[FM Discuss] reflections on collaborative futures
Greg Urban
gjurban at gmail.com
Sun Jan 31 12:13:38 PST 2010
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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