Posted by Larry Hoover on May 23, 2006, at 10:05:46
In reply to Re: Deneb Star!!!!!, posted by vwoolf on May 23, 2006, at 9:30:44
> I'd like to know about the APA thing - in as much detail as all of you can remember. I don't know why, but it feels really important.
>
> Thanks.
> vwoolfWell, they had us tucked away into the furthest corner of this huge immense conference centre. Way down in the furthest corner.
I did not do a head count. Let me see. I can't remember posting names! I remember the people. Eight of us, the babblers?
At first, it looked like it would only be us. One lone psychiatrist showed up. But right at the beginning of the presentation, maybe eight other professionals showed up. Equal in numbers, I believe.
Kali Munro went first. She spoke about managing a private board, with something like 22 members? You have to ask to be admitted to it, and there are some guidelines about conduct, etc. Just as with Babble, there are internal boards for different discussions. But because the group is private, it is also very intimate. No one else can read messages, unless they're a member. Most of her handout dealt with interpersonal skills, conflict resolution. However, her talk seemed to focus on the individual experiences of members. As with Babblers, some members have met, in real life.
Bob then presented how different his board is from Kali's. He showed how easy it is to find Babble through its Google-ability. Just entering "Effexor XR" would bring Babble up, right near the top of the first page returned by Google. And if you click on that link, you would find the longest thread in Babbledom, now nearing 10,000 posts. Perhaps by the time you read this post, it will have passed that threshold.
Then he showed that Babble also comes up with much more specific Google search terms, and brings you to the various boards here. You can get into Babble from anywhere, and seemingly, for any reason.
He showed stats about hits, and pages viewed, and active posters' posting rates. Far more lurkers than posters. I forget.....1 in 500 readers goes on to post? He didn't present that stat, but that's what my brain analyzed the data to mean.
He also demonstrated something about his administrative role, but he wisely stayed clear of blocking. We mostly looked at civility warnings. ;-)
Actual posts and board snapshots helped to reveal how it all fits together. Although his actual slides were prepared in advance, his simulation of actual Google searches was perfect. We really only knew he didn't do it live, because the picture at the top of the page wasn't of us.
We had planned to break into small groups, and talk about things, but the chairs were all fastened together in rows. We couldn't make circles. So, we just started talking. Everyone introduced themselves, and said a little bit about what brought them to this meeting. (The real star was Deneb, as we've said. She really broke the ice.)
And then we just got into questions and answers, back and forth. I really believe that these psychiatrists from around the world will go away as Babble converts.
One of the things that arose from this whole Babblefest weekend, and something we had started to talk about at the Shoe Museum, was how we had become expert at keyboard communication.
When you're talking to people in real life, probably 90% of what is communicated is non-verbal. Here, online, all we have is text strings. Keyboard symbols. Somehow, over time, we have pushed that envelope to levels never before achieved by human beings. Somehow, we have become expert at communicating the depth of human experience, despite the keyboard limitations of it all.
We are at the threshold of human experience. We, all Babblers, are pushing the human envelope.
Gotta love Babblefest.
And through it all, I really want everyone to know this, we felt the presence of all of you. There were more people in that room than there were bodies.
We closed the meeting with more butter tarts, and Decadent chocolate chip cookies. I am sorry, my fellow attendees, but calories were not counted on this weekend. It just wasn't meant to be that way.
We impressed the hell out of those pdocs. I would not be surprised to see one of them become an active member here. Maybe more than one.
Lar
poster:Larry Hoover
thread:646887
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20060521/msgs/647262.html