“You Are
Not Alone”
Connectedness, Academic Organization, Conferences
and [New?] Proceedings
Steven W. Gilbert, President, The
TLT Group, October 14, 2002
“You are not alone!” My daughter’s soccer coach calls out to his
players on the field: “You are not
alone!” This is neither purely
supportive nor an existential assertion.
He is trying to get the player with the ball to remember that she has
teammates who can help.
In higher education many of
us are often pressed to make important decisions and complete significant work
alone -- without the benefit of counsel or collaborators. Without anyone to share the
burden of confusion, the challenge of difficult choices. Students, faculty members, and administrators
need to believe they are not alone, and act accordingly. They need opportunities to connect with peers
and make real friends whom they can rely on in difficult times.
Many people return
repeatedly to professional conferences not only for the new information and
relevant gossip, but also for “connectedness” – for links with peers and
colleagues who become friends. Many return because for a few hours or a few days
they can feel less alone. Presenting a
paper, participating on a panel or a committee, may contribute to the
profession, but these are also the tickets to renewing the ties that really
mean something.
Conferences that offer and
sustain deeper connections have a special challenge when trying to be inclusive
and welcoming to newcomers. One of the
loneliest experiences of all is to arrive at an event for the first time and
watch others laughing, and embracing.
Each new person may feel that everyone else already knows everyone else. How can we help newcomers recognize that they
are not alone? That
they are not the only ones without great friends eagerly awaiting their return
to this event?
How can we provide a clear, comfortable
path to becoming a contributing member of a particular event community? To developing more
meaningful relations and deeper connections? How can we provide everyone with more
realistic expectations and perceptions? With a clear understanding of the rewards for patience and
persistence?
A new version of conference
proceedings may offer one possibility for extending further the usual variety
of visible role options for constructive, continuing participation. We could consider structuring each conference
to provide opportunities for ALL participants to collaborate on some projects –
many of which cross usual institutional or disciplinary boundaries. New computing and telecommunications
technologies offer the possibility of launching these collaborative projects
before the annual conference, continuing work on them during the event, and
finishing up in subsequent weeks or months.
The final “products” could be publishable papers or works in other media
suitable for sharing via the Web.
I realize that the events
that I will return to year after year are the ones where I feel most welcome,
most comfortable, most understood; where I can be with people I like and
admire; where I can help and contribute
and feel valued; where I can be
stimulated and challenged and soothed;
where my mind can be changed, and I can change others; where I can often find commitment and
compassion -- and occasionally wisdom and truth.
I want to find and return to
those places where many of us can say something like: “This is the place where I can be the way I’d
like to be all the time.”
For additional related
information and background, please see the “FireCircle
Website.”
