I tweak my communication practice ongoingly. please let me know what u think esp if u are in disagreement with anything I declare!

Whether you choose to adopt these practices is up to you - do let me know if these all ring true for you - I would love to get to know you!

Guiding Principles

  1. communication is the power to create your world
  2. I'm committed to making myself available to everyone in my life. "Too much communication" makes for a good challenge in life - give up overwhelm!
  3. I believe in the freedom to communicate. If you are uncertain whether or not to talk to me, just contact me!
  4. I want to hear about your life for the purpose of finding areas in life we can work on together.
  5. Communication is not all work. I create time to socialize whenever I can - many of you know I love dancing and love to network too!
  6. speak as if you are on a podium sharing with the world!

Requests

In living these principles, I've discovered the following protocols and developed some boundaries as a result. A reminder my goal is to be open and this may not necessarily occur for you as I proceed through my transition and learn to adapt to what I believe in.

Reaching me

  1. call when possible. Leave vmail. I do not return all calls esp if your # is not in my address book.
    • If you are not in Thailand prefer online communication. Skype if we collaborate on a virtual team.
  2. if I promise to call and you don't hear from me - call me back immediately. shit happens and I am committed I be my word.
  3. SMS works really great for simple, short requests.
  4. if your request is not urgent, instant message me - you may get a response by email (per gtalk/gmail integration)
  5. do me a favor and pay attention to my status on Skype and gtalk. I don't mind interruptions - just take a moment and ask yourself if it's urgent.
    • take a moment to acknowledge you're interrupting. it's possible my status is not correct - my computer is not wired to my brain contrary to popular belief :D
  6. give me space when I lose access to the Internet.
    • I made a choice to "live" on the Internet and adopt the Web 2.0 model in Aug 2005 - when I lose Internet access, my "world" goes down too! have mercy! :)
    • I believe in a full offline synchronization (ie. on a macbook- it's just not fully here yet (as of this writing)

Your listening

create yourself as a global citizen - share publicly as if you are sharing and want to make a difference with the world!

  1. post to my wall on facebook
  2. post a comment to my blog
  3. post to a public forum
  4. post a discussion on any page in my wiki
  5. gather people together on a special topic face-to-face. use VoIP and invite remote attendees!
  6. create a Google Document and invite people around the world to concurrent edit and make a contribution!
  7. use email to hold others accountable for their actions. avoid chatting over email when possible.

Chatting

  1. invite me to your social events and be persistent about reconnecting - you may need to invite me a few times. sharing what has you going always helps!
  2. conversely, join me in my social events any given week. Just ask and don't take it personally if I don't invite you first.
  3. it helps to keep chats off email. I tend to relate to email as things for "follow up" I don't want to turn your personal conversation into one that feels "transactional!"
  4. facebook works great for socializing personal & business. Please make our conversation public if at all possible. Have others join our conversations!

Focus

  1. help me stay focused on what I'm up to. see Mastery
  2. tell me when I get into a rat hole yet give me some space to go off on tangents and remind me to get back on track.
  3. hold me accountable to actions I commit to you. Ask me by when I will commit to completing actions. give me space to make mistakes & don't take my bullshit.
  4. use an agenda and schedule time with me.

Technology

  1. learn to use a wiki as a form of transforming your relationship to communication.
    • take nuggets of email conversations and put them into a wiki.
  2. use Google Docs. say no to files! gDocs is great for templates.
  3. step up and create mailing lists for groups you care about.

Misc

  1. if money is a concern for you when it comes to being in communication, talk to me about it.

Behaviours

don't be surprised in living these principles, I do one of the following:
  1. reply to your private message or email and post on your wall on facebook
  2. answer your question on my wiki and reply with a pointer to this page.

Technology

source: 2007 update
4 technologies that give me new freedom in the area of communication. This may provide more context to my requests above:
  1. wiki - if you want to play - this is the technology for you! I consider this a participatory means of keeping in touch - everyone is invited to help me edit my wiki - I put new knowledge in it several times a week - life is my research - research is my life! If you want to start your own wiki (personal or organizational) please don`t hesitate to get in touch with me - this is not a passion that will die!
  2. facebook- one world - thats pretty much it. I appreciate that almost every walk of life has shown up in this space someway somehow - it is a powerful way for me to communicate with the diverse community I have created - thank you for all of you who have accepted my invitations to be in this community. just get your ass in facebook and have fun!
  3. email - ok - this has been around for what amounts to 17+ years for me so it`s a matter of being clear with everyone how I use it these days. now that most of my chatter (personal and business) has moved to facebook, most of my email tends to be `action-oriented` - things that require follow-up and mailing lists. Fortunately I don`t have a business relationship with all of you (that would drive me insane) so I can handle my inbox these days which is a godsend! that said, Google Mail has been kind to me :) I prefer you reach out to me on facebook if in doubt.
  4. google docs - now that I`m official about jumping into the `say no to email` bandwagon - this is another outlet that`s been good to me. I just *love* creating documents with people - I think its a way to organize our ideas and create something *together* - there is a bit of magic that happens when you can simultaneously work on the same document together - at a distance. I am always looking for people who are willing to evaluate cutting edge technologies with me!

finally, let`s not forget the good ole phone (funny how we don`t necessarily relate to it as technology these days) - one of the big things that have happened over the past year is I now have a new freedom around using the phone and it feels great!

Voice

Options to assist calling overseas
  1. Skype :)
  2. Gizmo Project - new possibilities for VoIP
    • invented the possibility of calling cell phones for free (you have to play *their* game - can attest to it working)
    • works great for conference bridges that are free for VoIP users and supporting those who rather be mobile.
  3. jajah - told this works well! you use the web to play "operator" and that's it! no computer expertise required!
  4. Thaitel.com - parents use this and it works great for them
    • INQUIRY: I am looking for an inexpensive way to call Japan. if anyone has options to declare this would be great.
  5. direct calling - expensive but fast and what I've now learned is even more important, predictable!

Other

other modes of communication not mentioned above
  1. virtual - Second Life - the future!

you may be interested in Dance Labs' explorations in communication for more info (note: requires updating)