Kabissa chats June 7, 2010

Hi Tobias

Ref your request for feedback, about Kabissa's planned online meetings, based on what I have been doing with First Thursdays etc.I will work through your questions:

• How frequently should we meet? Weekly or monthly or every other month?

Once a month - I go for once a month in "First Thursdays" - because once a month is comparativley easy to remember, and comes round often enough. We sometimes fit extra chats in between if some people really want to. "Break out" conversations do sometimes happen  during or after a session, with just two or three people who know each other well, going off for a side-chat using yahoo or skype. The chats happen in the context of overlapping networks so other things are going on such as email follow-up.

• How long?

An hour - I settled on a nominal hour for "the main session" - i.e.that's how long I will commit to participating - but people are welcome to carry on chatting as long as they like - and sometimes I stay on for longer too if I am free and if the conversation is buzzing. One hour is a useful amount of time for various scenarios:

Working to an agenda - I find that when working to an agenda, with a good chairman and experienced team (as we do for the Dadamac UK-Nigeria team meetings each week) then plenty can be achieved in an hour. (Nikki's blog gives a flavour of what is covered). People need to know they will not be there for too long.

Informal chat - If I am hosting an informal chat, then it is useful to know at the start that no-one will be surprised if I need to leave at the end of one hour (even if other people are continuing with a lively conversation).

Mixture of informal chat, and focussed discussion - If I am managing a complicated mix of informal chat, and focussed discussion (with people dropping in at different times, with different expectations of how to behave, and where some know each other and some don't etc) then it is actually quite hard work. I try to look after everyone, and encourage conversations that will be worthwhile for all who are are there. I also try to look out for possible areas of cross-cultural confusion and wrong assumptions, and try to ask questions that will bring clarity.  After one hour of intense concentration I am really ready for a break.

• Which day of the week? What time of day?

When? - That's not easy. What ever you choose it won't suit everyone. We had reasons for starting at 12.00 GMT and have stayed with that for several years now, but it means its too early for most people in America - though we do get some from time to time. One reason things sometimes go on longer is if people arrive when things are about to end - such an American or Canadian just checking if we are still there.

• Is chat sufficient? Should we also have skype conference calls? Face to face meetings? 

We use typed chat - We limit ourselves and typed chat and use the worknets chat room because it overcomes various constraints. We do not want to exclude people with low bandwidth who can only use text.  If you are using a cyber cafe, or other public space, then (even if you are fortunate enough to have sufficient bandwidth, and the necessary equipment to enable you to speak and listen) speech may not be appropriate. If you are using a computer that is not your own then you may not be able to instal any additional software, such as you might need for Skype etc.

Face to Face - Of course  Face to Face meetings are great, and some people who come to First Thursday do know each other Face to Face - but First Thursdays is not part of a funded package so it is not something we have ever been able to seriously consider.

Is chat sufficient? -  First Thursdays would not work just as a monthly chat. It is complementary to other online shared interests and relationships. That is why the people attending, and the dynamics of the sessions, vary from month to month. Chat enables interactions that can't be done just through emails.

• What topics? Member topics, Kabissa topics, group topics (eg hosting, peer learning, ict training)  

Topics - I'll have to get back to you on that separately. I have so many "It depends....." in my mind.

• Public/private archives? 

Archives - Benefits and disadvantages both ways (First Thursdays are public - Dadamac weekly meetings are private).  If your meetings are farly open then you may well have people attendign who will not think to ask if it is okay to share the archives. If sahnces are it will be a "leaky meeting" anyway then I would definitely go for public and keep reminding people that what they say will be publicly available.