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Cyberweek Blog:

Simulations and Demonstrations:

  • Debategraph – Debategraph is a collaborative online dialog visualization tool with a strong public policy focus, currently being used by the Amanpour program on CNN, the European Commission, and The Independent newspaper in the UK. All participants in Cyberweek are invited to help us map the issues around Intellectual Property on the Internet, using a seed map developed by students at UMass, Amherst. The aim is to build the map into a definitive analysis of the subject, in which all the relevant issues, arguments and perspectives are represented fairly and in full in a single, coherent, transparent and interactive structure that can be embedded and shared around the web. Debategraph co-founder David Price will be available to guide you through the process and answer any questions throughout Cyberweek. Join the debate here. If you have any questions or comments about Debategraph you can post them as messages on the map or visit the Cyberweek Forum.
  • Juripax Role Play - Juripax has set up role-plays for Cyberweek. Participants can trial the system in various roles: you may engage as one of the parties in the pre-mediation and intake process and/or advance the mediation in the role of mediator. The role-play is comprised of a dedicated online intake to support the meaningful exchange of pre-information as well as a discussion forum and conference facility, enabling information to be exchanged, issues to be explored, ideas to be discussed and disagreements to be resolved online. You can participate as an individual without the need to form groups of players and being dependent on other players being ready and/or available (e.g. due to different times and places). Switching from one role to the other can be done intuitively by clicking on the corresponding button available in the discussion forum without needing to log-in every time as separate identities.Role-plays can be created for both employment and divorce proceedings, and there are sample case studies provided with the respective role-plays (divorce and labor) to help facilitate meaningful ‘intake’ and ‘discussion’. The available language options are English and Dutch.  A Discussion Forum topic will be opened to provide feedback as well as to debrief and exchange ideas.
  • Smartsettle eNegotiation Competition - Smartsettle is pleased to sponsor an eNegotiation competition during Cyberweek 2009. The context will be a hypothetical home renovation case where a homeowner is refusing to pay the contractor’s full invoice. Participants will be paired with anonymous counterparties and will be able to exchange short messages during their negotiation. Their task will be to settle their case with Smartsettle One in order to avoid lengthy delays and costs in the Small Claims Court. Knowledge of law will be helpful in predicting what the likely outcome would be in court.The competition is designed to support individuals or groups of individuals such as Law School classes. We will recognize top performing individuals as well as top performing classes.  Instructors are encouraged to coach their students so that all of them perform as well as possible.No advance preparation is necessary. Watch a short video to learn how Smartsettle rewards negotiators that move quickly to the Zone of Agreement. Read the case description and rules, and you’re set. All that is needed is Internet access with a browser and about an hour of your time spread out over several days during Cyberweek.Register here at The International eNegotiation Tournament on October 26 (the first day of Cyberweek). If you are in a class, your instructor should register first so that you can register as a member of that class. This event is free to Cyberweek attendees.  Simply enter the sponsor code “Cyberweek” to become a full participant.
  • eBay Community Court Demonstration – The eBay Community Court is comprised solely of eBay members. eBay members serve as Jury members to decide if an appealed negative feedback is justified. Participants can play around by:
    1. Filing of Case – Registering themselves and filing a case against another person, uploads of 1MB are allowed. Party A will be the claimant and Party B the Defendant. Party B will receive an email notifying that the case is filed. Paty B responds to the case. Case is closed and sent to the Jury.
    2. To become a Juror – To register as a Juror, participants can go to the “Want to Become Jury” section and click on “Apply Now”. This will take you to the Juror registration page.
    3. Voting on a Case – Jurors can log in with their juror credentials and vote on a case by clicking the “New Case” button. We have customized this demo version to have a quorum of 3 jurors and the case requires a majority of 2 to win.
  • Google Wave Demonstration - Google Wave, the future, and other tools, here and now, for collaboration online in mediation, arbitration, negotiation, public policy making and other processes for dispute resolution and problem solving. In addition to Google Wave which now has over 100,000 testers working world wide to help Google develop a real time, all in one, Swiss Army Knife, text communication, collaborative read/write editing and media sharing tool.  In addition to previewing the Google Wave and its impact on online collaboration, the program will demonstrate a teleconference run in tandem with a demonstration of two other, here and now, collaborative read/write editing tools, Google Docs and Co-ment.  A panel discussion will be held on Thursday, October 29,  4 pm to 5 pm United States Eastern Standard Time with Robert Ambrogi, lawyer/publisher, mediator and arbitrator, Boston; Colin Rule, Driector of Dispute Resolution for Ebay and PayPal, Palo Alto; Professors Sam Edwards, Green Mountain College, and Frank Bennett, Nagoya University School of Law, who have their students in online roll play negotiations on behalf of their roll play clients in the United States, Japan and other countries in East Asia; Daniel Horsey, mediation trainer, mediator and one of the founders of the Colorado Statewide ADR Conference, Denver; and Peter DeBruyn, lawyer and technologist, IT Implementors, Denver.  You may test drive the tools to be demonstrated at http://odrtools.blogspot.com which is the landing page for this program where the information on making your connection to the panel discussion on Thursday will be posted. Join with others in a test drive demonstration of the tools on Wednesday, October 28, 4 pm to 5 pm United States Eastern Standard Time – you will need to participate in the panel discussion in the same time slot on Thursday. You may also ask questions and participate in the discussion about the tools featured in the Cyberweek Collaboration Tools Forum .
  • ABA Ethics Hypothetical Exercise - The Committee on Ethics of the American Bar Association Section on Dispute Resolution is conducting an activity for students.  The activity is a hypothetical online mediation raising ethical issues concerning the mediator’s conduct.  Everyone is invited to submit an analysis of the mediator’s handling of the ethical dilemmas confronted to rwolf@law.umaryland.edu (600 words or less) citing relevant ethical standards.  Please put in the subject line “cyber week ethics analysis.” Two members of the Ethics Committee will read each submission and they will select some of the best responses for publication in the November issue of the Section’s E-News.  Each participant will receive a certificate of participation upon submission of their analysis.  All of the submissions will be viewable at the conclusion of Cyberweek.
  • LiSimba Consulting Simulation – an opportunity to measure your skills in communicating effectively in cross cultural settings.  You can do this by experiencing an online simulation which LiSimba created, and after its completion you have the opportunity to receive a score which measures the various aspects of your cross cultural communication skills.  Then send your score on each section to me, Jane Smith, Founder and President, LiSimba Consulting Services, Inc., and I will send you a personal note giving you insights into your scores from the simulation.Along with your  interpretation and insights into your scores, I will send you a download of a portion of my chapter in the ABA GUIDE TO INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS NEGOTIATIONS, Third Edition, May, 2009, for use in  your cross cultural communications.I will be sharing insights on cross cultural issues in global communications daily on the blog during Cyberweek 2009, October 26-30. and I look forward to chatting with as many of you, asynchronously, as possible through this blog.
  • TheMediationRoom- The MediationRoom is a leading provider of software for building bespoke ODR platforms as well as the leading provider of ODR training via its fully accredited distance training course. Its founder and MD, Graham Ross, firmly believes that, for ODR use to advance at a pace to meet need, services should provide disputants with a simple and intuitive interface rather than one that requires them to learn how to use and adapt complex collaboration technologies. The MediationRoom.com is based around a platform for asynchronous text discussion that emulates the traditional techniques for mediation discourse but with the additions of techniques such as anonymous brainstorming, personality profiling and discourse analysis that can help ‘fill the gap’ when in-person mediation is unavailable.  Cyberweek visitors can have full experience of TheMediationRoom.com through their own personal roleplay mediation. They can play the part of a mediator or one of the disputants. To participate, email  Graham at g.ross@themediationroom.com

Plenary Discussions (in the Cyberweek Forum):

  • ABA panel on ODR Ethics and Online Mediation with several leaders in ODR ethics Susan Exon, Kimberlee Kovach, and Colin Rule
  • Foro de discusiones sobre Online Dispute Resolution , Resolucion Electronica de Disputas ODR/RED en idioma español, el mismo se dasarrollara durante toda la semana de la cyberweek, alli los participantes podran proponer temas de conversacion & realizar consultas sobre la articulacion de la resolucion de conflictos & las nuevas tecnologias de informacion & comunicacion.
    A efectos de obtener informacion adicional en español sobre este plenario, favor visitar. Moderador Plenario Cyberweek en Español
    Dr Alberto Elisavetsky, Contador Publico
    Integrador Tecnologico, Docente Universitario de Negociacion & Diseño de Sistemas de la UNTREF Buenos Aires Argentina
    Ceo www.eventosvirtuales.com.ar, Creador: www.odrlatinoamerica.ning.com
    Editor weblog: www.resolucionelectronicadedisputas.com
  • Using Technology to Support US Citizen Soldiers and their Families: Can Mediators Work Online to Help Service Members Work Together and Families Stay Together?  Lynn Malley – longtime conflict engagement professional, having worked as a prosecutor, attorney, mediator, mediation trainer, law professor, and Fulbright Scholar.  Most recently Lynn has been working to help ease re-integration challenges of Citizen Soldiers and their families in the US.  Lynn volunteers as an ESGR Ombudsman, speak about communication skills at Yellow Ribbon events, and generally try to promote community education and support of US service members.
  • Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and ODR with Miriam Nisbet – Director of the Office of Government Information Services (OGIS) within the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA).  The OGIS will mediate FOIA requests that agencies have turned down, review policies and procedures of administrative agencies under FOIA, review agency compliance with FOIA, and recommend policy changes to the Congress and the President to improve the administration of FOIA.
  • Debategraph w/ David Price, Founder – A discussion about what Debategraph is, how it can be used, and to support the Debategraph demonstration (see above) about Intellectual Property.
  • Digital Medical Records: Access and Use Policies – A Place for ODR? Dan Rainey, Director of Mediation Services for the National Mediation Board.  Details TBA.
  • Challenges to Facilitators in an Online world w/ May-Britt .L. Kollenhof-Bruning Accredited Professional Mediator of Juripax  – Juripax increasingly provides online dispute resolution technology and services in traditional conflict areas such as workplace and family law. These proceedings are generally more complex (both substantially and emotionally as compared to e.g. small claims cases) and require more extended and advanced tools and functionalities to support the mediator and as such to alleviate part of the mediator’s tasks.  Of particular interest is the role that mediators have in moderating clients’ perceptions of the effects of technology on the overall satisfaction with the procedure. Data derived from user satisfaction surveys reveal that, in those cases were mediators openly expressed their discomfort with the technology and/or when they were insufficiently capable to adapt and improvise when ‘technological’ glitches arise, it appeared to have some sort of effect (in varying degrees) on the overall user experience.
  • Online Systems to Support Family Mediation – John Zeleznikow, Director, Laboratory of Decision Support and Dispute Management, Victoria University, Melbourne Australia and NCTDR Fellow Chittu Nagarajan.  Whereas the quantity of family disputes makes other disputes pale into insignificance, there is remarkably little decision support or information technology to support disputants in their negotiations. In Australia, pre-trial mediation has been made compulsory in family matters. To help disputants better resolve their conflicts, services have evolved to meet demand, reduce costs and leverage the benefits of technology. We wish to present the development of online mediation technologies in Australia, and compare them to existing international systems.
  • Foreclosure Mediation and ODR – Join financial professionals and public officials in a discussion of foreclosure mediation. How can mandated foreclosure mediation work to benefit lenders and homeowners? Can mediation be used to ameliorate the negative effects of foreclosures on families? How can on line mediation be used to bring major loan servicers, with remote offices into direct communication with homeowners thousands of miles away?
  • Building Trust in Online ADR and Negotiation – Barbara Madonik is a world-renown communication strategist, consultant, trainer, and conflict resolution specialist.  A United Nations invitee, she is also author of “Building Trust: Keeping the Heart and Mind in Online Negotiation”, found in The ABA Guide to International Business Negotiation, 3rd Ed. (ABA, 2009) and  “I Hear What You Say, But What Are You Telling Me? The Strategic Use of Nonverbal Communication in Mediation” (Jossey-Bass, 2001).  Successful negotiators and other adr professionals have come to appreciate the value of building trust in their working environments.  Trust, it seems, often smoothes out today’s transaction bumps and frequently paves the way for future successes.  The need for trust, however, is not limited to parties in the same room.  People who use online technology find that they need to build trust as much as their colleagues who deal in face-to-face  environments.  The question:  Is there one “magic bullet” for building trust online or are there different techniques to accomplish it respectfully?

Real-Time and Other Content

  • Real-Time Spanish: link de registacion para evento en tiempo real durante la cyberweek.  Instrucciones de acceso a la sala virtual del evento Jueves 29 de octubre 7 pm Buenos Aires Argentina / Thursday 29 at 7pm Argentina time. 1 hour – subject: 2009 Cyberweek news and Buenos Aires odr forum 2010
  • Real-Time: Enjoymediation.com, Web 2.0: Going from OH? To KNOW!
    Friday October 30th
    2:30pm – 3:30pm est.     (it will be archived too!)
    Spots limited, see below.Join Jeff Thompson (www.EnjoyMediation.com & Centre For Peace & Social Justice, Souhern Cross University, Australia) and an all-star lineup of Mediate.com featured bloggers:Diane Levin (www.mediationchannel.com)
    Victoria Pynchon (www.Negotiationlawblog.com)
    Tammy Lenski (www.MakingMediationYourDayJob.com)
    John Ford (editor, www.mediate.com)

    They will be discussing blogging, writing articles, Twitter, Skype, ooVoo, LinkedIn and other web technology!

    Find out how and why they do it (successfully!), the benefits and how it is has helped them. Learn tips and skills that can help your practice too!

    ***FREE*** But spots are limited: sign up by emailing Jeff @ mediator.jeff@gmail.com

    If you are interested in submitting a question prior to the event for the panel, email me at the address above or simply post a comment in this post.
    Go to www.EnjoyMediation.com for more info on this event.

    This event is presented by EnjoyMediation & the Centre for Peace and Social Justice, Southern Cross University, Australia.

  • Real-Time: National Center for Digital Government (NCDG) – Beth Noveck, US Deputy Chief Technology Officer for Open Government, presentation “Open Government: Transparency, Participation, and  Collaboration,” will be October 30, 2009 from 12:00 p.m. to 1:30 p.m.  The speech will  be streamed live.
  • MediateMe.com – ODR Screencast/video.  MediateMe.com is an online marketplace connecting mediators from all backgrounds with disputing parties to facilitate quality resolutions for any type of dispute.  MediateMe.com has provided a short video which highlights the way they are changing the landscape of online dispute resolution. This site is unique in the ODR world because 1. It provides real-time mediation (video/voice, text, and teleconference capabilities), 2. is absolutely free to join, 3. any mediator may join, 4. the site does not charge to provide free mediations, and 5. if a mediator chooses to charge a fee, the site only takes a small percentage.
  • English language Wiki on ODR – Wikipedia,  the largest encyclopedia and collaborative website, includes an entry for ODR. This is often the first port of call for the online community when they want to get acquainted with new concepts. Help us to edit and expand the definition, features and potential of ODR by logging in and editing the existing text.
  • En espanol Wiki sobre los REC/ODR – Ayúdanos a crear una página en Wikipedia sobre los REC/ODR. Conéctate a Wikipedia y colabora en la definición de los REC/ODR para que los hispanoparlantes tengan una fuente más de referencia sobre los ODR
  • Proposal for a Regulation establishing an Accreditation Scheme for Online Dispute Resolution Services in the EU by Pablo Cortes, Lecturer, University of Leicester (England)
  • Riverhouse ePress of Style Matters: The Kraybill Conflict Style Inventory – Attendees at Cyberweek are offered a free test drive by Riverhouse ePress of Style Matters: The Kraybill Conflict Style Inventory.  This inventory is similar to the widely-known Thomas Kilmann in that it is based on a five-styles-of-conflict model, however it adapts to the user’s cultural background.  The online version enables users to take the inventory and get scored online, and provides a self-guided tutorial for interpretation.  Scores can be emailed to anyone of the user’s choice.  To try out the inventory for free, go to 2.gp/style, and login with the following:
    Login:  cyberweek
    Password: demo
    For more info, see the product info page on the Riverhouse site or email: Center@RiverhouseePress.com .