The Web that has formed a community — LIFT

I attended LIFT conference held in geneva on 7-9 February, 2007.

What a conference it was! The fresh shower for my brain!!

What a smart web it is! –> LIFT
AND What smart people they are who exploited the web power for the conference!

The LIFT web is an intelligent and hard-working colleague for the conference participants and organisers. It works as an information board, e-commerce, blog, self-service who’s who?, archive, pod casting collection, LIFT wiki, and more. Unlike us, it doen’t get tired.

Interactive communication empowered by the web has given birth to a new working style

1. Administration, as usual – conference information, registration, notice board, inquiry, etc.

2. To get idea widely from the people and select the ones for the conference agenda – To ceate a conference agenda, the organising group didn’t stop with their ideas of agenda items, though they were good. They went out of the group to get other good ideas from the people. Thy left created one and a half day free within the three day conference for the open session, which was the place to put good and most supported ideas sourced from outside world. The LIFT web enabled this idea. Participants could post their workshop proposals directly on the web and vote to the ones they wished to join. Workshops were selected by a collective opinions of the participants. No authority was there.

3. I witnessed during the sessions my neighbourors typing their lap tops. They were surfing web sites and writing something. I came to know later by looking at the LIFT blog that some were reporting what was going on in the sessions with their comments. It was a real-time volunteeered reporting! Conference infrastructure enabled these activities – WiFi network all over the conference venues, 8 out of 10 people brought their own lap top PCs & Macs with WiFi card equipped.

4. The web site is the means to carry on the opinion survey of participants on the conference.

5. The web site is a cyber archive of conference sessions by video podcasting on the web. The podcasting started only one week after the conference. So quick and efficient!

6. The web site is beautiful, light and pleasant appearence. The organising team has pleasantly convinced us that colors and design are as important as technical functions.

7. All were voluntary work! No commercial interests were involved.

Joining in the conference community via the web site is fun, because people will look at me & my postings, and I may get reply to someone I may not know otherwise. It’s a nice feeling to know that someone is reading to my views and that s/he responds to me. This experience grows a feeling that I’m in a community.

The web has successfully created a self-forming community. Laurence Haug and his team stimulated responded to people’s desire to be connected. Their open-mindedness was the key to the success. Congratulations!!