But the point of the panel is to bring the high-minded thought that so often characterizes texts in the social networking software arenas into practice For example, how can we balance heady “network effect” projections with a solid understanding of the time and investment in cultivating social relations that make up real communities. See Clay Shirky’s important article “Communities, Audiences, and Scale http://shirky.com/writings/community_scale.html/.

Or, how can people working toward a better world best combine available one-to-many communications with many-to-many tools in a way that offers democracy and impact on an American political system gone awry? The four panelists will speak to their experiences on the often bumpy road to realizing these and many other more practical aspects of launching new systems and tools.

The “Weaving Our Strategies Together” text argues for a better and more intricate balance of social and technological ideas and practices. A central part of the text is a section on identifying a “partnership spiral process: a pattern language for cooperation.” The four stages comprising the “partnership spiral” are as follows:

I. Get to Know Each Other

To know each other is to better understand each other. During this first phase each party learns about each other’s interests, relationships, and resources.

II. Explore Possibilities

With a greater understanding and appreciation of who we are, we can better explore possibilities for how we can contribute to each other. To converge is to “come together and unite in a common interest or focus.”

III. Develop Opportunities

Once a number of possibilities have been identified the next phase is to further develop and evaluate specific opportunities. Opportunities are refined based upon common interests and overlapping capabilities.

IV. Make and Fulfill Commitments

Cooperation Agreements are arrangements between two partners that specify in advance the conditions under which they will share, exchange, and trade resources.

Panelists Include:

*Jon Ramer, The Interra Project, co-author of paper

*Ken Jordan, author of the ASN White Paper, LINC (Ford Foundation)

*Drummond Reed, is founder and CTO of Cordance Corporation (formerly OneName Corporation).

*Kaliya Hamlin, Co-Director, Integrative Activism

*Neil Sieling,Interra, Link TV, Digital Independence/Interdependence