#ISOCME14 Internet Society Middle East Workshop In 1 rich blogpost from Beirut Lebanon
Internet Society regional Chapter Leaders workshops bring together Chapter leaders to discuss chapter management related issues, share ideas, knowledge, content and experiences. The 2014 Middle East Regional Chapter workshop in Beirut, Lebanon on 23 & 24 November 2014 hosted an interactive and cherished discussion among a group of 23 Chapter leaders. Each participant brought up valuable experiences and contribution that was designed to be shared in a collaborative exchange format. We’ve bottled up the experiences in a series of video snippets which you can sample below in this blog post. On 23 November they started off with the Political Intelligence workshop presented by Dave Bancroft-Turner of the Academy for Political Intelligence. The participants assessed their Political Intelligence Profile and learned to positively influence the politics in their organisation. Subsequently they identified how to use this learning within their chapter work particularly to activate the multi stakeholder approach. The evening allowed for further conversation and socialising at the Bourj Al Hamam Restaurant, Mövenpick Hotel Beirut.
Bright and early on Sunday June 8th the Chapter Leaders reconvened. Workshop designer and Facilitator Ruud Janssen of TNOC | The New Objective Collective encouraged the Participants to look at multiple perspective of the experiences in their chapters. The sessions were designed to be participant centric and extract the core learnings from the experience and insights from the ISOC Chapter Leaders. To generate user generated content and celebrate the various perspective, a camera was passed around to take picture of the personal perspectives. To see the photos taken of the sessions whilst in progress see the photo album here: https://flic.kr/s/aHsk5KRpL1 Every participant added their presence to the ISOC Chapter Workshop World Map (https://flic.kr/p/pUhKto
) and out of the submitted topics, each participant voted on their personal top 4 topics to be discussed. After the break the room was transformed into a fishbowl setup where in one hour time slots the top 4 topics were discussed. Below a recap of the 4 topics and the core outcomes. _______
Fishbowl Topic # 1 = Fishbowl round 1 : Promote Human Rights and Access to Information - what about cyber censorship? Main outcomes: - We have to be aware that our technical expertise has an impact on other issues (values, perceptions, etc.) - Education is key: provide education based on objective information, esp. to young people to ensure a better understanding in this field - Instead of focusing on human rights (which other organisations do): have access to the Internet. Don't talk about it, just do it! - Become pro-actively involved in discussions with governments and stakeholders on their concerns ________
Fishbowl Topic # 2 -
Streamlining business within Chapters
Main outcomes: - It is important to clearly define roles within the Chapter: e.g. board members vs. working group members, voting members, etc. - Suggestions for recruiting new volunteers/members: through IEEE model, TEDx model, ISOC clubs in universities, online sessions /webinars, open meetings - Think about the added value that potential volunteers/members might be looking for, e.g. certification of participation - Make sure success stories are well documented to be able to build on them
________
Fishbowl Topic # 3 - Multi-Stakeholderism in Internet Governance: pros and cons, role of the government and the civil society Main outcomes: - Collaborative attitude / behaviour is key: show importance of multi-stakeholderism by living it - ISOC local Chapters are "living examples" of multi-stakeholder groups - importance of sharing this experience - The complex issues involved in Internet Governance call for many partners to be involved - Example of a multi-stakeholder initiative: Lebanese Internet Center (LINC) _____
Fishbowl Topic # 4 - Ideas and mechanisms to recruit new Chapter volunteers Main outcomes: - WIIFM: What is in it for me? - always keep that question in mind when reaching out to potential volunteers - work on specific objectives, projects, challenges (identify what our "customers' challenges are & address them) to attract volunteers. - Suggestion as an incentive to join: have members pay low subscription fee to get a benefit, e.g. ISP subscription or get companies to sponsor events - share & build on success stories from other Chapters _____ After the 4 Fishbowls, every participant identified 1 specific personal action on which they gave up for adoption to their neighbour and got peer consultation on how to move forward with this action in a 90 minute interactive format called “The Solution Room”. Human Spectographs were made to illustrate the consulting power in the room (>140 years in total of Internet experience in the room!). The Solution Room allowed participants to consult their peers and be consulted by their peers in 7 minute rounds and the key takeaways and actions were noted down on the table in hand drawn pictograms and action points in the form of mind maps.
The level of interaction and energy in room came to a maximum at this stage where the readiness to action the learning was second to none… See some of the testimonials of the experience in a selection of videos below. See the link here for all the videos in the Internet Society Chapter Workshop Channel online: https://vimeo.com/channels/isoc
#myISOCstory by Walid Karam Internet Society Lebanon Chapter from Ruud Janssen on Vimeo.
#myISOCstory Salam Yamout Internet Society Lebanon Chapter from Ruud Janssen on Vimeo.
#myISOCstory Fahmi Qasem Internet Society Yemen Chapter from Ruud Janssen on Vimeo.
#myISOCstory Nadira Alaraj Internet Society Palestine Chapter from Ruud Janssen on Vimeo.
#myISOCstory Stephane Bazan Internet Society Lebanon Chapter from Ruud Janssen on Vimeo.
#myISOCstory Inam Ali Internet Society Jordan Chapter from Ruud Janssen on Vimeo.
#ISOCME14 Nabil Bukhalid testimonial ISOC Lebanon Chapter from Ruud Janssen on Vimeo.
#myISOCstory Zakaria Alkainai Internet Society Yemen Chapter from Ruud Janssen on Vimeo.
#myISOCstory EBRAHIM MOHSEN MOHAMMED AL-AHDAL Internet Society Yemen Chapter (in Arabic) from Ruud Janssen on Vimeo.
#isocme14 Salam Yamout testimonial from Ruud Janssen on Vimeo.
#isocme14 HISHAM ABOULYAZED testimonial from Ruud Janssen on Vimeo.
#myISOCstory Hisham Aboulyazed internet Society Egypt Chapter from Ruud Janssen on Vimeo.
#ISOCME14 RAÚL ECHEBERRÍA testimonial from Ruud Janssen on Vimeo.
Last but not least, probably the most important nectar from the workshop is what the participants shared and think of their experience. Below you will find the User Generated Content from hashtag #ISOCME14 in a storify. https://storify.com/ruudwjanssen/isocme14-internet-society-middle-east-workshop-be