The Way We Meet, The Way We Travel

When Technology and Guilt Collide

Anthony Judge

Union of Imaginable Associationswww.un-imagine.org

Presentation in a session on the Future Consumer

Wired in Travel in AsiaSingapore, 29-30 November 2007

Discussion framework• Vital role of meetings and travel

• Pressures for change

• Conscience-based market segmentation

• Strategic postures: defensive vs proactive– Stage I: Palliative strategies– Stage II: Proactive strategies

• Stage III: Reframing the challenge– Mode A:– Mode B:– Mode C:

Vital role of meetings -- personal background biases

• Information systems: for international meeting organization (1970-2005)– Missionary for “computer conferencing” (1975-1985)– UIA Associate Members meetings (1980-2005)– International meeting statistics– Bid for management of .ORG web domain (2002)

• Encyclopedia of World Problems and Human Potential– Global Strategies Project– Ecoylnx – environment (1997-2000)

• Futurist, notably focusing on future of dialogue (1975 >)– International Congress on Congress Organization (Copenhagen

1967, Barcelona 1970, Kyoto 1975) – Augmenting collective intelligence (Douglas Engelbart)

• Meeting participation at a wide variety of events

Pressures for change

• Energy shortages: Oil prices / Fuel prices• Environmental impacts• Pressure groups & campaigns • Public relations image

– Corporate response (“Greenwashing”?)– Political uptake (“Legislative directives”?)– Pressures on meeting organizers

(“Justification”?)• Market reconfigruation• Individual conscience (Guilt? Shame?)

Conscience-based market segmentation

• Hypocrisy? My own travel?

• According to popular understanding:– travelling to conferences is not commonly associated with

a guilty conscience– “development set” poem– skilled in personal “guilt management”

• But they are subject to PR pressures – irrespective of comments on expensive meals and

starvation– problem of image for the organizers

• Guilt for some, but in marketing terms– lots of guilt-free enthusiasts to replace them

“Conscience sensitivity”

Conscience-based behaviour-- “ethical”

-- precautionary

Denial-based behaviour

-- “indulgent”-- carefree

Diffusion of innovation theory: Everett Rogers

Caracterization of evolution of meeting participant behavioursCombination of two separate tables developed by Nadia McLaren and Peter Harper

"Cringe"Harm avoidance;

behavioural inhibition

"Binge"Reward dependence;

behaviouralmaintenance

"Whinge"Novelty-seeking:

behavioural activation

"Stinge"Persistence continuity,

consistency

Self-directednessIndividualismUnenlightenedShort-term Narrow view

DenialAbstinenceStick to rulesDepressionProjection of problems onto othersAvoid strangers

Seek material rewardSelfishness / greedConspicuous consumption Indulgence

Self-serving complaintsBlame othersImpulsive, and often overwhelmed by

events

ScroogeMinimalism"Do just enough to get by"

Cooperation IMy family / Our mobReluctant reformismTokenism

AvoidanceReductionRespect for authorityStressProcrastination

End justifies meansPersonal improvementPersonal gratification"Keeping up with Jones"

ProtestNIMBYExperimental"No pain, no gain"

PrudenceRoutineAccept others weaknesses

Cooperation IISelective philanthropyEnlightened conservatism Pre-sustainability

ProtectionReflection Apology

"Do unto others…" Dematerialization, Reuse, RecyclingRepair

Activism"Put money where mouth is"

AusterityStay within meansAccept own weaknesses

Self- transcendenceGlobal communitySustainabilityLong-termBroader view

"Bite the bullet"Implement tough decisionsMending damageAct according to conscience

Personal fulfilmentSpiritual nourishment

AffirmationCelebration

InitiationInstigationOpen to changeTest the limitsMultitasking

Discipline

Caracterization of evolution of policy options & indicatorsCombination of two separate tables developed by Nadia McLaren and Peter Harper

"Cringe"Harm avoidance;

behavioural inhibition

"Binge"Reward dependence;

behaviouralmaintenance

"Whinge"Novelty-seeking:

behavioural activation

"Stinge"Persistence continuity,

consistency

Self-directednessIndividualismUnenlightenedShort-term Narrow view

Blanket restriction"No exceptions"Scorched earth"The pain is worth it"

Mutual reinforcementDisinformation

FanaticismZealotryAnti-establishment

Hidebound status quo"Business as usual"

Cooperation IMy family / Our mobReluctant reformismTokenism

"Tough love""This hurts me more than it hurts you"

SpinCosmetic“Growth is good for us”

UnrealisticEccentric"Blue sky"

Historically determinedPrecedentIncrementalism

Cooperation IISelective philanthropyEnlightened conservatism Pre-sustainability

Facing up to the truthSharing the load "We'll tighten our belts together"

VisionImage building

ImaginativeExploring alternate modelsFavour variety

Test all possibilitiesProven linkExperimentally tested

Self- transcendenceGlobal communitySustainabilityLong-termBroader view

RemediationSharing responsibilityPrecautionary principle Internalisation of environmental costs

Vision embodimentCollective fulfilmentShared celebrationIntragenerational equity

CreativityRisk taking In touch with minority views

Reconciling existing with emergentCarrying the loadIntergenerational equity

Principles of the Conscientized International Meeting Participant

political correctness in international initiativeshttp://www.laetusinpraesens.org/musings/prinexp.php

• 17. Resource conservation: I will only participate in meetings or projects which make deliberate efforts to counter the wastage of natural resources normally associated with such activities.

• 18. Meeting budget: I will only participate in meetings or projects in which the total budget for the preparatory meetings (including travel, accommodation, and cost of work lost) does not exceed a reasonable percentage (say 33 %) of the total annual operational budget (i.e. excluding administrative overheads) of the project.

• 19. Smoking: I will only participate in meetings or projects in which smoking in any form is not tolerated.

• 20. Alcohol consumption: I will only participate in meetings or projects enlivened by receptions, banquets or entertainment in which alcoholic beverages are not tolerated.

• 21. Meat consumption: I will only participate in meetings or projects in which the meals provided, available or recommended, do not involve consumption of animal flesh.

• 22. Energy use: I will not participate in meetings or projects in which the use of energy (for air conditioning, central heating, lighting, etc.) is inconsistent with the internationally recognised need to conserve energy resources.

Realistic “Post-conscience” strategic challenges

“Negative” attractors “Positive” attractors

Conscience-based

Inconvenience Servicesubstitution

New attractors

guiltshameprudence

disruptions security bioterrorismhealthhassle scheduling risk

new meetingmodes

bettercommunication technologies

highervaluemeetings

Market impacts

• blame / finger-pointing / negative public relations

• reduced face-to-face attendance– eccentric venue locations (costly aggregate travel)– focus on essential travel accompanying person(s) – joy riding / junkets– incentive travel / junkets

• reconfiguration of existing market – limited “high conscience” market shifts to virtual– mass “low conscience” replacement market continues

to “meat”

• separate massive evolution of new virtual market

Types of events especially vulnerable to critical PR

• Davos

• Porto Alegre

• Summits (UN, G8, etc)

• Olympic Games

• Large scale (Rotary, etc)

Probable negative framing of PR slogans

• “Meat world” vs ……“Virtuous world”?• Meetings framed as “Meatings”

– “Meating Participant”?– “Meatings Industry”?

• MICE: Meetings, Incentives, Conventions and Events • “MICE” – consuming non-renewable resources?• KL reframing ****

– “Meating Organizer” ?

• Old-style meetings – for the elderly?– participant obsolescence?

“Meating” substitution trends?-- loss of conventional travel-meeting market

Eminent / Prestigemeetings

Expert / Specialistmeetings

Past

Past

Past

Past

Present

Present

Future

Future

Present

Present

Future

Future

Mass “membership”meetings

Social networking“meetings”

Strategic postures:defensive vs proactive

• Stage I: Damage limitation: palliative defensive strategies– Competitive “greenwashing”?– Will the challenges be contained?– Will the problems get worse – and be more damaging to business?– Will the travel industry be bypassed by alternative meeting modest ?

• Stage II: Proactive reframing: leadership vs followership– creative development of alternative models? – offering possible eco-sensitive options to clients

• Stage III: Proactive reframing: more fruitful attractors– reframing the “travel-meeting” concept

Stage I: Palliative strategiesToken adaptation?

• Competitive analysis of eco-footprints– energy, carbon emissions, policies– per participant, organizer, or venue

• Competitive ratings and positioning – eco-ratings, star system (5 eco stars?)

• Competitive presentations– venues, meeting types– catchment mileage– energy cost (per meeting, per participant)

Stage II: Adaptive strategies

• Meeting cost reduction strategies

• Benefitting from precursor initiatives

• Participating in development of models

• Developing industry-specific new models

Meeting cost reduction strategies

• fewer meetings?

• optimization strategies?– scheduling chains / tours of different events– cost sharing between venues– longer (less-frequent) events– clustered events / multi-meetings – maximizing opportunities in venue vicinity

• promoting creative mix of virtual and face-to-face

Benefitting from precursor initiatives

• Industry experiences:– oil industry “greenwashing” models– corporate social responsibility models– hotel industry responsiveness– EU CAP – paying farmers “not to grow”

• Carbon Disclosure Project

Participating in development of models

• Carbon credits trading models• Carbon emission compensation strategies

Creative development of new models

• travel/convention industry: emission offset fund • "one child policy" -- "one trip policy“

• ethical investment model proposing eco-sensitive portfolio of a range of formulae (as with

risk-sensitive investment portfolios)

Strategies based on carbon credits

• Creative reframing of of air mileage arrangements– "air" miles speaking– e-mission– airtime – airline mileage model >> carbon credit model– trading in travel-related carbon credits – conversion: mileage <> carbon credits – emission credit sharing (as with costs) bursary/discount(ed)

travel (reframe subsidies as ecosubsidies)

• contribute discounted "mileage" to a pool Carbon credits trading

• "Banking" energy-emission credits

Carbon credits

Accumulating carbon credits

– forfeiting travel to accumulate credits for later use

– model of farmers paid not to grow

Funding carbon credits

– by venue

– by carrier

– by venue country, region, city

Stage III: Proactive reframing of the challenge

“product innovation”cultivating new attractors

• “Travel”• “Meetings”• “Contacts”• “Productivity”

• “Viability”• “Quality”• “Marketing”• “Relevance”

IBM’s « typewriter problem? »

Mode A: Market reconfiguration:virtualization & dematerialization

• Conference industry lost business

• New business

• Not investing in

• Proactive

• Social networking

“Meating” substitution trends?-- loss of conventional travel-meeting market

Eminent / Prestigemeetings

Expert / Specialistmeetings

Past

Past

Past

Past

Present

Present

Future

Future

Present

Present

Future

Future

Mass “membership”meetings

Social networking“meetings”

Meeting virtualization: substitution & surrogates

• recognize the extent to which meetings have

• avatars

• meeting market statistics

• second life

• social networking

• "meat world"? -- eco-glutton world

“Teleconferencing”: why? why not?

Past Present Future

« computer conferencing »

who: uptake? rejectsfor what? when?

who: uptake? rejectsfor what? when?

who: uptake? rejectsfor what? when?

video conferencing

who: uptake? rejectsfor what? when?

who: uptake? rejectsfor what? when?

who: uptake? rejectsfor what? when?

virtual environments

who: uptake? rejectsfor what? when?

who: uptake? rejectsfor what? when?

who: uptake? rejectsfor what? when?

Mode B: Enhancing value of “meatings”

• Cultural preferences

• Psychological preferences

• Age-related sensitivities

• Security

• Low key networking

• Other senses

Meeting innovation

• Carbon-based replacement– Silicon-based meetings– Second Life (Wired)– Tele-presence

• Reframe meatings to increase their value– Feng shui– Recontextualizing face-to-face

• Hybridization– Face-to-face AND Virtual, rather than OR– Transformations between both

Enhancing meetings as “strange attractors”Vital expectation of meeting participation

Emergent / Enabling / Fruitful:– Insight– Opportunities / Priorities– Order / Organization– Resources– Contacts– Reframing / Recontextualizing – “Re-creation”

Cool… let’s do

it

If you insist

Thanks… maybe not

You must be joking

Spontaneous organization X

Participant content X

Participant communication X

Podium communication X

Meeting alternatives and willingness to risk

Conferencing and riskOrder

Disorder

High Participation

Spontaneity (“corridor”)Crowd

Congress session Caucasing

Low participation

Stakes and risk(High stakes)

Low risk

Spontaneity (“corridor”)Crowd

High stakes / Low risk

Caucasing

Low stakes / Low risk

Average congress

High stakes / High risk

Low stakes / High risk

High risk(Low stakes)

Mode C: Anticipating future meeting styleswhat are we failing to recognize?

What will this meeting look like in

» 10 years?» 30 years?» 50 years?» 100 years?» 500 years?» 1000 years?

And why should we care?

Future of Meeting?

• Open Handset Alliance ?– 33 large corporations convened by Google

• Mobile devices – as primary means of accessing information– migrate the information to other screens such as our

televisions, automobiles or displays in our workplaces.

• Open Social platform: social network computing – unite applications on the web into a social operating

system – emphasis on organizing and developing relationships

instead of just managing information.

“We are our own metaphor””Wired in Travel”

• “Travel”: geographical vs intersectoral– Generating business from other forms of travel– Risk of core business being contextually reframed– “Carpet pulled from under the feet”

• “Wired”: hard-wired vs soft-wired– Connectivity: wiring « pattern that connects »– Cultivating “songlines of the noosphere””– “Re-wiring”?

???

Fundamental challenge

• Enhancing the value of meeting– New forms of:

• Integrative understanding for global initiatives• Management of diversity and disagreement

– Not: • Physical vs virtual• Error: simplistic virtual replication of physical

• Ultimate “environmental” irony – more effective (communication) environments– more sustainable (communication) environments– higher quality (communication) environments

Dynamic conference mind-mapping

Representation of “wired in travel” in a global society?

Syntegration? Cultivating the “Songlines of the noosphere”?

Collective self-consciousness in meetingsindividual-collective interface

Introduction of a self-reflexive dimension(cf Douglas Hofstadter, Gödel, Escher, Bach; I Am a Strange Loop)

Reframing through new metaphors Influence of new thinking on meetings

– > New problems– > New strategies– > New technologies– > New theories– > Non-western cultures– >New generations

…. and ensuring their relationship to the old

Meeting metaphors from new technologies?

Reframing the energy challenge -- in psychosocial terms

Lessons from nuclear fusion as the hope for a technological response to the carbon-based energy crisis

(cf ITER: a joint international research and development project that aims to demonstrate the scientific and technical feasibility of fusion power)

“Cognitive fusion” as a new way of thinking about the essential psychosocial role and operation of meetings?

(cf Cognitive Fusion Reactor (ITER-8): Imaginal Transformation of Energy Resourcing)

Meetings as generators of “human energy”

Meeting Metaphors-- based on long-lasting cultural metaphors?

Towards Another Order of Conferencing: Insights from the Chinese Book of Changeshttp://www.laetusinpraesens.org/docs/ching/achngcot.php

New Asian Meeting Metaphors?

Anthony Judge Union of Imaginative Associations

http://www.un-imagine.organthony.judge@gmail.com

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