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Over at fast wonder again…trying to find the time to read and respond to Dawn’s points about community managers.

Today, I added:

Great list! Synthesizer comes to mind. The ability to take an existing conversation, and restate it so people feel heard and new conversationalists can easily grasp content seems very useful. Of course this might be context dependent. 🙂 Taking this a step further, from summarizing to encouraging forward movement of the conversation and related actions seems important to me too.

Which responds….to…well, here it is, but check it out on her space too!

What skills do I think it takes to manage a community?

* Patience. The community manager should not be the one responding to all of the questions. She needs to hold back and let others within the community participate. This is especially true when someone in the community is being particularly difficult. It can be easy to fire off an angry response that might be regretted later, but waiting until the emotions cool a bit can make the response more thoughtful and constructive. This includes patience with newbie community members. She may have heard the question a million times from other newbies, but this is probably the first time this particular person has asked the question. Taking a little time to welcome new community members while pointing them to a list of helpful resources (nicely) can go a long way toward helping to grow your community.
* Networking. The best community managers are the ones who seem to know everyone and have a large group of colleagues who can help in various ways. These people do not typically acquire large networks by accident; they have good networking skills and are constantly meeting new people and growing their network.
* Communication. Community managers should be great communicators. In some communities where the interactions are primarily online, good writing skills are essential. Public speaking skills can also be required for those community managers who also spend time organizing community events, evangelizing, and speaking at conferences on topics related to the community.
* Facilitation. I spend a fair amount of time making sure that the right people are involved and engaged in the community. No one person can (or should) respond to every question or comment, so the community manager is frequently in the position of facilitating the discussions.
* Technical Skills. Having at least a basic understanding of the technologies used in your community are important. This varies widely depending on the community. In my case, the ability to administer the Clearspace installation, maintaining and writing web pages, bug tracking software, svn, etc. have been really helpful. I find that my background as a sys admin has been really helpful in this job. Not all community managers need to be highly technical. It certainly helps to be able to do some things yourself, but in my case, I do what I can and rely on our hosting provider, our web developer, and other developers at Jive to help with the tricky stuff.
* Marketing. For those of us managing developer communities, marketing may seem like a dirty word, but yes, marketing skills are a requirement. The community manager needs to be able to promote community activities, solicit new members, and in general get the word out about the community.
* Self Motivation. In most cases, no one will be looking over the community manager’s shoulder telling him what to do. He needs to be self motivated to do whatever it takes to keep the community active and healthy without much direction from others.
* Workaholic Tendencies. I do not mean that the community manager must work all the time; however, most communities do not exist in the 9-5 work hour schedule. People from all time zones participate at all hours of the day. Community managers probably want to at least check in on the community outside of business hours and respond to any hot topics or heated debates. This ties into the self motivation skills described above.
* Organization. Community managers should also be organized. Keeping track of loose ends, making sure that questions are answered, being able to organize events, etc. all require good organizational skills and attention to detail. This is probably the toughest one for me. Although I tend to be highly organized, I tend not to be particularly attentive to details. I’m working on it 🙂

I have no doubt that there are more skills required for community managers, but I think this is a pretty good start. This list may also be a bit skewed toward those who manage developer communities or open source communities, since these are the types of communities that I have managed. I would be very interested to hear perspectives from other community managers here in the comments. What skills do you think are most important for community managers?

She’s Geeky!

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She’s Geeky
A Women’s Tech (un)conference
October 22-23 in Mountain View, CA.

This event is designed to bring together women from a range of technology-focused disciplines who self identify as geeky. Our goal is to support skill exchange and learning between women working in diverse fields and to create a space for networking and to talk about issues faced by women in technology.
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See Kaliya’s hopes and motivations!

Please pass on information about the (un)conference to any other women who would enjoy attending, and contributing to, the event.

If you are planning on attending now is a great time to register before prices go up at the end of September; there is a two step process registering on the wiki & paying via paypal.

We are still looking for sponsors. If you or your company would like to contributor if you have ideas about who we might invite to contribute, please contact us at shesgeeky@gmail.com

11th Hour

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The evidence is now clear…

…we face a convergence of crisis, all of which are a concern for life…

…people need to realize there are things they can do in their everyday lives…

…with existing technologies we could literally reduce the human footprint on the planet by 90%…

..what a great time to be born, what a great time to be alive, because this generation gets to completely change the world….

Motivating Participation

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Recently I was asked how to increase attendance at a gathering. I came up with a few simple questions to consider. Look at three perspectives.

1. The participants–who are they? There may be several audiences, and for each one, figure out what they want to get or are getting from the gathering.

2. Your perspective–why are you inviting them? What do you want to get from their attendance and participation? List separately for each audience group.

3. Observer perspective–what will the outcome of the gathering be? What will the world be able to see, touch, taste, smell, or feel because of the participation?

Now, what do you do with that? Use #1 to develop your strategy of attraction of participants. Use #2 to identify the proportional blend you want to have of different audience groups. Do you need idea generators? Processors to move ideas along? Finishers to put ideas into action? And #3 is useful for attracting funding and sponsorship.

Incentives, and this is just a starter list, might be:
# association (other people to connect with–especially face to face if they know each other virtually)
# reputation (most active in the field or other recognition of effort is honored)
# growth (learn something)
# inspiration (this is usually why a well-regarded speaker works)
# challenge (opportunity to collaborate on something vital)
# recognition (building their own visibility–like getting acknowledged for doing a cool video etc)
# play (to laugh and be creative)
# delight (good food, good sensate experience)
# narrative (fits into their story of who they are and why they do what they do)
# contribution (opportunity to give to the group)
# influence (able to change others or environment)
# stuff (things people can take with them and help develop branding and identity)

I strongly encourage visual mapping to show the relationships between people and between motivations/incentives and people.

Once you are clear about who to invite and why (for them, for you, and for others), then develop your message to each audience considering the benefit they receive for attending and participating. Then, also, consider what that benefit gets for them. Does it save them time or money? Does it develop their reputation or acknowledge them? Consider Maslow’s hierarchy. What core need is met?

There is much more depth to this than I can address in a single blog post, but this gets us off to a good start. What would you add to the incentives? Are there other valuable perspectives to consider? Is there a good way to create a matrix for organizing the information? What visual techniques would reveal the most useful information?

B-Corp beginning

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Corp with purpose?

Lucy writes over on Philanthropy 2173 about it and the few founding orgs celebrating. Her next post also further explains. I am still trying to understand, but I have hope…

She writes:

What is a B Corporation? It is a new designation for commercial enterprises that actively seek to produce social and environmental benefits along with profits. While not yet part of corporate law, the B Corporation founders aim to first build a movement of companies that meet certain standards, and then change the law to recognize these entities.