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The Center for Information Technology and Dispute Resolution recently hosted Cyberweek 2000, an online conference providing information resources and links, panel discussions, and descriptions of new ventures / products / services in internet supported dispute resolution and negotiation. The conference was "attended" by over 700 participants from all over the world, and the Center's discussion space (i.e. webboard) provided a lively place for the exchange of ideas. Online conferencing is a challenge. Asynchronous participation is the rule, with real-time activities still the exception (though this may be changing with greater bandwidth). Asynchronous activities allow for the conference to be open 24 hours, for individuals who might not otherwise participate to drop in briefly and at odd times and take full advantage. The down side can be that there never is a sense of "there" there. We may be trying to emulate real-space conferences in a lot of ways, but maybe that effort is mistaken, that rather than trying to move a conference online, we should try to create an online conference from fewer preconceptions. Webboard conferencing, while equipped for real-time chat, was exclusively asynchronous for Cyberweek. This allowed many threaded discussions to evolve slowly over the course of several days, and remain visible (and in fact they are still visible) so that both Cyberweek participants and Center staff can go back and re-evaluate those topics and discussions. The webboard element of the conference was the most vibrant, with some discussions traveling in multiple directions, undergoing permutations that the Center did not even consider when designing the conference topics and speakers. Simulations and demonstrations of online products and services which meet, or attempt to meet, some market need in this developing area was the other primary goal of Cyberweek. The Center serves as a locus for much activity in and around disputing, dispute resolution, and information technology, thus we felt it useful to be a portal of sorts to different products and services currently available and emerging (most are quite new). Each product or service brings a different approach, interestingly enough, to the domain in question. Each product or service takes a different slice of the market for resolving disputes and negotiating. Different theoretical perspectives about disputing are employed by each service / product provider, and each effort enlightens us about the nature of disputing as well as the role IT may play in both sustaining and resolving disputes. The Center was very pleased with Cyberweek, but we are actively seeking requests and feedback which we can incorporate into planning for future events. Additionally, we would like to help facilitate and continue lines of inquiry which were opened, especially in the Webboard. The Center seeks to be as responsive to the needs of our community as possible, and we gladly solicit your input in that endeavor. Thank you, Alan
Gaitenby Please contact: mailto:gaitenby@disputes.net
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