Web1.0 was the first generation of internet that introduced listservs and web forums for communication anywhere, anytime, but required significant back-end skills and financing. In the last 3 years, Web2.0 has opened new avenues for convening, sharing ideas and accelerating work with low cost, easy to use technologies that anyone can use. These social media are important tools for facilitators who seek to increase access, provide for reflective dialogue, and enrich the sources and outputs of engagements within, before and after face-to-face meetings.

Learn about the major types of Web 2.0 tools and their uses with participative processes in an exciting, free-flowing session that includes: creating an interactive tag cloud, a primer on new web terms, snap-shots of innovative technologies, discussion of the relevance of social media to facilitation, and a cafe round for peer to peer help on starting points and possible projects. You will be challenged in a game to operate an organization and face issues, such as:
> Improving internal communications
> Improving external communications and engagement
> Using social media as an individual

MAY 2008 AIP ISSUE
WIRED DISCOVERY: NEW CONVERSATIONS AND DEEPER CONNECTIONS

Loretta Donovan, Gabriel Shirley and Sue Anderson
loretta.donovan@gmail.com, gabriel@bigmindconsulting.com, and
sue@thesumoexperience.com

How do we "hear" in the quest for Discovery? What do we notice? What surfaces in the verbal and visual symbols of communication? How do we discover capacity and make meaning through reflective practice in conversation? How do we both transcend and respect boundaries to achieve new levels of understanding?

CALL FOR ARTICLES
This issue of Appreciative Inquiry (AI) Practitioner will venture into the domain of technology to find the answers to these questions. We intend to explore the possibilities for collecting,sharing,visualizing, reflecting, and collectively understanding stories of success uncovered in the Discovery phase of AI. The aim is twofold: first, to support the ways in which people variously perceive, communicate and learn;second, to add rich texture to the insights gleaned about the best of what is. The integration of online and computer-based software for one-to-one and broadcast messages is a vital link among people. For some AI consultants and practitioners, the touch-points of meaningful inquiry in a wired world have inspired exploration with new digital tools and schemes.

If you are one of those adventuresome practitioners, we are looking for your experiences,suggestions and lessons learned. Join us in creating an issue of AI Practitioner that encourages novices to begin to use technology, helps occasional users to deepen or enrich their experience,and supports early adopters to see the full-range of options as they lead or engage others in positive change initiatives.

TO CONTRIBUTE
We invite you to send a proposal of not more than 300 words for an article for the May '08 edition of Appreciative Inquiry Practitioner Journal (AIP) by Friday, February 1 to:
Loretta Donovan loretta.donovan@gmail.com and Gabriel Shirley gabriel@bigmindconsulting.com.

We are looking for articles that highlight technology uses which:
- Focus on delivering an experience online, rather than adhering to a model required by the technology.
- Integrate planning for a parallel online stream to the face-to-face AI process.
- Foster the social relationships of AI by connecting people before and after an event.
- Offer the opportunity to reflect, individually and as a group - for people who have interacted directly in the inquiry process or others outside the immediate story sharing.
- Help us understand the work of stewards of technology who model and support online relationships, reflection, and sharing of insights.
- Use alternative or multiple media (sound, graphics, photos, video) to convey stories and themes.
- Apply social web / Web2.0 techniques and technologies for co-creation in an online environment.

TIMETABLE
When you send us your proposal for an article, please be sure that you can meet the other dates in the timetable, if your article idea is selected. The timetable is:
Proposal for an article (300 words max) by February 1, 2008
Final article due by March 7, 2008 preferably before
Any further edits to be completed by March 21, 2008

WHAT PROMPTED THIS ISSUE IN RELATION TO APPRECIATIVE INQUIRY?
An October 2006 posting to the AI Annotations Blog asked:
" . . . what would happen if the positive question was not only answered in words. What would happen if stories were shown as video clips (caught on cell phones?) or sketches,or shared as song, or expressed in dance? How would that impact the mind and emotions of the storyteller? Would there be new insights? Less constraint? More transparency? And how would this be received by others who listen/watch/take in the story?"
That question has been the catalyst for this issue of AIP. Over the last 20 years, deep understanding of the principles and practices of Appreciative Inquiry have largely come from working in close proximity. Enhancements to AI have included visual and sound media built into the in-person experience. The shift of web-based communication media to more generative, democratic models has inspired new levels of participation. And so, we are poised to find the convergence of AI within this context.

OVERALL INTENT/AUDIENCE
This issue is for: AI practitioners and consultants who are using or are interested in understanding technologies that enhance the AI process. Secondly, it is for designers and hosts of online environments who are interested in the application of AI online.

INFORMATION ABOUT THE GUEST EDITORS

Loretta Donovan has interwoven a passion for exploring the human spirit with an understanding
of how organizations thrive as they create value. She explains,"I advocate for and facilitate engaged processes via action-oriented inquiry for businesses meeting critical challenges. With globalization, a maturing workforce, and free agent workers, my imperative is involving managers in focused dialogue." She is a co-owner in Appreciative Inquiry Consulting, founder of the Worksmarts Group, and an adjunct at Teachers College, Columbia University.
www.aiconsulting.org, www.socialtext.net/digitldialog
loretta.donovan@gmail.com

Gabriel Shirley is an organization designer and technologist interested in the convergence of
people, technology, and nature. He seeks solutions to complex issues through local action and collective learning. Currently, he is asking the question, "What do organizations and employees need to be and do in order to be relevant to the world in the next 20 years?"
http://bigmindconsulting.com
gabriel@bigmindconsulting.com

Sue Anderson operates her own consulting practice, Clockwork Communications in Toronto specialising in organisational communications. Also a partner in The SuMo Experience, Sue helps organisations engage stakeholders in possibility focused dialogue to create and sustain momentum. Sue is an associate faculty member at the Schulich Executive Education Centre, York University.
sue@thesumomexperience.com

MORE ABOUT AI PRACTIONER ISSN 1741-8224
www.aipractitioner.com
The AI Practitioner, formerly known as the AI Newsletter, began in May 1998. The publication is
for people interested in making the world a better place using Appreciative Inquiry theory and
methodology.

The publication carries articles, case studies and examples highlighting where and how Appreciative Inquiry has been used to bring about positive change. The articles highlight various aspects of the thinking and methodology of Appreciative Inquiry such as the life giving forces in a system, compelling images of the future, designs for living that future and ways to sustain the relationships and systems necessary for positive change.

Subscribers receive four issues a year in February, May, August and November. Subscribers and purchasers of single issues have a choice of downloading a high-resolution copy for printing or a lower solution copy for screen reading.

Any questions about the AI Practitioner can be directed to Anne Radford
editor@aipractitioner.com

With best regards,

Loretta Donovan, Gabriel Shirley and Sue Anderson

Appreciative Inquiry is redefining the way companies and individuals experience change, with dramatic implications for management. AI mobilizes inspired action and innovation focused on transformation of the business through a deliberately strengths-based approach to strategic planning, culture change, knowledge management, business process improvement, leadership development, customer satisfaction, joint ventures and alliances, and more.

Learn and experience this powerful, new vehicle for energizing change. In our practical course, you will gain understanding of and skills in:

> The fundamental ideas and practices of AI
> Key phases and roles in the AI process
> AI principles in traditional and non-traditional businesses
> Implementation in corporate, nonprofit, government, healthcare and education settings

Benefits of the Course:
> Increase personal and organizational effectiveness
> Understand how to initiate and lead change from a strengths-based perspective
> Explore new ways to increase creativity and innovation
> Determine new ways at looking at situations and challenges that ultimately deliver improved results
> Acquire a means for creating engagement, shared vision, commitment and action
> Discover a wide-range of AI applications implemented in teams, mid-sized companies, and whole systems

Loretta Donovan: Founder of worksmarts, in her 25 year OD career held senior consulting and HR positions with ClientSoft, Girl Scouts of USA, and Sungard/SCT. Her advanced studies include Columbia University, the Wharton School and NTL Institute. Her expertise is in digital collaboration and participatory change methods.

The impetus behind Appreciative Inquiry is building from a position of strength. Focusing on what works within a system, the participants in an AI delve into the circumstances and elements that have brought about success in the past. They find the positive core that was previously unseen and base their aspirations for achievement upon it. Energized by confidence that they can bring about more of the excellence they have previously achieved, they design the practices, roles and parameters that insure achievement.

Appreciative Inquiry helps teams and organizations discover and amplify the root causes of their success. It is a systematic search for what gives "life" to an organization - that which is most effective, most purposeful and which contains the most potential for mobi-lizing members' energies for positive change.

Instead of asking, *What are the problems; what hasn't worked?* Appreciative Inquiry (AI) asks questions like: Think of a time when this unit has performed superbly: What conditions were present at those moments? What organizational changes would allow more of those conditions to prevail?

This simple shift in perspective constitutes a powerful intervention in its own right that can begin nudging the organization in the direction of those questions - and toward significant innovation.

AI comes out of a belief that what we ask about we get more of, a commitment to the crafting of "unconditionally positive questions" which have the power to enable members to develop visions for their organizations which surprise them in their boldness and which elicit their best energies and creativity as they design and plan ways to bring those visions to life.

The inquiry is often conducted in four phases:

1. Discovery: What is the best of "what is" -- peak moments when the unit has excelled in the past and is doing well in the present? Stories or critical incidents are collected about best practices and the unique conditions, which enable them. "Through this process new insights emerge about what drives the organization, what its capabilities are, and what contribution its members can make to the world."

2. Dream: What are the possibilities, expressed and latent, that provide opportunities for more vital, successful and effective forms of organization? Unlike many visioning exercises, these images of the future are grounded in the organization's proven capabilities and past successes.

3. Design: What kinds of, structure, systems, roles, procedures, work processes, leadership, relationships, measurements, etc. are needed to assure implementation of the dream? Participants identify the high-leverage changes needed to support the vision.

4. Destiny: How will we create the future that we envision and deliver on these new images of the excellent performance? Participants develop specific action plans and commit to who will do what by when.

The spirit of giving is especially evident at this time of the year. And while your roles as nonprofit leaders may involve you in generous work, it's on behalf of others. Hidden in your stories and those of your clients, employees and vendors are elements of unrealized achievement, magical particles that when fused together create a powerful positive core that can be drawn from again and again in the future.

Start by finding a quiet place and reserve at least half an hour if you are doing this alone. Read the first question, reflect briefly and then write your responses or use a cassette recorder to save your thoughts. Take as long as you want on each question. Move to the next question when you are ready. When you are done, go back and rejoice in the fantastic achievement that you have inspired. Enjoy!

An important feature of nonprofit work is creating and supporting initiatives on behalf of the community and society as a whole. Reflect for a few minutes on the mission of your organization and what it intends for the world.

* As you think back over your experiences in the last year, can you think of a story about one of those special moments in which you were involved and achieved exceptional outcomes in your work? Recall and describe in full detail when you were filled with excitement as you contributed positively within a specific project or event.

* When you think about the most successful results you have achieved in leading your organization in 2006, recall a time when you felt you knew things were working well as you got board members involved. What processes or approaches did you use to engage them? What made their involvement effective? What else was going on that made their participation exceptional? What did you value about the work you were contributing to at that time?

* Recall a time in the last year when, as you worked with a staff member, you considered the results exceptional. Describe the situation. What made it inspirational for you? Who was the staff member? What did she or he do that surprised you? What did you value about the work you were contributing to at that time?

* Now think about your external partners. Call to mind a story from the last year of when one of these relationships and outcomes was exceptional. Describe the situation. What created the outstanding results? What actions of these partners contributed to success? What role did you play ? How did you feel at that time?