#Brixvill - Confluence pop-ups and Safe Smiling Zones August 10, 2010
Ref " Tuesday Meetup, Dogstar pub, 6.15pm. Come along and share your ideas for pop-ups and events at Brixton Village #brixvill All welcome". Sorry I can never make it as I'm at a "day job" then. However I do have a couple of ideas which I'd like to discuss with you sometime. "Collaboration Made Simple" and "Safe Smiling Zones". I'll outline them breifly - but not try to be persuasive here. Maybe someone will catch the vision and do the persuading/actioning for me. If not then I'll try and explain more some other time.
First Idea: Collaboration Made Simple
Effective collaboration is something of major practical importance to many of us - but it isn't always easy to manage effectively. How can we make it simple?
I've been thinking about this in the light of my experiences with David and his "Summer of Opportunity" initiative using The Confluence Wiki. I think Confluene could be a great tool for helping people to work collaboratively. But until you've got that critical mass of people using it then it's not easy to illustrate the benefits and power of the software.
Brixvill seems a good place to find the critical mass of people who might find it useful to collaborate. I think a Brixvill pop-up might well attract people who are self-starters, doing their own thing, but keeping others informed, helping each other as appropriate etc. Those kind of people seem to me to be the kind of collaborators who could benefit from Confluence. However - how do you persuade people to use it in sufficient numbers for it to have value?
Given my sympathies are all with people who are reluctant users of anything techie (until they really see a very convincing benefit ) I think we could do it by getting started without the software. Let's focus on the benefit of collaborating and sharing our information. Then when the people who are collaborating have generated so much information that they need help to handle it we turn to the techies - we call in the cavalry and Confluence can gallop to our rescue - or something like that.
I suggest starting off with some kind of pop-up - something with lots of flip-chart paper etc - and a facilitator. The pop-up would serve to collect up the kind of information that Confluence does - about people and their endeavours and conditions etc. But it would all be low-tech with input via felt tips and post-its initially. (I still need to collaborate with the person who was doing the Sew-In on Thurs 22nd and 29th July - she was willing to help me alter a skirt - but I couldn't find the time to get over on those dates. Confluence might help me find another opportunity. Probably it would usually be longer term, less trivial collaborations - but small could be included)
Gradually the info from the post-its would be fed into Confluence (maybe after the first pop-up session, ready to be accessed at the next one, maybe during the second or third session, maybe later). It would depend how soon people would value being able to access the information via computer instead of by reading post-its. That would depend on how much info there was to read (if Confluence was needed to find what you wanted) and also if anyone wanted to access the information away from the pop-up location - online.
As the confluence/collaboration grew people could choose to start off via post-its at the pop-up, or online away from the pop-up. (or straight into Confluence at the pop-up if there is appropriate access to the Internet). I confess I don't know what Internet access is available at Brixvill other than having seen the Brixton Transition Town people online.
Any interest anyone?
Idea Two - Safe Smiling Zones - Dougald liked this idea which briefly flitted through my mind last year - and now it's the Silly Season maybe it's a good time to initiate a few SSZs around the place - Brixvill could launch the idea (except it is already more of a Safe Smiling Zone than most places in London - but that could just help it to catch on).
The thinking behind the SSZ idea is that London public space etiquette famously requires the general avoidance of eye contact (unless you want to reach for an abandoned copy of Metro or the Evening Standard - or unless Spring has suddenly arrived). However - on marked areas of pavement (Safe Smiling Zones) it would be acceptable to catch someone's eye and smile at them in passing. Don't panic fellow Londoners this wouldn't be intended as confrontational, and there would be nothing more threatening or permanent than a smile (no meaningful conversation, no following people home, no assuming you are about to become best friends for life). It would just be a passing glance and a smile. Smiling would not be obligatory - just optional while walking over a small allocated SSZ. SSZs would not be everywhere - and they would not be large - and they would probably be very temporary. Yishay Mor suggested doing it as kind of "street theatre" event in a London Square. Some-one else suggested linking it to "conversation benches" (like the "Buddy Benches" in primary school playgrounds - where you sit if you do want someone to chat with you). They all sound like good idea to me.
If anyone sees/does any SSZs - please let me know - especially if they are near enough for me to walk over and swap smiles.
Pamela