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Saturday, 11 July 2009

It's true: Everything (really) Matters!


EM at Harvrd bkstore


As previously reported, made it to Ron Currie's reading of Everything Matters! in Cambridge last week. It's dangerous to predict that books are going to win huge prizes when all you/I have read is a few draft chapters, heard the author read one ("Brother") from the published manuscript, and read between the covers (and under the covers, come to think of it) only the opening chapter...but, I'm going out on one of the many leafy limbs that throw the acre of shade--carpeted with wisdom, humor, and some kind of preternatural understanding of human nature--that is this book.


Happy staff note
 

The Harvard Bookstore staff loves it


Ron reading

Ron reading

Signing 

The happiest moment for an author

And thanks so much, Ron, for the friendship, beautiful inscription, and the acknowledgment. Zoetropers: when asked if he's in a writing group, Ron talked about "us."

Margaret Fuller's Bicentenarians

A dedicated group of people crazed (ok, some crazed, ahem, others deeply respectful) of the life and works of Margaret Fuller are scheming on a regular basis to make her bicentennial a spectacular event. With Rev Dorothy Emerson, I'm co-chairing the committee based here in New England and thus happily hosted one of our regular meetings this past Thursday.

I feel compelled to report that it was not raining. Normally, this is not news but alas given that the heavens have been weeping for more than a month, we took it as some sort of sign that we were able to meet at the picnic table.

And in the interest of full disclosure, I must add that as soon as the meeting was over...

* * * IT STARTED TO RAIN * * *

To prove the sun actually came out, two pictures for your enjoyment

Light on dorothy

That's Dorothy in the pool of light with Margaret framed behind her

Christina and Nancy  

This picture, just to see the refreshments, including cherries, grapes, and lattes for the caffeine-deprived


Tuesday, 07 July 2009

Ron reads from Everything Matters!

Currie09 Sarah Eustis photo

And while I'm on the subject of writers reading, join me tomorrow night, Wed, July 8 at 7 PM, to hear Endless Knots Writer (a select group of my faves) Ron Currie, Jr. reading from his new one, Everything Matters! at Harvard Bookstore in Cambridge, MA.

I had the privilege of reading the first four chapters of one of the earliest drafts. No surprise that readers are raving. One friend on Zoetrope said the book left her sobbing; several more have said they couldn't put it down, and, as previously reported, Janet Maslin generously praised it in The New York Times. So happy for and proud of Ron.

See you there?

Great readers, great writers at Solstice MFA series

I regularly post these announcements from my friends at Solstice because I know that if you go you won't be disappointed.

THE SOLSTICE MFA PROGRAM of PINE MANOR COLLEGE
ANNOUNCES ITS JULY READING SERIES

[Chestnut Hill, MA, July 2009]  The Solstice MFA in Creative Writing Program of Pine Manor College announces its July Reading Series. All readings begin at 7:30 p.m. and are held in the Founder’s Room of Pine Manor College located at 400 Heath Street in Chestnut Hill. Copies of the authors’ books will be available for sale after all readings, and there is plenty of free parking!

Friday, July 10 at 7:30 p.m.: Author and illustrator Grace Lin (The Ugly Vegetables, and The Year of the Rat) & poet and fiction writer Steven Huff (A Pig In Paris and The Water We Came From).

Saturday, July 11 at 7:30 p.m.: Poet Kathleen Aguero (Investigations: The Mystery of the Girl Sleuth and Daughter Of); novelist & young people’s writer Laban Carrick Hill (America Dreaming: How Youth Changed America in the 60s and Casa Azul); & fiction and nonfiction writer Randall Kenan (Walking on Water: Black American Lives at the Turn of the Century and Let the Dead Bury Their Dead).

Sunday, July 12 at 7:30 p.m.: Program Director and poet Meg Kearney (An Unkindness of Ravens and The Secret of Me); novelist Helen Elaine Lee (Water Marked and The Serpent’s Gift); & special guest poet Bruce Bennett (Funny Signals and the forthcoming Subway Figure).


Tuesday, July 14 at 7:30 p.m.: Program Administrator and fiction writer Tanya Whiton (published in Crazyhorse and Northwest Review) & creative nonfiction writer Michael Steinberg (editor of Fourth Genre: Explorations in Nonfiction and author of Still Pitching).

Wednesday, July 15 at 7:30 p.m.: YA novelist Laura Williams McCaffrey (Alia Waking and the forthcoming Lyla’s Flight); multi-genre writer Ray Gonzalez (The Underground Heart: A Return to a Hidden Landscape and Cool Auditor: Prose Poems); & poet & memoirist Anne-Marie Oomen (Uncoded Woman; House of Fields).

Thursday, July 16 at 7:30 p.m.: Special guest poet Jeffrey Thomson (Birdwatching in Wartime and Renovation) & multi-genre writer Joy Castro (The Truth Book).

Friday, July 17 at 7:30 p.m.: Novelist Sterling Watson (The Calling and Weep No More, My Brother) & special guest M.L. Liebler (Written In Rain: New & Selected Poems 1985-2000 and Greatest Hits: 1984-2004).

Directions to Pine Manor College, complete bios of our authors, and more information about the Solstice MFA Program can be found here.
###

Linda, again

Still missed. Six years ago today.

Monday, 06 July 2009

How many astrophysicists does it take to see a black hole?

330! Great story of extraterrestrial collaboration. Includes telescopes ... and people. Here: http://www.astronomyreport.com/research/Pinpointing_origin_of_gamma_rays_from_a_supermassive_black_hole.asp

Sunday, 05 July 2009

Farmers marketing...at Grand Army Plaza

New York was ahead of the curve with green markets. I remember going to my first such more than 20 years ago in Union Square. Now there are green markets all over the boroughs, my current fave, due to its proximity to the daughters and son-in-law, is at Grand Army Plaza in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn.

I wondered if it would be teeming with people on July 4 and whether all the farmers would come in. They did and the vegetables, fruits, flowers, eggs, fish, meats, and mushroom purveyors were out in force.

Snaps

Snap peas (which I just snapped - delicious)

Cherries 

Eat too many and you'll have cherry belly

Squash 

Summer's here when its namesake squash appears

Straws

I should have made strawberry shortcake

Geraniums 

My mother, born and raised but two miles from here, loved geraniums

Brachys 

Swan River Daisy (Brachycome)

Wednesday, 01 July 2009

Happy Fourth!

As I take a blogging break (back soon), a Happy Fourth of July here in the US of A, where our house was already some 50 years old when the Declaration of Independence was signed.

May we all sign our own declarations of interdependence in these complex times.

And should you miss the posts here, may I refer you back to my previous one that so many people have mentioned to me?

Enjoy, whether you're on holiday or not, and thanks, friends and strangers alike, for your endless (knots) reading here.

Sunday, 28 June 2009

"Every day there is an egg to catch"

Most Sundays, Daughter #2 and I discuss a single column in The New York Times. Not infrequently, our inner snarks emerge as we eviscerate "Modern Love," the 1500-word essays that appear in Sunday Styles. We haven't had the chance to compare notes yet on "Raising a Princess Single-Handedly," but I'm guessing she, along with you, will choke up a bit and cheer its warmth and evident devotion.

Simon Van Booy and his four-year-old Madeleine are busy making life appear normal after the sudden death of his wife/her mother last year from Marfan syndrome. I don't think it's because my best friend, Linda, died of Marfan's that this piece causes me to pull my laptop into the garden and post in these few moments when it's not raining.

This tender reflection, circling the simple gesture of making breakfast, manages to draw in everything from Sleeping Beauty to the trick of buying store-brand cereal and pouring it into the colorful boxes of crap that children prefer to World War II in one effortless stream.

Witness this from the guy with the funny hat, cane, and mustache, who also takes a bow: "I think it was Charlie Chaplin who said that close up, human life is tragic, but from a distance, it’s funny."

Or how about this capture of a certain aspect of the secret life of children:

We don’t have television, so Hannah Montana entered our lives on a DVD purchased because Madeleine had somehow found out about her through that underground toy-smuggling and gossip network also known as nursery school.

Turns out Mr. Van Booy is a writer of some repute, with books in print and in the pipeline: his new story collection, Love Begins in Winter, is just out, joining The Secret Lives of People in Love (I swear I didn't see the title until after I'd written the line about the secret lives of children); coming soon, Why We Need Love, Why People Fight, and a few more. Prolific to boot.

Do the clickeroo. You'll thank me and we'll both thank Simon and Madeleine. The title of this post, taken from the piece, is self-explanatory.

Enterprise 2.0 aftermath

Some links to what others have written about "How Twitter Changes Everything" and "Leading Collaborative Teams" sessions:

"Enterprise 2.0: Twitter Up, Facebook, MySpace Down," W. David Gardner's piece in Information Week.

And Gardner's piece in the same pub, "Enterprise 2.0: Making Virtual Collaboration Work."

Patti Anklam, who participated on the Twitter panel, provides a great summary and writes about some unspoken-at-the-time thoughts, including the red flag of security, on AppGap, "Twitter in the Enterprise."

Bill Ives, also on AppGap, publishes his insights into and experiences using Twitter, which he also shared in the session, "Twitter as a Business Application."

And finally on AppGap (thanks, AppGappers for all this attention), Jenny Ambrozek's "Enterprise 2.0 2009:Twitter’s Influence Everywhere & A New Realism."

Oh, wait. Someone hated the Twitter sesson. I responded. Twice.



Roundish orb

A yellow disk appeared in the sky yesterday.

Briefly.

I remembered the warning never to look at it directly but that was not a problem because as soon as it appeared it was gone.

Covered by fuzzy bands of grey out of which poured tears because even the clouds miss the sun.

I think that's what it's called.

It's been so long and today is no different here in New England.

Wednesday, 24 June 2009

How Twitter changed to include everyone

Great session. Huge thanks to panelists Clara Shih (@clarashih), Bill Ives (@billives), Patti Anklam (@panklam), Isaac Garcia (@isaac garcia) and @me-self.

And thanks to the terrific audience who rose, literally, and contributed many thoughts, not to mention hundreds of tweets. I'm listing them in full here and perhaps, time permitting, we can cull what was said and do a proper summary of all the insights. In the meantime, some pictures, with thanks to ace photographer Jeff Stamps.

IMG_4084 

So many that they made people line up at the door. Thanks, all!

Busy panelists 

From right, Bill Ives, Clara Shih, Isaac Garcia, me (where's Patti Anklam?)

Tweeters at twitter 

People already tweeting and we'd barely started

Rapt attention 

My team in front row (they eventually smiled)

And now for the tweets, unedited, in reverse order, and jumping to next page

  1. jlipnack Mega thx to @panklam @isaacgarcia @clarashih @billives AND THE BRILLIANT AUDIENCE for #e2conf21 How Twitter Changes Everything! 30 minutes ago from web    
  2. Green_6533_crw_0788_normal billives thoughts on Twitter + Business for #e2conf21 panel thx @jlipnack #e2conf http://bit.ly/qhGKl about 1 hour ago from TweetDeck    
  3. New_profile_normal memeticbrand @isaacgarcia RTs are made with followers interests in mind. If they don't trust that there is value add filter they will unfollow #e2conf21 about 10 hours ago from web    
  4. Ig_normal isaacgarcia @gialyons RTs are routing unsolicited info from orig source that I may not be following.If am following,is redundant (both spam) #e2conf21 about 10 hours ago from web    
  5. Ig_normal isaacgarcia @elsuacon RTs are routing unsolicited info from orig source that I may not be following.If am following,is redundant (all spam) #e2conf21 about 10 hours ago from web    
  6. Ig_normal isaacgarcia The Internet Devalues Everything It Touches- http://bit.ly/ENCDP (ig:Does Twitter devalue Conversations too? (into spam?) #e2conf21 #e2conf about 11 hours ago from web    
  7. Green_6533_crw_0788_normal billives RT @isaacgarcia: @jlipnack is best moderator in world. She engaged entire room! Loved it! #e2conf21 #e2conf >agree about 11 hours ago from TweetDeck    
  8. Ig_normal isaacgarcia So how is recvng RTs about a topic/person that I didn't choose to Follow not spam? Am recvng unsolicited info from the originator. #e2conf21 about 11 hours ago from web    
  9. Ig_normal isaacgarcia @jlipnack is the best moderator in the world. She engaged the entire room! Loved it! #e2conf21 #e2conf about 11 hours ago from web    
  10. Crm-logo-white_1__normal EffectiveCRM RT @CRMStrategies: @danlarsen "Twitter & Fbook R the new CRM" - Clara Shih, Sf.com #e2conf21 | Not even close 2 #CRM #scrm | DItto - Channel about 12 hours ago from TweetDeck    
  11. Ericandersen_normal eric_andersen Per @isaacgarcia "All retweets are spam" #e2conf21 (via @amcafee) Me: only if they don't add value about 15 hours ago from Tweetie    
  12. Nitinpiccropped_normal nitinbadjatia Whoa, hold on there...slight overstatement RT @CRMStrategies: @danlarsen"Twitter and Facebook are the new CRM"-Clara Shih, Sf.com #e2conf21 about 16 hours ago from TweetDeck    
  13. Brian_headshot_2_normal CRMStrategies @danlarsen "Twitter and Facebook are the new CRM" - Clara Shih, Sf.com #e2conf21 | Soc Med is addl channl - Not even close to #CRM #scrm about 16 hours ago from TweetGrid    
  14. N645243970_1161_normal theRab only 2of4 #e2conf21 panelists (@panklam / @clarashih) spoke abt twitter for engaging community, building relationships & having conversation about 16 hours ago from TweetDeck
  15. N645243970_1161_normal theRab RT @digiphile: @elsuacon @danyork 1 of my fave 08 @NYTimes articles was on "ambient intimacy" http://bit.ly/e5zgz by @pomeranian99 #e2conf21 about 16 hours ago from TweetDeck    
  16. N645243970_1161_normal theRab yay i won @jlipnack's book for being in the first 5 tweets during #e2conf21 about 16 hours ago from TweetDeck    
  17. N645243970_1161_normal theRab http://twitpic.com/87ylf - #e2conf21 panelists @jlipnack @panklam @isaacgarcia @clarashih @billives #e2conf How Twitter changes everything?! about 16 hours ago from Tweetie    
  18. Img_0098_normal katmandelstein RT @theRab: RT @elsuacon: #e2conf21 @yourdon RT is the perfect way to getting continuous feedback from those who folllow / care about wh ... about 17 hours ago from TweetGrid    
  19. Take_me_to_twitter_normal andikopp2 http://twitpic.com/87ylf - #e2conf21 panelists - how Twitter changes everything?! - at #e2conf (via @theRab) about 17 hours ago from Tweetie    
  20. N645243970_1161_normal theRab http://twitpic.com/87ylf - #e2conf21 panelists - how Twitter changes everything?! - at #e2conf about 17 hours ago from TwitPic

Continue reading "How Twitter changed to include everyone" »

Tuesday, 23 June 2009

How Twitter changes everything @3:30 today @Enterprise 2.0

Here. Please join Clara Shih (@clarashih), Bill Ives (@billives), Patti Anklam (@panklam), Isaac Garcia (@isaac garcia) and @me. Here.

Monday, 22 June 2009

Solstice bloggers in training

Happy proto-bloggers at Solstice Summer Writers' Conference after our session today

Happy class

Solstice Director Meg Kearney

Meg

Business Week: Managing the virtual workforce

Business Week has done a good job over the years of following trends in the virtual workplace. When one of our early books came out (maybe The TeamNet Factor) we got an audience with then (a bit more than cub) reporter John Byrne, now waaaay more than cub, i.e. he's editor of the mag.

Now Businessweek.com has a whole section on "Managing the Virtual Workforce," with these topics, one of which has quotes from none other than your favorite blogger, being me (see this one, a very good piece by Rebecca Reisner, who profiles Smart Balance, a company that seems to have not only conquered the fight against body fat but the same against corporate fat:


Saturday, 20 June 2009

Boston Literary Landmarks by Foot

Solsticebanner

Solstice Summer Writers' Conference has yet another great thing afoot, so to speak, this coming week. No place better than Boston to walk such a path:

Solstice Friends are invited to join our first joint venture with Boston By Foot for a Literary Landmarks Tour of Boston, Thursday, June 25, at 3:00 p.m. 2009 Conference participants and Solstice faculty and participants from previous years will rendezvous at Downtown Crossing to leave for the hour-and-a-half long tour.

The tour costs $12.50 per person; for more information, email whitontanya [ at ] pmc [dot ]edu no later than Tuesday, June 23.

Enterprise 2.0: Networked--The New Geography of Organizations

No Enterprise 2.0 conference would be complete if Jeff Stamps and I didn't stake a session on what we've been thinking about of late. In this session, we'll give a preview of the new book we're working on (shhhh, we haven't really announced it yet but, hey, this is only my blog...). Need I say that the description, as written, is not precisely what we'll present, which is truly hot off the, er, screen:

Networked: How the 2.0 Enterprise Makes Itself Transparent, Participatory, and Collaborative #e2conf40 (Location: Harbor Ballroom III)

At a time when social tools are dismantling the old beliefs about organizations, savvy enterprises are finding ways to make it easier for people to understand how to get things done. Using insights from the "new science of networks" together with Web 2.0 capabilities, companies can make their organizations much more transparent, highly participatory, and increasingly successful through greater collaboration. With more and more organizations forced to work at a distance—and some companies shutting down travel altogether, it's even more critical that enterprises make it easy for people to truly see what's going on—both locally and globally.

Speaker - Jeffrey Stamps, Chief Scientist, NetAge
Speaker - Jessica Lipnack, CEO, NetAge

Enterprise 2.0: Leading Collaborative Teams

Virginia-adamson-rounded-sm Having spent the past two centuries working on this topic, it seemed only Michael-prevou-rounded-sm appropriate to organize a panel at Enterprise 2.0. Thus, we've convinced two of our favorite colleagues, Virginia Adamson from Volvo IT and Mike Prevou from Strategic Knowledge Solutions to schlep to Boston and hold forth with us.

We've carried on projects with both Virginia and Mike over the past few years. Each is doing different but related things to make it easier for distant teams to work together. Here's the scoop. Another panel worth attending:

Leading Collaborative Teams: How Volvo IT and the US Army Enhance Performance with New Behaviors and Tools #e2conf41 (Location: Carlton)

Wednesday, June 24 - 3:30 pm–4:30 pm
What happens when enterprises take a broader approach to collaboration? These two organizations—the global technology provider for one of the world's leading enterprises and the knowledge unit of one of the world's preeminent military units—chose to invest in both technology and people. Their experiences incorporate new behaviors that are critical to driving true collaboration alongside new ways to use tools, such as SharePoint. In both cases, unusually high levels of performance have followed from their approaches.

Moderator - Jessica Lipnack, CEO, NetAge

(Enough already about me)

File0114Speaker - Jeffrey Stamps, Chief Scientist, NetAge

Jeff Stamps is co-author of numerous books and articles, including Virtual Teams and The Age of the Network. His early insights into what makes collaboration work have been picked up by organizations around the world, including Volvo and the US Army, where he has designed methods and tools for cross-boundary work that drive extraordinary performance.**

Speaker - Michael Prevou, Phd, LTC, US Army Retired and Chief of Knowledge Strategies and Innovation, SKS, Inc.

Mike Prevou specializes in collaboration for knowledge and learning solutions. He has been involved with numerous collaboration initiatives for the Army, including being responsible for designing, deploying and maintaining Army communities of practice; developing knowledge assessment process; and co-authoring and leading workshops around the Battle Command Knowledge Systems' "Teams of Leaders Handbook." A 24-year Army veteran, he holds a Ph.D. in Education from the University of Kansas along with two master's degrees and leads numerous transformational change initiatives both within the Army as well as other organizations.

Speaker - Virginia Adamson, Senior Business Consultant, Content & Collaboration Services, Volvo Information Technology

With more than 25 years in the Volvo Group and an Engineering background, Virginia Adamson has experience ranging from product development to business and strategy development. She has worked for AB Volvo, Volvo Trucks and Volvo Information Technology in Greensboro, NC, as well as Gothenburg and Umeå in Sweden. In her current position Virginia provides consulting services to help customers develop collaboration strategies, utilize collaboration tools, and learn to work more effectively across all boundaries whether cultural, organizational, or geographical.

**Jeff at work

If you can't join 'em, swim 'em

Virtual teams gone to the next level. And, ahem, they're in my beloved home state of Pennsylvania, or, as my father preferred to call it, Penciltucky.

According to Tamar Lewin ("For Colleges, Small Cuts Add Up to Big Savings"), who follows education for The New York Times, budget cuts caused some virtual creativity to transpire between two colleges, one near Philadelphia, the other on the opposite side of Harrisburg:

At Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pa., the women’s swim team held a “virtual swim meet” with Bryn Mawr College, in Pennsylvania, about 112 miles away. Each team swam in its home pool, then compared times to determine the winners. (“We probably saved $900 on bus travel,” said William G. Durden, Dickinson’s president.)

Interestingly, all the other anecdotes in the story are about typical cost-saving measures, like cutting out a traditional bus tour, eliminating window washing, and picking up trash weekly rather than daily.

I wonder how many other places are being as creative as Dickinson and Bryn Mawr. And I wonder who won. Just spent about half an hour searching for the results and for reactions from students, trying to find out how the whole thing worked. How, in fact, did they "compare times?" Did they have video? Audio? If anyone knows, please post. This is interesting!

Friday, 19 June 2009

Blogging for real writers - redux

Bloggingforrealwriters

Come join me for "Blogging for Real Writers," which I'm teaching for the first time at Solstice Summer Writers' Conference this coming Monday, June 22, 4:30. I taught Version 1.0 of this course in the Pine Manor MFA program, then revised it for the leadership of the Army's Command and General Staff College, and now am buffing it up again for Solstice's fifth anniversary year.

At Pine Manor College, Chestnut Hill, Mass., directions here.

Links