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Park In Your Own Garage
The Virtual Grand Community Conference

by Jennifer Kush
Community Connector Staff

"At the Virtual Grand Community Conference, there are no worries about your wardrobe or where to park. You attend from the comfort of your own home!" Sound appealing? Then join the second conference hosted by GrandNet, the community network of Grand Rapids, Michigan.

According to Ray Hoag, executive director of GrandNet, the Grand Community is more than another name for Grand Rapids, the second largest city in the state of Michigan. It is a movement to create a common vision and language for improving community life. The Virtual Grand Community Conference is a natural extension of that movement, bringing citizens together to dialogue about issues vital to their quality of life.

Last year's "physical" conference emphasized the theme of "Growing a Connected Community," of bringing together groups already at work in the Grand Rapids area. This year those connections are being made electronically. New technologies were a focus at last year's conference, and Hoag noted that this year's conference offered the opportunity to "walk their talk" by actually putting new technology to work. He adds, "The CivicNet conference cemented the decision to go virtual and served as a model." A grant from the Grand Rapids Foundation enabled GrandNet to purchase Caucus software for web-based conferencing. The result? This year's 600 registered participants surpasses the 400 in attendance at last year's conference.

Linda Troyer, whose company is an in-kind sponsor of the conference, served on the planning committee for the virtual conference. This committee received the charge to design an event to replace the face-to-face conference. She notes, "As [the committee] became more focused in our efforts, we realized that our real goal is to offer a medium that is used by people in all walks of life in the community to share thoughts and opinions about a variety of subjects that are important to the Grand community."

One reason that people in all walks of life are able to participate is that admission is free. Accoring to Hoag, "Planners and the Board of Trustees felt that a priority was to get participation--we wanted to hear as many community 'voices' as possible. Fees would keep some people away."

Most of the conversation takes place asynchronously, to allow participants to proceed at their own pace. People are welcome to join the conference at any time.

The conference itself is organized into topic strands, covering community learning, faith, the environment, health, business, and education. Within each strand are weekly focus topics, such as Cancer and Early Detection, Family-Owned Businesses, and Partners in Interfaith Dialogue. These topics are moderated; moderators in turn interview resource people to draw out information and encourage interaction among participants.

Other sections of the conference include a Welcome Cafe and "Meet the Exhibitor" sessions, where conference participants have the chance to interact with exhibitors.

The Open Mic strand is a take-off of the Open Space conference in CivicNet. Anyone can start a discussion thread here; the originator will then facilitate and moderate that thread to the end of that discussion. Personal support and written guidelines will be available for those who have not moderated electronic discussion groups before

Conference participant Mark Champion is enthusiastic about the electronic format. "I enjoy dialogue and I enjoy it much more when I can think and write my responses. A virtual conference format allows one to prepare responses and piggy back on another's idea. This type of process is seldom seen in any of the 'real' conferences I have attended . . . A real live conference can give you a temporary energy boost after being exposed to new information, but many times that new information is not integrated into your thoughts and it is lost before you ever get to action. Dialoguing over a period of time stimulates learning and I think that learning gels."

The innovative electronic format of this conference proved a challenge in selling it to the community. Hoag notes, "Some people's reactions, if verbalized, would be 'You're overdoing this technology thing' or 'You're too caught up in this Internet thing.' A great challenge is vying for people's time . . . You have to truly believe and convey that the use of electronic communications to enhance dialogue among people is a beneficial thing.

Troyer agrees, "Getting organizations and companies to take this seriously enough to offer financial support has been difficult. Either they don't understand what we are doing, or don't believe there is value and are still skeptical of the medium." She adds that the technology created other unanticipated barriers as well. "Some of our subject matter experts and even moderators weren't comfortable with the Internet themselves and weren't regular users. And a few rarely used computers! We ended up running special training classes so they were able to understand how to get into the conference. And one moderator was so uncomfortable at a keyboard that he had someone typing for him. We learned that a moderator or speaker could be limited by their skill at a keyboard, no matter how knowledgeable they were on the subject."

Along with unanticipated hurdles, however, have come unexpected benefits. Stu Mortensen, a teacher at Rockford High School in suburban Grand Rapids, moderates the Electronic Mentoring strand of the conference. His goal is match interested high-school students with working professionals in their areas of interest. So far, this conference has proven to him that electronic contact can in fact be a useful tool for connecting students and mentors. "I've been very pleased with the responses and comments thus far. Many professionals have never considered having an electronic 'pen-pal' and have enjoyed their exchanges so far. Many are pleased and surprised that students are competent on computers/software, appreciative of responses, and sincerely interested in what life is 'really like' in a particular career. Students are also pleased when busy working people take the time to respond. I think the benefits are mutual to those involved."

Troyer also speaks positively of her experiences. "As a planner, I've been able to establish relationships with and to learn from the people who are working on the conference. As a conference participant, I'm amazed and thrilled that so many people are offering valid and differing opinions."

So what tangible benefits will the Grand Community see after this conference? Hoag writes, "Actions result from conversations. I would be hopeful that participants would see electronic communications as extending their conversation capabilities, getting more input into decision-making processes and that they would decide to do 'things' that will benefit either themselves, their organization, their profession, the community or a combination thereof." Just what one would expected from a connected community.

The Virtual Grand Community Conference runs until November 25, 1997