Raffle Tickets 2.0

The Legal Information Society of Nova Scotia (LISNS) has me completely hooked. After working a term for them last summer, I recently returned to volunteer at their Law Day Luncheon & Auction. Now, I've worked a few banquet events and have to say that they are rarely something I can get excited about but Gwen Atkinson, fund development coordinator for LISNS, brought some phenomenal ideas to the table.

The Raffle Rush
Say goodbye to watching the world pass you by as you are chained to a table selling 50/50 tickets. Say so long to isolating vulnerable guests from the pack like a weak gazelle simply to sell a few raffle tickets. A new era of ticket sales is upon us!

Thirty tables seated the 300+ guests for the Law Day Luncheon, all quite happily enjoying their meals and networking. Enter the volunteers. In teams of two, one holding a Santa sack of raffle bags, the other armed with cash, change and relentless energy.

Each bag contained at the very least an energy bar while some included prize claims for prizes. All at once, we threw ourselves right in the middle of the dinner, each team coming from a different corner moving quickly from table to table. Our own excitement and the somewhat frantic selling method created a complete rush for raffle bags. We would be called from guest to guest, table to table, all anxious to buy two, three, four raffles at $10 a piece. There was a complete raffle pandemonium fueled by the dynamic auction caller who highlighted all major prize winners throughout the selling period.

More sales, better guest involvement, more fun for everyone. May the antique raffle ticket table rest in peace.

Here goes nothing

With the all but mandatory writing samples posted for the flood of potential employers sure to be clicking their way to this blog (haha...), it's time to actually begin my foray into the world of blogging.

I just arrived home from my first launch party under my official post as one of two fund development coordinators for the All Rights Reserved Literary Journal. The new issue, Passports, is absolutely beautiful thanks to superstar graphic designer Meg Yoshida and I'm looking forward to working my way through the diverse pieces. We were treated to readings from featured authors as well as a rousing presentation from literary force and spoken word artist Shauntay Grant.

Unfortunately, attendance was not what we had hoped so we will surely look at getting more of our silent auction guests to support our issue launches as well. Things are however looking great for the journal's future. Our Facebook group has over 100 members, Chapters in Bayers Lake has agreed to carry the journal on a trial run in the local interest section, and two exciting themes are filling me with inspiration for events for the next year.

If you're reading this blog you will be hearing quite a bit of All Rights Reserved news as it is a project near and dear to my heart. I have always been very passionate about writing - a hobby in development since childhood when I wrote stories while other kids drew pictures. For more information, drop me a line or head to our website. Additionally, register with our Facebook group for the most up to date information on literary news and journal events.

Writing solo about collaboration

[also featured on my professor's blog here]

It is hard to go without noticing that organizational communications are in the process of being revolutionized. The complex divide-and-conquer mentality of information management, riddled with approvals and levels of authorities, is being pushed aside for the simple notion of collaboration. Rather than the traditional one author company documents with eight managerial sign-offs, a new trend where company publications and entire communications environments are crafted simultaneously by many authors from all around the world is on the rise. From educational institutions, to nonprofit organizations, to multinational corporations, it seems collaborative communications techniques are finding their place in just about all sectors.

The role of collaboration in organizational communications remains in a state of rapid development and its full potential is still unclear, causing researchers to look for causes, challenges, impacts and growth. Fortunately, each budding platform for collaboration offers these investigators plenty of time to explore this new information-management process. It is a mixture of research and employee experimentation that illustrates the viability of these collaborative tools for each individual organization. Yet, as the knowledge base grows, it would appear that collaboration is more than a solution for efficiency in a global culture. Collaboration, it seems, may be indicative of a changing workforce.

Wikis: Collaboration in Practice

In order to learn how to incorporate collaboration into an organizational environment, one can look to wikis for the simplest collaborative model; when it comes to collaboration, wikis might just be the best example. Wikis, as defined by perhaps the most famous one: Wikipedia, are websites that allow visitors to add, remove, edit and change content (2007, par. 1). The ownership of a website becomes shared with its community of visitors who are just as able to alter its content as the creator. They are as easy to operate as a basic email program, making wikis easily implemented, however upon their arrival in the online toolbox tends to cause quite a stir. Offering free reign to website visitors goes against the traditional methods of information and knowledge control in organizations. Business communicator Alexandro Fernando explains, “once you set up a wiki, everyone has a seat at the table. Each person gets to set the menu, organize the seating arrangements and polish the cutlery” (2005, par. 3).

It may sound like an information free-for-all but in visiting some of the most popular wikis, Wikipedia being a perfect example, the wisdom of the mob comes together with excellent results (Fernando 2005, par. 5). The collaborative encyclopedia, created in 2001, is edited by thousands of web users from all around the world and has become one of the largest reference sites on the Internet. Wikipedia’s constant state of flux offers some of the most up to date or obscure information that cannot be found in published articles. It may sound like a researchers dream however, a disclaimer explains that the content may be subject to vandalism; wiki hijackers, so to speak, and should be cross-referenced with scholarly journals (2007).

Wikipedia’s community of editors and contributors take excellent care of its content: a necessity in developing a successful wiki. Additionally, Wikipedia, along with many other collaborative websites, have established corrective measures to manage misinformation, the meddling of vandals, or simply uniformity and appearance. Whether these safeguards exist in the form of formal editors, “wiki gardeners”, or simply codes of conduct, they are important in harnessing the information managing abilities of a wiki. Darlene Fitcher explains, “conventions certainly help with some of the basic wiki housekeeping, but in order to work well, wikis need constant care and pruning” (2005, p. 49). Like any other website, visitors will not return if constantly greeted by dead links, poor organization, or consistently inaccurate or out of date information. Understandably, the liberty that wikis provide website visitors can easily translate into anxiety for the information managers relinquishing their control. Organizations looking to implement wikis must already boast a high level of trust and confidence between management and employees in order for a collaborative website to thrive (Fitcher 2005, p. 50).

While the change in philosophy from edits and approvals to a free flowing, collaborative environment is not one that can be forced or rushed, the mentality appears to be reflective of a changing workforce. On the one hand, increased and eased collaboration is catering to the fast-paced, globalized workplace: organizations once satisfied with simple intranets now seek out technologies that foster cooperation among employees and enable teams to work together, regardless of how far the members are separated by time and distance. Additionally, on the micro level, Fernando points out a change in employee wants and needs: “it’s as if the people on the fringes sick and tired of corporate communication, went ahead and designed a product-slash-plat form that was democratic, dynamic and not managed from the top” (2005, par. 14). Perhaps wikis are only a taste of what is to come as the baby boomers fade from the workforce to be replaced with the techno savvy generation Y.

Virtual Information Management: The Next Step

From the basics, to the most complex, all technologies come with challenges and problems. This is no different when it comes to collaboration and information management. Standard concerns with the use of online tools for communication and information sharing include the loss of “verbal nuances (e.g. voice tone, volume), nonverbal cues (e.g. gaze, body language), physical context (e.g. meeting sites, seating arrangements) and observable information about social characteristics (e.g. age, gender, race)” (Welman, Salaff, Dimitrova, Garton, Guila, Haythornthwiate 1996, p. 218). While these concerns are legitimate, research since 1996 has found that the loss of these qualities actually has a positive effect on business communication by increasing participation and presenting a more equal and open environment for communication (Wellman et al, 1996, p. 218). Programs like Elluminate, a mash up of teleconference, chat rooms, and powerpoint slides used by many distance education courses, has taken advantage of these findings. The virtual classroom, as it is used by many universities, has extended education past the physical borders of the typical campus often to surprising results regarding student participation. Naturally, like most technological tools, Elluminate is accompanied by significant drawbacks.

A European study conducted training sessions using a similar learning environment to identify the differences between traditional information sharing and the new technologies gaining in popularity. The researchers found that while three to four hour face to face training sessions are standard in the workplace, these are not effective using online networks. The lack of social and visual stimulation causes audience members to become distracted, often a necessity to recharge one’s attention during a presentation. To overcome this feeling of participant burnout, lessons were shortened to 60 to 90 minutes and four key tactics for engaging participants when using computer tools:

1) maintain a lively pace;
2) visualize your content;
3) incorporate frequent participant responses;
4) use small group breakout rooms (Clark, 2005, p. 42).

The findings of these two studies present a great challenge for communicators using online tools, but these professionals may be surprised to learn that a program already exists that facilitates international meetings and training while overcoming the obstacles of burnout: Second Life.

Self-described on its website as “a 3-D virtual world entirely built and owned by its residents,” the innovative social platform brings collaboration to a new level as the world’s five million inhabitants create and build thousands of different items ranging from shirts and furniture to houses and skyscrapers (Linden, 2007, par. 1). Business and education institutions from all around the world are rushing to purchase server space in the form of land in order to develop their virtual offices and campuses. The platform has even become integrated into the Harvard Law program that offers courses for credit entirely through the virtual world (Foster 2006, p. 38). Second Life finds a middle ground between the findings of the aforementioned studies.

First, Second Life retains the egalitarian quality of communication achieved by leveling the social playing field of its participants. In creating an “avatar”, essentially the virtual and visual representation of a user in the world, the options for its appearance are endless. A user can be male, female, muscular, overweight, winged, part animal, etc. Next, to maintain the important nonverbal cues, the avatars are able act out a surprising amount of physical actions. As for voice intonation, a voice projection feature is in development and expected to enter in-world trials in the coming months. Harvard Professor Charles Nesson is so confident that the Second Life can foster the personal connections of face-to-face conversation that his course taught exclusively through in the virtual world will focus partly on "empathic" argument, connecting emotionally others (Foster, 2006, p. 38).

Secondly, the virtual world blends the structure of online communication’s easily recorded text exchange (instant messenger, email) with an engaging, exciting virtual world to retain the attention of its users. Like any other working or learning environment, Second Life provides an outlet for distraction so participants are not overloaded with information. Regardless of the distractions, however, all discussions are conveniently saved in instant message and chat features on the screen for review.

While Second Life is attracting as much praise as it is creating controversy, it seems clear that the world has set out to break boundaries. Its sustainability is anyone’s guess, but its impact on collaborative technology is unquestionable.

Implementing Collaborative Technology

In the increasing rush for organizational collaboration, managers cannot expect that simply implementing new tools like Second Life or Wikis will transform the way their organizations operate. In 2003, the Center for Technology in Teaching at Rice University found that although teachers were interested in using knowledge-sharing and collaborative tools, the movement simply wasn’t manifesting. Allowing this new technology to slip through the cracks in the education system would result in future professionals being unable or unwilling to experiment with the tools that are beginning to shape our business environment. To solve this problem, the Center created an online community to foster cooperation among forward thinking teachers, illustrating that the adoption or rejection of new technology often relies on the proper education and support, and a common goal for its use. In order to improve the sharing of knowledge in organizations, “technology alone, despite its power and flexibility, rarely suffices” (Brazelton & Gorry, 2003, p. 23).

The rush for collaborative communication in organizations may seem impromptu and unfounded, yet research clearly indicates that there are clear reasons and rationales both predicting and propelling its existence and use. Most importantly, collaboration cannot revolutionize business operations without the support of its users, much like today’s work environments as a whole. Implementing collaborative technology in your organization may or may not improve efficiency, however, its success or failure might be warning signs of your organization’s ability to function in a rapidly changing business environment. Communication evolved to meet the needs of globalization and it will evolve once again to meet the needs of the new workforce.

References

About Wikipedia. (2007). Wikipedia. Retrieved online on March 28, 2007 from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:About

Brazelton, J. & Gorry, A. G. (2003). Creating a knowledge-sharing community: If you build it, will they come? Communications of the ACM, 46(2), 23-25

Clark, R. C. (2005 November). Harnessing the virtual classroom. TD, 41-43

Fernando, A. (2005, May-June). Wiki: The new way to collaborate. Communication World. Retrieved online on March 28, 2007 from: http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m4422/is_3_22/ai_n14887938

Fitcher, D. (2005). Intranets, wikis, blikis, and collaborative working. Online, 29(5), 47-50

Foster, A.L. (2006). Harvard to offer law course in ‘virtual world’. Chronicle of Higher Education, 53(3), 38

What is Second Life? (2007). Linden Research Inc. Retrieved online on March 28, 2007 from: http://secondlife.com/whatis/

Wiki. (2007). Wikipedia. Retrieved online on March 28, 2007 from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiki

Wellman, B., Salaff J., Dimitrova, D., Garton, L., Guila, M., & Haythornthwaite, C. (1996). Computer networks as social networks: Collaborative work, telework, and virtual community. Annual Reivew of Sociology, 22, 213-238

Taking the world by storm

My mother bawled as I walked past security into the exclusive departure lounge. Like many before her and like many to come, she wiped away the tears that streamed down her cheeks. Four months, she thought; four months of uncertainty, danger, worry and fear. From that moment, she counted the minutes until I would once again be back in her sight - back to the nest. My father, an experienced traveler, had shared the best of his advice so that while I was new to solo travel, I was certainly not clueless. Airport security examined my passport and boarding pass as I looked back at my family and Nova Scotia for the last time. My eyes shone only with excitement for my new home, Ireland. Four months, I thought; four months of fun, adventure, exploration and growth. Four months of life.

I expected the green isle to be an easy sell for mom, a proud descendent of the Collins clan of Dundrum in the South. She still can't help but sigh and slip into the melodic accent when referring to, as she calls it, the homeland. However, for the dear lass my steps through the airport were like paces toward the end of a plank over shark-filled waters. In a way she was right. My cross-Atlantic move may have been my first real challenge with only two possible results: sink or swim.

At age 18, I wasn't the youngest to make such a journey and I certainly didn't travel the furthest or to the most dangerous parts of the world, but I was a beginner in need of guidance. I turned to SWAP, a clever acronym for Students Working Abroad Program. The organization secured my work visa, helped book my plane tickets, offered two nights at a hostel upon arrival and offered job and accommodation resources. Ireland was one of SWAP's 14 possible host countries recommended for their safe, friendly environments with plenty of work opportunities for someone of my age and experience.

My experiences abroad have since become my most cherished possessions. I will never forget the stomach-sinking awe I felt as I stood at the edge of the Cliffs of Moher, gazing dizzily down toward the gulls and puffins nesting on the 700 ft wall of rock beneath me. Nor will I ever be able to accurately describe the magic of the mist as it washes over the Giant’s Causeway, a mystical bridge of rock columns drenched in legend that leads out into the sea from the country’s northern peak.

Join the club

Every year, over 10 million families from all around the world watch their own student travelers get whisked away by the allure of these very experiences, making students and youth the fastest growing demographic of travelers. While the 18 - 26 age group is commonly associated with lower incomes and large student debts, a growing trend shows more young men and women hiding away money specifically to travel. For proof, just visit any airport toward the end of April, just at the close of the spring semester: prime student departure time.

At the Stanfield International Airport, young men and women of all types scurry from gate to gate like ants, their overflowing backpacks twice the size of their bodies. The main foyer overlooking the security gate is wrought with emotion, bringing the otherwise unremarkable room to life. Family, friends and loved ones cling in teary embraces while packs of twos, threes and fours laugh nervously, unable to predict how their friendships will evolve as their journeys unfold. From the dreadlocked surfer in sandals on her way to Australia, to the future teacher heading to an internship in England, to the design student hoping to break into the high-fashion scene of Milan, each is inexplicably drawn to the intrigue of travel. Each is part of an elite club of adventurers, identifiable only by their excited smiles and discreet maple leaf pins.

Why, with such high stakes at hand, are students still so inclined to leave the comforts of Canada? We cannot possibly share the motive of new worlds and undiscovered land like the travelers of old - the days of John Cabot, Christopher Columbus and Marco Polo have been replaced by the age of cheap airfare and student hostels in every location imaginable. Moreover, if it’s money you’re after you may want to reinvest your ideas. Financially speaking, SWAP explains that most students earn enough money to cover their expenses while working abroad but only the most disciplined will be able to return with money in hand, often at the expense of forgone travel opportunities.

Pack your bags

Travel, it seems, is about the intangibles: the feelings, the memories, the experiences, and the journey. A recent survey conducted by the International Student Travel Confederation (ISTC) explains that the most common motivators for voyaging out into the world are to increase knowledge, explore other cultures and simply for some excitement. While travelers are sure to return with more photographs than anyone cares to see and groan-inducing trinkets like a wooden shoe keychain from Amsterdam, it is the growth and the stories that resonate upon return.

Take Michelle Wright for example. At age 22, she was working two great jobs, making more than enough money to coast comfortably into her thirties. When the end of a relationship sparked a need for a change, the self-assured and adventurous young woman quit unexpectedly and booked a flight to South Korea.

“My decision was completely irrational, but I'd never take it back,” she explains. “I packed my life in a suitcase, signed a contract from a company that I didn't research at all and set off for my 18-hour flight to Seoul.”

Like many travelers, her eyes light up as she recalls her time spent teaching English. Surprisingly, even the memories of nauseating subway smells and her deathtrap Korean apartment building bring a smile to her face, one that only a fellow traveler can understand.

The trip flipped her finances upside down but along the way, Michelle realized the trip was about more than money. Like 75 per cent of young travelers, her drastic move left a long-lasting impact on her appreciation, tolerance and interest in other cultures. This international education, the ISTC explains, is more important now than ever before, a sentiment that Michelle’s experience certainly echoes.

“Although I never struck it rich, my experience was certainly enriching,” she explains. “I wouldn’t change it for the world.”

Learn, grow, experience...

More and more young people are being influenced by stories like Michelle’s. So much so, that the ISTC has had to coin a brand new term to distinguish an elite ring of adventurers more likely to recruit new travelers. These are the “career travelers”, daring individuals looking to up the ante with each venture, most continuing to travel for the rest of their lives. Upon reading the term, fictional treasure-hunter Indiana Jones burst into my mind hanging from a burning single-engine airplane, stuffing a precious artifact in his half-open backpack. After shaking myself from the hyperbole, I realized that there was a much more realistic case in my very own social circle: another twenty-something traveler, James Martin.

Raised in the small town of La Scie, Newfoundland, James traveled throughout North America, Europe and Iceland, quickly catching the travel bug that infects over 80% of young travelers with dreams of future journeys. As he follows Michelle’s footsteps teaching English in Korea, he continues to add increasingly challenging destinations like Australia, China and Japan to his travel portfolio. While James remains a driven individual with goals for the future, his philosophy for the moment is clear.

“Travel is my passion and the world is mine to explore,” he said through email, one of his only connections to home. “I love experiencing what I had only seen in textbooks.”

James’ dreams of becoming a teacher will surely bring him back to the classroom, but for now he considers his travels a valuable part of his education - one that cannot be replaced or substituted by any class or book experience.

There is a lot to be said for experiencing and doing rather than reading and researching. Photos simply cannot do justice to our Earth’s many marvels, not just for their beauty but also for the timing, coincidence and luck that brings travelers across these one-of-a-kind moments. After a grueling nine-hour hike through the thick Indonesian jungle, losing most of her adventurous party to exhaustion and nausea, Jill McKenzie, a young traveler in Indonesia, stumbled across a true rarity of nature: a pregnant orangutan.

“I saw the immense perfection of nature, and how much respect it deserves. Coming from a culture that rules over nature as opposed to living alongside it, I experienced something new,” she recalls. “I feared her; I was in awe. For once, humans were vulnerable. My respect and appreciation for nature grew immensely that day.”

Like Jill, young travelers who push past their natural comfort zones open their eyes to a world of learning. These are the moments and experiences that take time to digest and truly recognize their value and impact on a traveler’s life. One such moment in time remains a treasured memory of Josée Lanoue-Poulin who flew to Niger as a high school senior but returned a student ambassador of HIV/AIDS relief.

When I first asked her about her experiences, she took a moment to thank me for making her look back upon them. Now in her early twenties, she recognizes that with each year that goes by, her transformation becomes even clearer - one that began the moment the small plane opened its doors into the African night. The wall of heat crashed into her small frame, with it, eye-opening revelations about the world around her.

“The streets were not illuminated by street lamps. People were sleeping on carpets without any protection from the small sand storms whirling around them,” she remembers. “For some strange reason, in the sea of darkness there seemed to be peace. This feeling reoccurred many times throughout my trip. Although inconceivable poverty surrounded me constantly, I seemed to be immersed in as much joy.”

...and repeat

Josée and I met this past year as we shared an office for a four-month internship. Her bronzed skin and sparkling eyes shone with excitement as she walked into the office, fresh from a summer-long stay in Thailand. As travelers do, we filled our lunch breaks with tales from of our journeys spanning across continental Europe, Asia and Africa. Our animated conversations boomed with a thirst for life and, like a skilled temptress, coaxed forth a restlessness in me that I had actively been suppressing.

I find myself sitting against my bed on the floor while browsing flight sell-offs on my laptop. In my closet across the room, I can see a black duffle bag that, three years ago, proudly struggled to hold all the necessities for my Ireland adventure. The very same bag accompanied my father to jungles, deserts and woodlands on five of the seven continents on countless journeys. These days, its many buckles and clasps drag on the floor as I carry the bag and its new contents on its only weekly trip, down one flight of stairs to the washing machine.

My traveling days are on hiatus for a few years as I hover between scholarly life and the nine to five - but there are brighter days in store for my baggage. Stephen, my older brother, has his sights set on an adventure bigger and better than I ever would have expected. In place of the respectable eight-hour flight that brought me to my Ireland home, my brother will spend a total of 32 hours traveling to New Zealand where completed job applications and a work visa will hopefully have him snowboarding on some of the world’s most spectacular mountains while Canadians tan on the beach. Well, except for our mother.

She’ll have her eye on the calendar, anxiously awaiting Stephen’s return.