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2023-2024 NET Program Changes: Difference between revisions
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<span style="background:#FFFF00; color:#FFFF00">.</span><span style="background:#FFFF00">'''THIS PAGE IS UNDER CONSTRUCTION AND NOT FINAL.'''</span><span style="background:#FFFF00; color:#FFFF00">.</span> | <span style="background:#FFFF00; color:#FFFF00">.</span><span style="background:#FFFF00">'''THIS PAGE IS UNDER CONSTRUCTION AND NOT FINAL.'''</span><span style="background:#FFFF00; color:#FFFF00">.</span> | ||
Jeremy Van Keuren here. | |||
== | This is a "read ahead" page for NET volunteers and others reviewing proposed changes to the Portland NET program. A feedback survey link will be posted to this page after the presentation on November 8, 2023. | ||
The NET program has a few long standing creaky problems that should be addressed, '''''and''''' changes are happening (at both the PBEM bureau level and the City government level) that open opportunities and create change factors we should move on. To wit: | |||
==BACKGROUND: The case for making changes to the NET program== | |||
Just outside of Portland NET, both PBEM and the City of Portland are undergoing (and undertaking) the most sweeping bureaucratic changes seen in decades. This is resulting in general reprioritizing and movement of resources, and that does impact NET programming directly. Expanding our view beyond City government and into the sociological, the COVID pandemic and climate change has made permanent changes to how we view disaster, resilience, and community organizing. | |||
==== People are now accustomed to meeting and organizing on virtual platforms ==== | |||
It's difficult to believe that before the pandemic, virtual meetings were still a relative novelty. Sure, we had Skype ([https://www.wired.co.uk/article/skype-coronavirus-pandemic remember them?]) but that was more often used to connect with your granny living thousands of miles away. Today, we're meeting with people over ZOOM sitting literally in the next ''room''. | |||
From the NET community organizing perspective, there are both pros and cons to acknowledge. On the plus side, '''the availability of online meetings reduces obstacles to NET participation.''' Where a parent used to have to book childcare to take part in a NET meeting, now they can join online. Where someone who doesn't speak English fluently might feel self conscious about arranging live interpretation, it's now easier for PBEM to detail a live interpreter to an online meeting. Where a less committed ATV might groan at the prospect of getting off the couch to go meet with neighbors, joining online may feel more palatable. And so on. | |||
But there are a few problems as well: | |||
* There's an old saw that '''80% of communication is nonverbal.''' [https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/beyond-words/201109/is-nonverbal-communication-a-numbers-game That may oversimplify thing a bit], but the notion is still relevant. Online communication doesn't deaden nonverbal communication, [https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbescoachescouncil/2021/09/30/body-language-in-a-virtual-world-how-to-communicate-your-message-effectively/?sh=4308c9524964 but it does stymie it] even when a participant has their camera on. Blotting nonverbal communication makes misunderstandings and misfired social behaviors more likely. <ref>No joke, just a couple weeks ago, I was in a neighborhood association hybrid meeting where everyone was being chill until one person ("Person A") at the table stood up and started angrily yelling at someone online and off camera ("Person B") because the latter participant's tone and meaning were completely misunderstood. Not only that, but I speculate Person A would not have expressed themselves so aggressively if Person B had been there in person.</ref> | |||
* '''The AI bots are coming.''' Some of you may have noticed that instead of participating, folks are sending bots to take notes instead. | |||
Inside of NET are some problems that need solving (some widely recognized and some not). The NET program has a few long standing creaky problems that should be addressed, '''''and''''' changes are happening (at both the PBEM bureau level and the City government level) that open opportunities and create change factors we should move on. To wit: | |||
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