Technology Enables. People Experience.
Over the years we’ve come to expect the dissemination of information and knowledge to be continually enabled and enhanced by the latest and greatest technology. What’s changed now is that this impressive array of technology is also in the hands (literally) of recipients, attendees, and casual observers. This means that everyone involved – teachers, technicians, organizers, 
facilitators, speakers, recipients, support media – everyone has the opportunity to raise their game and their expectations. Knowledge management is now as much about listening as it is about broadcasting, and as much about engaging as it is about educating. We’ve all heard the term “listen harder” which implies narrowing your focus and blocking out distraction. Enlightened use of technology enables "listening softer" so we can actually pay deeper attention to a person and listen with our eyes and hearts as well as our ears. Everyone involved hears, speaks, and feels more. Connected, engaged communities emerge.
Inside the Softer Side of Technology
Earlier this month I was invited by Sonic Foundry, a leading-edge rich media webcasting, lecture capture, and knowledge management company, to deliver a keynote address at their fifth annual UNLEASH Mediasite User Conference in Madison, Wisconsin. Each year they bring together over 200 of the best and the brightest in their fields to look ahead to what's next in technology, to network, and to share ideas and best practices. Attending the UNLEASH event gave me an even greater appreciation for the power and promise of technology, reminded me of the responsibility we all have to use and share it wisely, and provided the motivation for this article. It was an honor to have the opportunity to talk to the attendees about Asset-Based Thinking and how it could help them make the most of the rapid change influencing their professional and personal lives. Here's a link to my talk enabled by their Mediasite webcasting technology platform.
Article comments
1 - Hank Wasiak
Thanks for the comment. Great point about how the way people "attend" meetings has changed.....live and in the network. My sense is that there will always be a group of people (like me) that enjoy the personal "I to Eye" engagement that comes with being there. And now, we have the opportunity to simultaneously convey that experience in the network and have it live vibrantly well beyond the moment. Exciting and thanks for the sharing your thoughts.
H