Update: Our first Google hangout took place on Tuesday, 6 August at 17:00 BST/9am US PDT. The recording is here and the notes are at this pad.

Let's discuss what we think makes a successful workshop.

Agenda for synchronous discussion

Guest speaker Chris Michael will join our Google hangout.

Bio: Chris Michael is a trainer, video producer and human rights advocate who helped launch and run the Hub, and has led and supported WITNESS partner campaigns and online-focused initiatives. Prior to WITNESS, Chris designed, led and coordinated innovative and high-profile local, national and international social and environmental justice campaigns for organizations such as Global Exchange and Rainforest Action Network. Much of Chris' work has been focused on creative, innovative and effective campaigns that utilize technology to promote justice. Additionally, Chris has worked as a field archaeologist, architectural historian and writer.

Website: http://www.witness.org/about-us/staff/chris-michael

Bio: Becky is the Codesign Facilitator and Community Organizer at the Center. She spends her time with changemakers of many kinds codesigning tools and methods to leverage media and technology for equitable social change. Prior to joining the Center, she led the SaferMobile project at MobileActive, a program to educate and train activists, journalists, and human rights defenders in mobile phone security. An activist and a journeyer, Becky has lived domestically and internationally working in the field of ICTD and as a photographer. She is particularly dedicated to the demystification of technology and the democratization of technology creation and use. Becky holds a B.S. in Comparative Media Studies from MIT and an M.S. in Information Management and Systems from the UC Berkeley iSchool.

Website: http://civic.mit.edu/users/beckyh

Logistics

We are going to have a discussion using Google Hangouts to help us to answer this question and to hopefully build a team of learners around this course.

To join a Google Hangout, you must have a Google plus account. If this isn't something that you want to do, or if you miss the discussion, you can still take part via the comment section below.

You will need a microphone on your computer that works and optionally a webcam. It's a bit like a conference call on Skype. Try to test it out if you can beforehand.

Setting the Agenda

• Chris will give an introduction - what is the value of a course like this - and we will dive into the topics below
• What do we want to discuss today?
• Is anything missing from the Agenda?

First impressions:

Our impression of key elements of workshops: different roles, activities, pre-requisites, resources/tools. Are there experiences that we want to share of workshops that have gone well or ones that could gone better?

Giving credit

Let's talk about the attribution of resources we are drawing on. We are pulling in different resources from different places and reusing them in a new context. As part of the course we aim to create new resources and share them under an open licence.

How do we feel about that?

Open approaches

• How does our approach fit into the School of Open philosophy?
• What are the links between Open Space Technology, Collaborative workshops and the wider ecosystem surrounding Free Culture and activist movements?