Forum: Conference Call 2 for Sat 20060325

Flu Wiki Conference Call No. 2 for Sat 2006_03_25

Folks,

let’s continue experimenting to see what format and process works best for the conference call. Last time we had a long list of topics, with a single speaker per topic, and very little time for discussion. This time, let’s experiment by swinging things much further the other way: we’ll have a single topic, several volunteer speakers to stimulate things, and then open discussion by everyone.

Unless someone has a more opportune topic, let me propose this one:

Three major questions to be addressed are:

1. What kinds of preparations do we expect these groups to make?
2. What is the current level of preparation being demonstrated by most of these groups?
3. What can individuals do to encourage more preparation by these groups?

Format:

Let’s try DemFromCT’s suggestion of a New England town meeting format. Specifically, we’ll:

• Have people “sign up” ahead of time to speak (uninterrupted by questions) for up to 5 minutes on any of the above
• If we go with at most 4 people that’s 20 minutes of presentations
• Then we can use the remaining 40 minutes for open discussion by everyone

I’m hoping that by announcing this early, people who want to research the topic in preparation for the discussion will have time to do so. I think I’ve got the FreeConferenceCall.com controls figured out so i can cut out the audible “dings” (created by people joining late) once the presentations start. I’m also going to try a different conference call recording system (Audioblog.com) that might be less finicky that GCast.com’s.

So we have 4 slots for people to speak for up to 5 minutes each. Who wants to sign up? If anyone has a PowerPoint presentation that they want made available to the listeners, simply email it to flucasts(at)gmail.com and I’ll put it up on the web for you. Also, might be good if others can post here indicating their interest in attending, so that we have a rough “head count”.

Conference Call Details:

We have an account on the FreeConferenceCall.com system with room for 96 participants, availability 24×7 (no reservations necessary), and it’s good for 120 days. To join the conference call, dial 605–772–3300 and enter the access code 735417#. An automated voice prompt will help you enter the call, and will give you further instructions. There are also some keypad controls described on the system. The company does not charge for the conference call service; however, the number isn’t toll-free, so unless you have an unlimited calling plan (I use Vonage VoIP so it’s free for me), there may be a long distance charge. By having it on a Saturday, most people will have either free or low cost long distance. For those who can’t attend but might want to listen to the conference call, I’ll record the call and post a link to the audio recording later in the wiki.

Looking forward to the discussion!

-keith

Last conference call we had 37 callers join, so the time we had set looked reasonably convenient. Therefore, let’s go with the same for conference call 2:

Saturday 2006–03–25:

• 16:30 GMT
• 11:30am EST
• 10:30am CST
• 09:30am MST
• 08:30am PST

You can use this Time Zone Conversion tool to figure out corresponding times in other time zones.

Sorry I won’t be able to participate or listen in this time. We will be en-route to visit the in-laws for spring break. I like the way you are setting it up, Keith :)

For those that missed the 1st conference call, here are relevant links:

• announcement, agenda, and participants
• follow up discussion
• 

Podcast
The 2nd Flu Wiki Conference call will be an even better one.

Please count me in

Thank you Keith - I will be there.

I’ll be calling in. I’m looking forward to hearing how community planning is coming along in GraceRN’s community. I’d also like to ask if you guys still want me to post a weekly news summary here before the conference call. If you want me too I will, but with Heather providing us with such excellent daily summaries it seems a bit redundant. Maybe we should just post a set of links here to her summaries at the beginning of each news thread? Let me know what your preference is and I’ll be happy to post it either way!

if you’re trying to stream the FluCasts recording, you may not get sound. Looks like the GCast.com service is having some server problems right now. I’ve let them know that streaming is broken (among other problems with their service), so hopefully they’re aware of the issue and will get it working again after a while.

I expect to be there, to listen, not with prepared commentary. I enjoy hearing the voices of people, and what they have to say.

so far we have the following planning on attending:

1. Cache Cow
2. Owl
3. MaMa
4. Pilgrim
5. myself

We still need a few to start the discussion off with some informal introductory comments. Anyone?

I’d volunteer for a wiki summary.. new features (the index, heather’s daily summary), server issues, etc. - no more than 5 minutes.

I will try to be there. Thanks!

DemFromCT,

it’s always good to squeeze in some news. I’ll put you down for 5. Thanks!

Other volunteers?????? We’re all friendly, nothing to be timid about.

bumping so people are aware — the call is tomorrow.

Wish I could Attend but due to work committments I am unable. Hopefully Next time..

BTW what a excellent Idea..

Count me in this time.

bumped for visibility

http://www.fluwikie.com/index.php?n=Forum.UseOfOpenSpaceTechnology Conference calls are a great step toward this. Maybe they augmented by using OpenSpace too.

Could you guys read the last few posts in this thread and discuss the benefits of a FluWiki project of the week? Maybe if we all focus on a project we can end up with better resources (kinda like cleaning the garage).

I love the FluWiki but at some point we have redundant resources that can be overwhelming to choose between. Maybe we could review existing ones (like Water) to collate redundancies and summarize relevant points. Sometimes there is a lot of good info in discussion threads that would be more useful if they were in wikipages.

Obviously we have a lot of wisdom among our members and could help increase our resources greatly by collaborating to make the wiki more complete. For me this effort is about determining what we know and what we need to learn. We lose too much time discussing speculation (also important I know) and not enough attention to the facts. What do we know and what do we need to know? We need to establish our goals, define the scope of these tasks and prioritize them.

Collecting information on topics needs to be done in a coordinated manner. The fact that we have so many people with experience in many fields is a great asset. Others like me are not experts on anything. We can become the resident expert on a subject. By doing so you agree you will spend less time peeking out the curtain to see if the birds are outside your window. Take a break in surfing for the latest news. Focus on your topic. In a matter of two weeks you will be amazed at the wealth of information available to you because others were focused on their task too. Maybe we can get teams of 2–3 people to approach each task. Some of the topic suggested above are complex. It may be that this work is best done using a collaborative wokspace. That could be open space or even here for those comfortable editing the wikipages.

It seems a lot of people are looking for answers and unfortunately there are very few. We need to participate in the quest for answers rather than being spectators. Then we need to follow through and organize the consensus. Of course there is not always one answer.

What I like about the idea of the fluwikiproject of the week is the division of labor. Doing 100 things is overwhelming. Breaking into parts makes it easier. We all all trying to build shelter from this threat. We make better progress working together. It seems many people are attracted to the discussion groups but have not matured into the idea of working in an organized manner. This will produce greater results.

What do you guys think?

Sorry if that came out awkwardly. I cut it and paste from multiple posts in the past. I hope you get the idea. We need a little project management. Fortunately I am not the guy for the job. Maybe focusing our problem solving and dividing the challenge into tasks we may build a better knowledgebase for future reference.

It seems the bulk of the activity on the fluwiki is in the discussions and not enough in making the main pages better.

fredness, i just put a couple of posts on the Use Of Open Space Technology thread. (I agree with your emphasis on goals/actions over news/opinions)

Speaking of concrete goals, who has volunteered for the 5 minutes?

DemFromCT,

We have a number of people planning on attending (see above), but in terms of presenters, it looks like you (for a quick update on Flu Wiki), and I guess me (on the community preparedness topic). If we don’t have a full 4 presenters, then we’ll open the call up to general discussion around the community preparedness topic (or other hot topics).

Folks: we need 2 or 3 other volunteers to say something on the above topic (City/Local/Community Preparedness). 5 minutes or less is all we’re looking for.

Committed Attendance so far looks like:

1. Cache Cow
2. Owl
3. MaMa
4. Pilgrim
5. DemFromCT
6. myself

Anyone else planning on attending?

Me

Melanie,

good to hear. Did you want to volunteer to say a few things on the topics? (we don’t bite!)

I can say a few words about community preparations in my area.

great, Melanie.

I’m prepared to talk about my own community if there aren’t other volunteers, but my preference (not because I’m shy) is to let others talk. Otherwise the call could be seen as my own pulpit, when really it is a community event.

Any others willing to say something about their own communiites, about what they expect communities to do, ideas for community preparedness, and strategies for how we as individuals can get our communities to take action and prepare. Specific examples to illustrate these things would really be helpful.

I’ll try and be there too Keith. It was very informative last time!

TIG, can you put you down as a volunteer to talk for a few minutes on the topic? Pretty informal and friendly. Doesn’t need to be a rehearsed speech, just some informal points to stimulate conversation. We’re looking for 2 or three volunteers.

I should be able to attend this time though only to listen.

I wonder if we could use skype with skypeout - or similar services.

We need to calculate the hours in European times :)

new tally, and presenters:

1. (presenter 1, 5 min.) keith
2. (presenter 2, 5 min.) Melanie
3. (presenter 3, 5 min.) ________________?
4. (presenter 4, 5 min.) ________________?
5. Cache Cow
6. Heather
7. Owl
8. MaMa
9. Pilgrim
10. (giving Flu Wiki Update, 5 min.) DemFromCT
11. TreasureIslandGirl
12. others ??????

Still a couple of openings for people to talk about their community’s preparations or lack thereof! Don’t be timid folks!!

good Georgia O. Glad you can attend.

lugon: skypeout should work fine for you. Also, GMT = Grenich Mean Time.

that should have been “Greenwich”

I will try to attend. Thanks for setting this up.

MaMa, i didn’t forget your question re news update. I was hoping to try a single topic focus (as an experiment) for this call; however, if we don’t get our full complement of presenters, and our open discussion doesn’t consume all the time, then i think a news update from you would be very helpful. The brief Wiki update by DemFromCT was thrown in since some of that update might pertain to behind the scenes items that aren’t obvious on the wiki itself.

I hope to use my 5 mins to highlight

1. behind the scene - trolls, moles and tolls
2. traffic and server issues
3. wiki areas to visit
4. new features since last week

If anyone has questions I can answer, post ‘em here and I’ll address them.

Dem,

Could you include a quick laymen’s review of what’s new on the science this week?

DemFromCT: good topics!

 hope to use my 5 mins to highlight

1. behind the scene - trolls, moles and tolls
2. traffic and server issues
3. wiki areas to visit
4. new features since last week
5. science update - the Nature and Science articles on receptors in the human lung, follow-up to liberate the sequences

I have a question an and invitation:

Question: how do you make so much time for this? ;)

Invitation: I’ve just started Main.ProjectsOfTheWeek?. Maybe the conference call may help in distilling a few priorities?

My experience in talking to several local and not so local people suggests we all:

• first look at the issues and only gradually do we see the whole disquieting picture
• it takes time to realise we all have at least three roles
  • alert others
  • do our own part of the puzzle and only later link to others (say deal with water supply? and realise we need to have power? solved too
  • keep our own emotions (and those of others) from running wild

It looks like we’re doing just that over here too. So if the Conference Call helps us focus on a few specific things for next week, all the better.

Maybe not now, but at some point in time we might want to deal with non-american activity.

lugon,

This site has lots of European, Oceanian and non-North american readers like yourself. We may not have time this week (but if we do, jump in) and we should do a round-robin of developments around the world. I’m particularly interest in what non-North american governments are up to.

here’s a supplementary piece for the wiki round-up: under #4, a new feature is a piece written and sent in by a psychologist:

A note from a psychologist friend of Flu Wiki:

In your bird flu prep plans, don’t forget mental health—you’ll need a hefty supply of strength, resolve and useful ways to manage stress and maintain resilience as much as you will need water and food. The good news is that psychological resilience has no expiration date, is something you can do anywhere and with work continues to strengthen across time. Go to the American Psychological Association’s help center, click on the menu “articles and information” scroll down to “disasters and terrorism” and open that screen. There you will find a number of articles on dealing with disasters, how to build resilience, how to help young children and teens. The pieces are well written and provide very practical help. I think one of the best is The Road to Resilience. I would strongly encourage you to download and print it and any others you think would be helpful and keep them available. Practical help in building and maintaining resilience and strength during a disastrous event is foundational to any other planning you are doing for you and your family’s well-being.

It’s been placed in adjustment reactions and how to cope, both of which can be found from the new Forum index.

I realize that we must have non-North American fluwikians. I deliberately picked the timing of the conference calls so that it was still convenient for those in the UK (16:30), but didn’t extrapolate beyond that part of the globe. Using the time zone tool mentioned above, it should be possible (although a little tedious) to compute the corresponding times for other zones. Let me raise the question then to those non-North American fluwikians: what time would be best for you? If we get enough respondents to that question then we can revisit the timing of the calls.

Thanks for the link, Dem! It looks like we’re maturing simultaneously in different parts of the world. I can’t really say I knew all of this would happen, because I didn’t know. Which means we may eventually see even better things, things we can’t imagine right now.

keith, I’m afraid that I may not be able to make it for the conference call tomorrow. I just found out this evening I have to go out of town on business for a few days. I’m not sure exactly what time I’ll be leaving yet- depends when my Dad can make it to pick up my children. If I’m still here I’ll call in and participate in the discussion. Community preparedness is a great topic, looking forward to hearing all about it afterwards if I can’t be there!

MaMa: no problem. Have a good (and safe) trip.

ok, latest tally of attendees, and presenters for tomorrow’s conference call is:

1. (presenter 1, 5 min.) keith
2. (presenter 2, 5 min.) Melanie
3. (presenter 3, 5 min.) ________________?
4. (presenter 4, 5 min.) ________________?
5. Cache Cow
6. Heather
7. Owl
8. Pilgrim
9. TreasureIslandGirl
10. Senegal1
11. lugon
12. (Flu Wiki Update, 5 min.) DemFromCT

Any others? Any other presenters? We still have 2 5-min slots available. Don’t be shy!

Hi Keith!

I will try and call, but just listen. My community has no plan…the virus isn’t here yet! I’ve given up! I’m preparing for my “chicks” and still warning, begging all I can! Started vaccine trial today and guess that is all I can do! These people are beyond belief!

Anyone else planning on attending?

under ‘what’s new at the wiki’”

New update, Google earth map

I can present the community plan for Orange County, Florida if anyone thinks this is good. Respond here if you want me to. I plan to attend call.

Florida1 Owner/Partner http://www.flutrackers.com

I’ll be calling in. I don’t know that I would have anything to add to the forum — I’m a Katrina survivor here in Mobile, AL who has grave doubts of any community support/organization other than N2N. Let’s just say that I lost a lot of my innocence.

I’ve had no luck getting any real acknowledgement of the threat.

Florida,

excellent. by all means. 5 minutes is all we’re looking for.

thanks!

Practically Speaking,

i think your direct experience with a high profile failure of community disaster preparations would be quite valuable to the discussion. Glad you can attend.

keith

I will attend the conference call. If you would like, I can give a short presentation concerning public water systems. I work with water systems and emergency response planning as part of my job. I may not be able to answer every question folks may come up with, but I should be able to fill in some of the gaps.

keith

“high profile failure of community disaster preparations” has just become my favorite phrase — in lieu of what my Marine son kept calling a “**** sandwich.” You made my day. See you there.

Okieman, that would be terrific. It would be good to hear the perspective of those on the front lines of / responsible for, community preparations. I’ll put you down for 5 minutes then.

thanks.

Looking good… Here’s our latest list of attendees, and presenters:

1. (presenter 1, 5 min.) keith
2. (presenter 2, 5 min.) Melanie
3. (presenter 3, 5 min.) Florida1
4. (presenter 4, 5 min.) Practically Speaking
5. Cache Cow
6. Heather
7. Owl
8. Pilgrim
9. TreasureIslandGirl
10. Senegal1
11. lugon
12. mom11
13. (Flu Wiki Update, 5 min.) DemFromCT

how about any others? If not, talk to you all in about 1hr 1hr 45 minutes.

If anyone has any visual materials (Word/Power Point documents) to share, you can either post a link here to their web location, or email them to me at FluCasts(at)gmail.com and I can put them up for everyone to access.

ack, i forgot to put Okieman in the list. Here’s the corrected list:

1. (presenter 1, 5 min.) keith
2. (presenter 2, 5 min.) Melanie
3. (presenter 3, 5 min.) Florida1
4. (presenter 4, 5 min.) Practically Speaking
5. (presenter 5, 5 min.) Okieman
6. Cache Cow
7. Heather
8. Owl
9. Pilgrim
10. TreasureIslandGirl
11. Senegal1
12. lugon
13. mom11
14. (Flu Wiki Update, 5 min.) DemFromCT

In case I can’t make it can you discuss FluWiki Project of the Week idea? Lugon started it and I posted a few ideas.

Keith - I have had something pop up this morning and cannot make the call : (. It sounds as if you will have a very fruitful discussion and I look forward to “reading” all about it.

My apologies.

Best of luck to you all.

Cache

starting call in about 15 minutes …

I’m sorry I had to disconnect from the conference call, I have to take an important phone call. Good conversations!

I am sorry to have missed the call - we are just back from baseball clinic.

Sorry to join very late. Look forward to the audio recording.

that was an excellent conversation today on the conference call. Thanks to all the presenters for taking time to talk, and thanks to all who attended.

I’ll create a new thread called Summary of Flu Wiki Conference Call 2, 20060325 and post the link to the audio recording once i convert it to a podcast. Those who already subscribe the FluCasts RSS feed will get it automatically. For others, you’ll see a link here in this thread pointing to the new thread.

Thanks everyone!!

here’s the link to the new Summary of Flu Wiki Conference Call 2, 20060325 thread for those wanting to post follow-up comments and resource links.

Couldn’t make it to the conference call. Eager to read all about it.

fredness, thanks for updating Main.ProjectsOfTheWeek?. We’ll go on talking about that page over at Forum.UseOfOpenSpaceTechnology?, or elsewhere.

I will close this thread so we don’t have two. ;-)