Second time lucky ... for some reason, this ended up on the Archives
list when I tried to post it a few minutes ago. Clearly, I will need to
bring my digital skills up to speed!
Rachel.
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Is it just me or is it getting a bit hot in here?
Firstly, let's remember that this started with a post publicizing an
event dealing with a phenomenon that is of urgent importance to RIM,
whatever we each personally think of Cloud Computing. It is a very good
thing that Aberystwyth has undertaken this research and that the SoA has
funded it - on this evidence, the profession is reassuringly capable of
thinking outside the storage box.
However, two rather different things seem to have become entangled in
the discussion - attitudes to terminology and attitudes to, well,
attitudes.
Over terminology, I think we may be entitled to some light-hearted
banter over new words; in most cases, it has been clear that this
implies no parallel decrying of the concept described. Nonetheless, we
have all had to accept far more objectionable uses of the English
language than 'unconference', and indeed incorporate them in our daily
conversation at work. If the world finds 'unconference' a useful single
word to describe the range of attributes and aspirations associated with
such events, that is the word we will soon be using as unselfconsciously
as people now use 'impact' as a verb or 'cascade' to mean 'pass down the
chain' (itself no doubt a neologism not so long ago). Needless to say,
the terminology used on any given occasion should always be chime with
the conventions and prejudices of the group addressed - a word
unexceptionable in one setting will be hackle-raising jargon in another.
On the matter of the attitudes revealed by the use or non-use of words,
I do not think it fair to deduce from joking or even hostile references
to 'unconference' that the concept itself is considered risible or
inimical by the speaker. There have been many events and sessions in our
professional world where the aim has been to break out of both rigid
formats and rigid thinking, attended and organized by, among others,
some of the those list members who are currently raising an eyebrow over
the choice of terminology for the Cloud Computing event.
Anyway, if all the discussion here today has helped direct more
attention to the topic and the aims of the unconference in Manchester,
it will not have failed of achievement.
Kind Regards,
Rachel Hardiman
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