If you want to know what is going on at a conference right now, you can follow the back channel chatter on Twitter.
If you want to see the actual conference, you might check out UStream.tv, perhaps a video stream is available that lets you watch the event live.
The web is getting real time. It’s all about what is happening now.
Do you think things will be different if your actions on the project can be viewed by everyone in the world as they happen? How would you operate if your actions can be watched over and over again because they’re recorded?
I am not talking about a Big Brother scenario. But if information streams get real time, this concept will find its way into the project environment, one way or another. And information streams being real time, well, that changes everything.
I know. Because I am experiencing it right now. The experience is in the context of being active in the online Project Management community. I went from static to (almost) real time.
My Path From Static To Real Time
In 2001 I started a static website, SoftwareProjects.org. I wrote some articles once in a while, traffic was provided by the search engines, and the only way I could tell that people actually saw the articles was due to the website statistics. There was no feedback what so ever. That can be a good thing. Without feedback you are always right.
In 2005 I wrote a book. I spent months thinking about the topics I wanted to discuss. Months about how to tell the story. Months getting feedback from an editor and correcting minor details. Months getting it just perfect. Did I mention it took months?
In 2007 I started this blog, after years of thinking about it. When I finally “got it”, when I finally understood how blogs really are different from static sites, I was ecstatic. A blog supports the style I prefer, more emerging, more incremental, refining ideas. Writing becomes more of a continuous flow and you become more aware of what people think about it. Still, you have some moments to collect your thoughts, and you only have to care about the words you write.
In 2009 I recorded my first video interview. Adding visual and voice into the communication is more challenging. You have to pay attention to how you look too. The interviews are recorded and I tape my own parts afterward, to merge them later into the final video. Still enough opportunity to think and reflect.
Recently, together with Dave Prior and Josh Nankivel, I started doing podcasts that consist of real time conversations. We start with nothing but a rough outline of the topics and (almost) no editing afterward. You now have to think about content, words, voice, visual at the same time. It’s like real life, with one exception, if you really mess up, you can cancel everything as if it has never happened.
Next step is live video streaming through UStream.tv. That will be real time. No cancel. Accessible for the entire world to see. Available as a recording until the end of time. I am almost ready.
Almost.
Are you?
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Its very nicely written and thank you sharing your experience.
Good luck with everything !
Uhh – Just thinking about sending our backoffice conversations live using the internet. Would be a satiric highligt what Software Workers are talking about all the time
But anyway: It’s not clear which benefits can be reached using “Real Time Web”. Conference Broadcasts are not really new – aren’t they? You find them on many websites (companies, political parties etc…)
Hi CavailleColl,
Yeah, perhaps you are right and I should have provided a better example. But it still illustrates my point. What happens if the time between happening and broadcast + record reduces to zero?
Cheers
Bas