[FM Discuss] reflections on collaborative futures
adam hyde
adam at flossmanuals.net
Mon Feb 1 07:28:06 PST 2010
hey!
thanks greg! great feedback :)
adam
On Sun, 2010-01-31 at 12:13 -0800, Greg Urban wrote:
> Great job, indeed.
> I have read thru the draft a couple of times. Maybe 'scanned' is a
> better word. Letting my eye be caught by different ideas.
> Fascinating ideas. I understand you might feel it is incomplete, but I
> find it thought-provoking in a way that more 'completed' docs are not.
> It is like the mental equivalent of the froth fizzing away on the top
> of some kind of fermenting beverage. Pleasantly yeasty and a bit
> dizzying at the same time.
>
> Greg
>
> On Wed, Jan 27, 2010 at 8:40 AM, Anne Gentle
> <annegentle at justwriteclick.com> wrote:
> > Book sprinters --
> > Great job, your efforts are inspirational! I personally enjoyed reading the
> > blog entries through the week.
> >
> > Any writer respects the two-step "put butt in seat and start writing"
> > efforts that the group put forth. From 10-midnight for days straight takes
> > real passion and discipline. And to write reflective blog entries and
> > summaries to the mailing list on top, well, believe me when I say that's
> > impressive. Well done. :)
> >
> > Anne
> >
> > On Wed, Jan 27, 2010 at 1:01 AM, adam hyde <adam at flossmanuals.net> wrote:
> >>
> >> thanks for the support and encouragement :)
> >>
> >> actually, i just spent yesterday looking at the book. the structural
> >> issues are there but not too bad ...i'm guess i'm too close to it still,
> >> my opinion will probably flip flop the next days
> >>
> >> a webcam could be fun to do ... will see if its possible next sprint
> >>
> >> adam
> >>
> >>
> >> On Tue, 2010-01-26 at 14:40 -0500, Joshua Facemyer wrote:
> >> > Just a quick response (there's so much to respond about!!):
> >> >
> >> > I think that, no matter how "successful" the book-formation was, the
> >> > sprint would have to be successful, being an opportunity to see how
> >> > several different things work (both technical and collaborational).
> >> >
> >> > I think what you did is phenomenal. I wish I could have been there!
> >> > Congrats to all who were involved!
> >> >
> >> > Maybe, in the future, you could do some sort of video stream for
> >> > booksprints. That might really help improve real-time collaboration.
> >> > And we can all "be there" :)
> >> >
> >> > JF
> >> >
> >> > On 01/25/2010 02:43 PM, adam hyde wrote:
> >> > > hi,
> >> > >
> >> > > so, we locked 5 people in a room with aco and i and we wrote a book in
> >> > > 5
> >> > > days. it was an extremely interesting experiment. i am still
> >> > > recovering
> >> > > from it and i can not yet clearly think about the book, the process
> >> > > etc
> >> > > but i wanted to write a few things for the list....
> >> > >
> >> > > firstly, i admit to being scared about this project. to ask 5 people
> >> > > (+
> >> > > Aco) who don't know each other to come to berlin and write a book in 5
> >> > > days when all they have is the title...thats kinda scarey. i did not
> >> > > know if we would succeed or even what constituted success. failure to
> >> > > me
> >> > > was that those involved thought it was a waste of time. i had warned
> >> > > all
> >> > > involved that we might fail, including the transmediale festival that
> >> > > was funding the sprint.
> >> > >
> >> > > the thing that concerned me most was that we were embarking on an
> >> > > entirely new type of Book Sprint. Previous sprints had been about
> >> > > writing procedural documentation. Perhaps the only books deviating
> >> > > slightly from this might be the GSoC Mentoring guide and possibly
> >> > > parts
> >> > > of the CiviCRM manual.
> >> > >
> >> > > When I look at procedural documentation of free software I see it as a
> >> > > known - yes we can make excellent books in short time frames. when
> >> > > there
> >> > > is something concrete infront of you then it is possible to describe
> >> > > it,
> >> > > and it is also possible for others to describe the same thing and
> >> > > extend
> >> > > the text. there is a shared understanding of what it is you are
> >> > > writing
> >> > > about and we have developed a methodology to do this....however this
> >> > > sprint was directed by nothing other than the speculative title
> >> > > 'collaborative futures'. how do you get 5 people to share a vision
> >> > > about
> >> > > something so intangible? Collaboration itself is a abstract notion
> >> > > with
> >> > > very grey boundaries and a million different histories and
> >> > > contexts...adding 'the future' to this seemed to adjectify the already
> >> > > vague grounds into a barely visible haze
> >> > >
> >> > > tricky.
> >> > >
> >> > > additionally we did _no_ discussion before everyone entered the room
> >> > > on
> >> > > Monday morning (day 1). nothing discussed over email, no background
> >> > > reading. nothing. this was deliberate as i wanted to be hard about the
> >> > > 0->book in 5 days....to add more flavour to the event we were also
> >> > > using
> >> > > an alpha pre-release version of a new type of software and Aco was in
> >> > > the room with us building the software as we used it (happy to say
> >> > > that
> >> > > booki now seems pretty robust and is now starting to exceed the
> >> > > functionality of the FM tool set)...
> >> > >
> >> > > thankfully we had a good team and also a team that knew very well that
> >> > > this process was an experiment and it might fail. Those in attendance
> >> > > were Mushon Zer-Aviv, Michael Mandiberg, Mike Linksvayer, Marta
> >> > > Peirano,
> >> > > Alan Toner, Aleksandar Erkalovic (Aco) and me (facilitator). ..for
> >> > > those
> >> > > that don't know the line-up I have put their bios at the bottom of
> >> > > this
> >> > > email.
> >> > >
> >> > > the team was astonishing - a broad range of experiences and the
> >> > > feeling
> >> > > in the team was really amazing. very warm and friendly while at the
> >> > > time
> >> > > being open to challenge and straight talk.
> >> > >
> >> > > During the first day we relied heavily on traditional 'unconference'
> >> > > technologies – namely colored sticky notes. With reference to
> >> > > Unconferences we always need to tip the hat to Allen Gunn and
> >> > > Aspiration
> >> > > for their inspirational execution of this format. We took many ideas
> >> > > from Aspiration's Unconferences during the process of this sprint and
> >> > > we
> >> > > also brought much of what had been learned from previous Book Sprints
> >> > > to
> >> > > the table. First, before the introductions, we each wrote as many
> >> > > notes
> >> > > as we could about what we thought this book was going to be about. The
> >> > > list consists of the following:
> >> > >
> >> > > * When Collaboration Breaks.
> >> > > * Collaboration (super) Models.
> >> > > * Plausible near and long term development of collaboration
> >> > > tech,
> >> > > methods, etc. Social impact of the same. How social impact
> >> > > can
> >> > > be made positive. Dangers to look out for.
> >> > > * Licenses cannot go two ways.
> >> > > * Incriminating Collaborations.
> >> > > * In the future much of what is valuable will be made by
> >> > > communities. What type of thing will they be? What rules will
> >> > > they have for participation? What can the social political
> >> > > consequences be?
> >> > > * Sharing vs Collaboration.
> >> > > * How to deconstruct and reassemble publishing?
> >> > > * Collaboration and its relationship to FLOSS and GIT
> >> > > communities.
> >> > > * What is collaboration? How does it differ from cooperation?
> >> > > * What is the role of ego in collaboration?
> >> > > * Attribution can kill collaboration as attribution =
> >> > > ownership.
> >> > > * Sublimation of authorship and ego.
> >> > > * Models of collaboration. Historical framework of
> >> > > collaboration.
> >> > > Influence of technology enabling collaboration.
> >> > > * Successful free culture economic models.
> >> > >
> >> > > Then each presented who they were and their ideas and projects as they
> >> > > are related to free culture, free software, and collaboration. The
> >> > > process was open to discussion and everyone was encouraged to write as
> >> > > many points, questions, statements, on sticky notes and put them on
> >> > > the
> >> > > wall. During this first day we wrote about 100 sticky notes with short
> >> > > statements like:
> >> > >
> >> > > * "Art vs Collaboration"
> >> > > * "Free Culture does not require maintenance"
> >> > > * "Transparent premises"
> >> > > * "Autonomy: better term than free/open?"
> >> > > * "Centralised silos vs community"
> >> > > * "Free Culture posturing"
> >> > >
> >> > > ...and other cryptic references to the thoughts of the day. We stuck
> >> > > these notes on a wall and after all of the presentations (and dinner)
> >> > > we
> >> > > grouped them under titles that seemed to act as appropriate meta tags.
> >> > > We then drew from these groups the 6 major themes. We finished at
> >> > > midnight. i was not sure if we had made enough ground.
> >> > >
> >> > > Day two – 10.00 kick off. I woke at 5am wondering how the hell we were
> >> > > going to make this work. I woke up Aco in the next room and ranted a
> >> > > bit
> >> > > about what we could try. We had breakfast, went to the venue and the
> >> > > strategy was that we simply each choose a sticky note from one of the
> >> > > major themes and started writing. It was important for us to just 'get
> >> > > in the flow' and hence we wrote for the rest of the day until dinner.
> >> > > Then we went to the Turkish markets for burek, coffee and fresh
> >> > > Pomegranates.
> >> > >
> >> > > The rest of the evening we re-aligned the index, smoothed it out, and
> >> > > identified a more linear structure. We finished up at about 23.00
> >> > >
> >> > > Day three – At 10.00 we started with a brief recap of the new index
> >> > > structure and then we also welcomed two new collaborators in the
> >> > > realspace – Mirko Lindner and Michelle Thorne. Later in the day, when
> >> > > Booki had been debugged a lot by Aco, we welcomed our first remote
> >> > > collaborator – Sophie Kampfrath. Then we wrote... at the end of the
> >> > > day
> >> > > we restructured the first two sections, did a word count (17,000
> >> > > words)
> >> > > and made sushi.
> >> > >
> >> > > After sushi we argued about attribution and almost finished the first
> >> > > two sections. Closing time around midnight.
> >> > >
> >> > > Day four – A late start (11.00) and we are also joined by Ela Kagel,
> >> > > one
> >> > > of the curators from transmediale. Ela presented about herself and
> >> > > transmediale and then we discussed possible ways Ela could contribute
> >> > > and we also discussed the larger structure of the book. Later Sophie
> >> > > joined us in real space to help edit and also Jon Cohrs came at dinner
> >> > > time to see how he could contribute. Word count at sleep time (22.00):
> >> > > 27,000.
> >> > >
> >> > > Day five – The last day. We arrived at 10.00 and discussed the
> >> > > structure. Andrea Goetzke and Jon Cohrs joined us. We identified areas
> >> > > to be addressed, slightly altered the order of chapters, addressed the
> >> > > (now non-existent) processes section, and forged ahead. We finished
> >> > > 2200
> >> > > on the button. Objavi, the publishing engine for Booki, generated a
> >> > > book-formatted PDF in 2 minutes. Done. Word count ~33,000
> >> > >
> >> > > As I understand it transmediale will print between 200-500 copies of
> >> > > the
> >> > > book.
> >> > >
> >> > > so...what are my thoughts on the book? I find it very hard to reflect
> >> > > on
> >> > > its success 'as a book'. I see the experiment a success. i find the
> >> > > content and process has changed how i think about collaboration and
> >> > > provoked some questions about collaboration that i dont know how to
> >> > > answer. As for the book as a book - I think it has some major
> >> > > structural
> >> > > issues and i think its scope goes too far. However i think it still
> >> > > works. in all likelihood it will be used as a teaching resource in
> >> > > NYU,
> >> > > parsons, and Staten Island University since thats where 2 of the
> >> > > participants teach...so that is in itself a success. However I think
> >> > > we
> >> > > can do better. I remember the first procedural documentation book
> >> > > sprint
> >> > > (Inkscape) and I remember the weeks after that event thinking how we
> >> > > could have easily improved the process. We did improve it and I think
> >> > > our sprints have become better and better. I can already see that in
> >> > > sprints like this with a more speculative narrative we need to focus
> >> > > much more on structure and 'writing in support of a conclusion'....the
> >> > > methodologies still need to be worked out but i feel very positive
> >> > > about
> >> > > the future of this kind of sprint...also, I think if this book wasn't
> >> > > sooo extremely speculative much of these concerns would have been
> >> > > addressed...
> >> > >
> >> > > anyways...it was a fantastic experiment. i enjoyed it very much and i
> >> > > would be very interested in your thoughts on what i have written and
> >> > > the
> >> > > content of the book (http://www.booki.cc/collaborativefutures)
> >> > >
> >> > > ...until then, heres the bios of those involved:
> >> > > The starting 7 included:
> >> > >
> >> > > Mushon Zer-Aviv is a designer, an educator and a media activist from
> >> > > Tel-Aviv, based in NY. His work explores media in public space and the
> >> > > public space in media. In his creative research he focuses on the
> >> > > perception of territory and borders and the way they are shaped
> >> > > through
> >> > > politics, culture, networks and the World Wide Web. He is the
> >> > > co-founder
> >> > > of Shual.com – a foxy design studio; ShiftSpace.org – an open source
> >> > > layer above any website; YouAreNotHere.org – a dislocative tourism
> >> > > agency; Kriegspiel – a computer game based on Guy Debord’s Game of
> >> > > War;
> >> > > and the Tel Aviv node of the Upgrade international network. Mushon is
> >> > > an
> >> > > honorary resident at Eyebeam – an art and technology center in New
> >> > > York.
> >> > > He teaches new media research at NYU and open source design at Parsons
> >> > > the New School of Design.
> >> > >
> >> > > Mike Linksvayer is Vice President at Creative Commons, where he
> >> > > started
> >> > > as CTO in 2003. Previously he co-founded Bitzi, an early open
> >> > > data/open
> >> > > content/mass collaboration service, and worked as a web developer and
> >> > > software engineer. In 1993 he published one of the first interviews
> >> > > with
> >> > > Linus Torvalds, creator of Linux. He is a co-founder and currently
> >> > > active in Autonomo.us, which investigates and works to further the
> >> > > role
> >> > > of free software, culture, and data in an era of software-as-a-service
> >> > > and cloud computing. His chapter on "Free Culture in Relation to
> >> > > Software Freedom" was published in FREE BEER, a book written by
> >> > > speakers
> >> > > at FSCONS 2008. Linksvayer holds a degree from the University of
> >> > > Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in economics, a field which continues to
> >> > > strongly inform his approach. He lives in Oakland, California.
> >> > >
> >> > > Michael Mandiberg is known for selling all of his possessions online
> >> > > on
> >> > > Shop Mandiberg, making perfect copies of copies on
> >> > > AfterSherrieLevine.com, and creating Firefox plugins that highlight
> >> > > the
> >> > > real environmental costs of a global economy on TheRealCosts.com. His
> >> > > current projects include the co-authored groundbreaking Creative
> >> > > Commons
> >> > > licensed textbook "Digital Foundations: an Intro to Media Design" that
> >> > > teaches Bauhaus visual principles through design software;
> >> > > HowMuchItCosts.us, a car direction site that incorporates the
> >> > > financial
> >> > > and carbon cost of driving; and Bright Bike, a retro-reflective
> >> > > bicycle
> >> > > praised by treehugger.com as “obnoxiously bright.” He is a Senior
> >> > > Fellow
> >> > > at Eyebeam, and an Assistant Professor at the College of Staten
> >> > > Island/CUNY. He lives in, and rides his bicycle around, Brooklyn. His
> >> > > work lives at Mandiberg.com.
> >> > >
> >> > > Marta Peirano writes about culture, science and technology for the
> >> > > Spanish media, encompassing newspapers, online journals and printed
> >> > > magazines. She is a long term contributor and founder of the online
> >> > > media arts journal Elástico and is the author of "La Petite Claudine",
> >> > > a
> >> > > widely read blog in the Spanish language about art, literature, free
> >> > > culture, pornography (and everything in between). In 2003 and 2004 she
> >> > > directed the Copyfight Festivals in Spain (CCCB, Santa Mónica) with
> >> > > her
> >> > > collective Elástico, a symposium and exhibition that investigated
> >> > > alternative models of intellectual property. Marta has given numerous
> >> > > lectures and workshops on free culture, digital publishing tools and
> >> > > journalism at festivals and universities. She recently published "El
> >> > > Rival de Prometeo", a book about Automatas and the engineering of the
> >> > > Enlightenment. She currently lives in Berlin and is working on a
> >> > > second
> >> > > book.
> >> > >
> >> > > Alan Toner was born in Dublin and studied law in Trinity College
> >> > > Dublin
> >> > > and NYU Law School, where he was later a fellow in the Information Law
> >> > > Institute and the Engelberg Center on Law and Innovation. His research
> >> > > is focused on the countervailing impact of peer processes and
> >> > > information enclosure on cultural production and social life. In 2003
> >> > > he
> >> > > worked on the grassroots campaign 'We Seize!' challenging the UN World
> >> > > Summit on the Information Society; he has participated extensively in
> >> > > grassroots media and information freedom movements. Since 2006 he has
> >> > > also worked in documentary film, including co-writing and co-producing
> >> > > "Steal This Film 2" (2007). In 2008 he co-created the archival site
> >> > > http://footage.stealthisfilm.com/. Currently he's writing a book on
> >> > > the
> >> > > history of economic and technological control in the film industry.
> >> > > Sometimes he can be found near Alexanderplatz, and at
> >> > > http://knowfuture.wordpress.com/.
> >> > >
> >> > > Aleksandar Erkalovic is reknowned internationally in the new media
> >> > > arts
> >> > > and activist circles for the software he has developed. He used to
> >> > > work
> >> > > in Multimedia institute in Croatia, where he was the lead developer of
> >> > > a
> >> > > popular NGO web publishing system (TamTam). Aleksander has a broad
> >> > > spectrum of programming experience having worked on many projects from
> >> > > multiplayer games, library software, financial applications, artistic
> >> > > projects, and web site analysis applications, to building systems for
> >> > > managing domain registration. Aleksander was for a long time the sole
> >> > > programmer for FLOSS Manuals and is now leading the development
> >> > > (together with Adam Hyde and Douglas Bagnall) of a new GPL-licensed
> >> > > type
> >> > > of collaborative authoring and publishing platform called 'Booki'.
> >> > > Aleksander's new media artistic collaborations have won many awards,
> >> > > as
> >> > > well as being extensively exhibited internationally. Aleksander also
> >> > > organises creative and educative workshops directed to young people,
> >> > > experts, and amateurs that are interested in the software he has
> >> > > developed and free software in general. He is currently also employed
> >> > > by
> >> > > Informix in Zagreb, Croatia.
> >> > >
> >> > > Adam Hyde was for many years a digital artist primarily exploring
> >> > > digital-analog hybrid broadcast systems. These projects included The
> >> > > Frequency Clock, Polar Radio, Radio-Astronomy, net.congestion,
> >> > > re:mote,
> >> > > Free Radio Linux, Wifio, Paper Cup Telephone Network, Mobicasting,
> >> > > Silent TV and others. Many of these projects have won awards and have
> >> > > been widely exhibited internationally. Since returning from a
> >> > > residency
> >> > > in Antartica in 2007 Adam founded FLOSS Manuals and has been focused
> >> > > on
> >> > > increasing the quantity and quality of free documentation about free
> >> > > software through FLOSS Manuals, exploring emerging methodologies for
> >> > > collaborative book production (Book Sprints), and developing Booki
> >> > > with
> >> > > Aleksander and Douglas. Adam has facilitated over 16 Book Sprints, is
> >> > > also the co-founder (with Eric Kluitenberg) of the forthcoming
> >> > > Electrosmog Festival for Sustainable Immobility and facilitator of the
> >> > > forthcoming Arctic Perspectives technology cahier.
> >> > >
> >> > >
> >> > > adam
> >> > >
> >> > >
> >> > >
> >> > >
> >> > >
> >> > >
> >>
> >>
> >> --
> >> Adam Hyde
> >> Founder FLOSS Manuals
> >> German mobile : + 49 177 4935122
> >> Email : adam at flossmanuals.net
> >> irc: irc.freenode.net #flossmanuals
> >>
> >> "Free manuals for free software"
> >> http://www.flossmanuals.net/about
> >>
> >> _______________________________________________
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> >
> >
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--
Adam Hyde
Founder FLOSS Manuals
German mobile : + 49 177 4935122
Email : adam at flossmanuals.net
irc: irc.freenode.net #flossmanuals
"Free manuals for free software"
http://www.flossmanuals.net/about
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