The Great Tree

[Durin Mephit]

We definitely need to organize a GT meeting before the next round(s) with the DRC. That way we can get our list of questions straight and prioritized, and a representative from our group can ask what we want to know

Now, having observed some of the difficulties that occurred in these meetings, I have a few specific ideas on how to streamline things. It's important to note first that the current meeting model does not provide a way to set up a list of questions in advance. That is OK, because we wouldn't want the meeting attendees to feel that their questions were trumped by questions given to the moderator before the meeting started. We have to leave some room for spontaneity. In other words... the general model is good and I wouldn't change that.

My ideas:

1. If a liason has not arrived to attend the meeting on time, someone needs to take charge as moderator, and hand off to the liason when he or she arrives. It would also help if we knew in advance who the moderator is going to be for each session. We had excellent notice of which DRC member would be at which meeting, and at what time, and in which neighborhood... but the designated moderator was omitted. Whoops!

2. A clear and proper queuing mechanism needs to exist. Having people wave to the moderator means a very fast rush of "Name waves" and it's pretty easy for the moderator to miss someone. Therefore, slowing everyone down just a bit and forcing them to request a position in line via PM seems the best solution. Alternatively... make the explorers with questions get in line. That way, no-one should be confused about whether it's their turn or not. Want to join the queue? Get at the back of the line. When you reach the front, it's your turn to speak.

3. Due to the potential commercial-use implications, the DRC probably cannot use TeamSpeak during these sessions. (Furthermore, I believe we are never intended to hear their voices anyway, because different people may operate the characters, OOC.) The players, however, are not limited in this way. If the liasons have someone attending who is a fast touch typist (such as myself, ~ 80wpm) then perhaps people could ask their questions over teamspeak and a representative typist could type the questions in quickly.

Overall, the inital round of meetings seems to have gone swimmingly well, and I want to applaud the liasons and the DRC for their hard work!
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Durin Mephit * Member of Guild of Messengers - Unless otherwise stated, opinions are mine only and not Guild endorsed.
rel.to | Marten KI: 59474 | Durin M KI: 11883768

[Professor Askew]

Here is the Engberg meeting:

[Anna Catherine]

I think part of the problem with the moderator situation was we did not know ahead of time how it was going to be moderated. We didn't know who was coming, and I wasn't sure if the moderator was supposed to come from the Great Tree, like we were supposed to know we had to furnish one, or if Kodama was waiting for someone else. It turned out to be the latter. Those who like me hadn't been to previous meetings didn't know how the moderation should be done, like the waving thing, and others probably didn't feel comfortable jumping in because it wasn't their neighbourhood. And so on. I think now that we've done some of these the moderation problem will resolve itself, it's just that the first time not enough people knew what was going on, and now we do.

All told, I think things went well. I see this as a useful trial run. Future meetings will be more productive, but this laid solid groundwork.

Thanks for posting logs!

Annacat

[Bogardan Mage]

[tkwiggins]

With all due respect to Dr. K, his comment was -- and is -- in poor taste.

[CuzinJohn]

First, let me just thank everyone who collected and posted chatlogs. You're all awesome!

Next, to follow up on something Marten said...

[Professor Askew]

To be honest, I thought Eleri did a heckuva job moderating the Engberg meeting. We used the /wave feature for our questions and Eleri wrote them down and called us in that order. Most people were savvy enough to have their questions pre-written in their KI so when it came their turn, all they had to do was hit Enter. It went very smoothly.

The question for me is...what are the DRC saying in a half hour? I don't think I heard anything I didn't already know. And those things I knew little of, they didn't have much to say about. It's obviously too soon to judge these meetings but the amount of outgoing info strikes me as awfully familiar. Unfortunately, at this time, they have a ready-made excuse for not providing said info: it all depends on funding. So, more than likely, we won't be able to push any points until that funding is secured. In the meantime, we will continue to meet at these Town Hall meetings and discuss...what?

I don't know why the DRC are doing this, I can't imagine they get anything out of it. They say they've taken Yeesha's Journey. They say they want to open up more of the Cavern...for us. If they really want to get the Explorers behind them they'll revamp that restoration timeline on their web site and include Explorers on the intel behind it. Yes, the restoration is dependent upon funding which may or may not come, but so what? That's life in the Cavern right now anyway. We're used to it. If the DRC want to open up new parts of Ae'gura, why can't we know? If I knew today that some of the closed doors in the Hood would be opened in August of this year, you can bet I'll be there in August. Does this hinge on whether the DRC is funded or not? Of course, and I'm aware of that. We all are. But, enthusiasm is infectious. If the DRC gave us something to be enthusiastic about, something to plan for, it might really help the cause.

Where was I? Oh! The meetings. So, right now it's looking like there won't be any serious discussion about anything tangible. So, maybe soon we'll have to start discussing the INtangibles like the Bahro, Phil Henderson, etc. though I'm starting to get the impression that the DRC don't even know how to discuss anything outside of their particular field. They're really quite dull. Dr. Kodama is going to have to answer for his flip comment regarding Henderson and drugs. If that was a joke, it was a bad one.
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Professor Daniel Askew - Securing our reality from the machinations of the Station Masters.

[ghaelen]

There's more of the early Dr. Kadoma meeting, with help from IreenQuench.

(back on page 2)

Thanks Ireen! /clap /clap
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What a wonderful thing it is to spend time with people who aren't obligated to be there, either.

[Anna Catherine]

A few more reflections, having had a day to chew on this:

I guess at this point, I'm seeing people making an effort. That strikes me as a positive step. I will say I am not equally impressed with all DRC members, but in general, the fact that they bothered with this makes me more disposed to view their actions in a hopeful light.

I think at this point a great deal remains to be seen. Part of what was going on here was the setting of expectations. The DRC may honestly not have realized what people are interested in, that we don't just care about facts and numbers (although we like those,) but that we're also interested in feelings, impressions, etc. I think that the DRC meetings that were most successful were the ones in which the presenters realized this and were willing to share a little more of themselves. The ones where they didn't worry so much about whether they had something "relevant" to say, but just really talked to people.

Some people are just naturally better at this than others, and the format of the meetings would have handicapped those for whom it was difficult. If the DRC member felt grilled or on the spot, having one of them versus a whole room full of explorers may have been very frightening. They may have been quite nervous. It might be more comfortable for them if they double-teamed. That's their problem to resolve, though, not ours.

I guess at this point, I extend "cautious optimism" to these meetings too. If this is a jumping off point for future progress, as I hope and expect it is, I think things look pretty bright. I guess at this point, I'm witholding final judgement, but feeling pretty good about how things went. It's a start.

[Cycreim]

Ok I found my Relto! It was in my jacket pocket. :/

It's a shame I missed the meetings. I guess it's all for the best, I can't seem to get into any neighbourhoods anymore.
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KI: 34353

[Durin Mephit]

I've now seen chat logs from 7 of the 8 meetings. No sign of a chatlog from the second Kodama meeting. Did it happen?

Engberg Morning April 26
Engberg Afternoon April 26

Kodama Morning April 26

Laxman Morning April 26
Laxman Afternoon April 26

Sutherland Morning April 26
Sutherland Afternoon April 26
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Durin Mephit * Member of Guild of Messengers - Unless otherwise stated, opinions are mine only and not Guild endorsed.
rel.to | Marten KI: 59474 | Durin M KI: 11883768

[Professor Askew]

Great post, Annacat. Cool, calm and collected. I, too, would prefer not to hammer the DRC with a ton of controversial questions.....but ultimately, they must be asked. We'll just have to figure out where and when.

We should start a thread to keep all our questions in one spot along with their subsequent answers based on the chat logs that have been recorded. Maybe I'll do that later today.

Cycreim, you may be experiencing what I experienced yesterday before the meeting started. There were NO Hoods listed in my Nexus. But, for some reason, I noticed that the wording in the upper right corner of the Nexus indicated that the Great Tree Hood was private ("Make Public"). I pressed it to make the GT public again and all my Hoods popped onto the Nexus screen. Weird. I hope the Nexus isn't breaking down. That could be very dangerous.

Thanks for all the consolidated links, Marten!
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Professor Daniel Askew - Securing our reality from the machinations of the Station Masters.

[Katreena]

Thank you all for posting the chat logs! I was unable to attend the meetings, and appreciate knowing what went on!

Good Job!

[Durin Mephit]

Just announced at DRCsite.org: All of the chatlogs are up at the new Liasons' site:

http://www.mystembassy.net/drcliaisons/
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Durin Mephit * Member of Guild of Messengers - Unless otherwise stated, opinions are mine only and not Guild endorsed.
rel.to | Marten KI: 59474 | Durin M KI: 11883768

[Tweek]