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Inside Web Lab
Issue 4.0
September 11, l999
Our Slogan of the Month:
ALS: It's a lovefest already!
http://www.WebLab.org
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Contents
American Love Stories Site Launches
American Love Stories Dialogue Groups Open
American Love Stories In the News
American Love Stories Feedback
Open Call for Web Development Fund Partners
Sightings
Job Opening - Development Director
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American Love Stories Site Launches
http://www.pbs.org/weblab/lovestories
At last! Our American Love Stories site has
launched to great fanfare. As we're sure you've
heard by now, it's a site about negotiating
differences of all kinds - race, age, disabilities
and many more issues. We've had hundreds of
personal stories come in from all over the country,
from all kinds of couples. The stories are powerful
and moving and we hope will have an impact on both
the readers and the tellers of those stories. Small
group dialogues are forming and will launch on Monday,
September 13 - sign up for registration now if you'd
like to participate in a provocative, meaningful
exchange about negotiating differences in relationships
and the society around us, as well as many other
important issues.
And keep your eyes peeled for the premiere of
"An American Love Story", the 5-part series airing
on PBS starting Sunday night (check your local
listings for times.) Jennifer Fox's award-winning
documentary chronicles the life and family of Bill
Sims and Karen Wilson -- a black man and white woman
who have struggled for 30 years against the racial
stereotypes and societal prejudices that have
tried -- sometimes viciously -- to divide them. In the
first program, Karen and Bill reflect on their early,
difficult years, when their relationship unleashed a
firestorm of community outrage. Their daughter Cicily,
who is struggling with fellow students -- black and
white -- at Colgate University, prepares for a semester
abroad in Nigeria.
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American Love Stories Dialogue Groups Open
http://www.pbs.org/weblab/lovestories/dialogues/
Registration has begun for the first round of ALS dialogue groups,
based on the remarkably successful model we developed with
Reality Check. You can sign up now at:
http://www.pbs.org/weblab/lovestories/dialogues/
The first groups of 60 or so folks will launch first thing Monday
morning, just a few hours after An American Love Story airs,
and will meet for 3 weeks. Registrants will choose from among
one of three groups:
Bridging Differences
These groups begin by discussing the topic of bridging differences
within relationships.
TV Series
For people who've seen all or part of the television broadcast and
want to talk about it.
25 and Under
These groups are composed of people twenty-five and under and
start with either topic.
We have high expectations for these groups. This will be the
largest number of people we have ever hosted using this small
group technique, and will be more visible than anything we have
done in the past. And if the results are anything like what the
preliminary report on Reality Check has revealed, this should be
quite an event. Just to give you a taste, in Reality Check:
- As many as 30% of the posts contained positive comments
directed towards another member, while negative comments
were only in 10%.
- 40% of those surveyed reported that they felt that most or all
of their group were interested in what they thought and half of
those surveyed believed that members of their group were interested
in understanding people they disagreed with.
- 80% of those surveyed reported that they were influenced to
post and read messages by a sense of responsibility to their group.
To get a taste of the energy and topics ALS members will raise,
check out the Featured Posts already on the site, as generated
through the gracious group of testers who helped us out last
month. Go to:
http://www.pbs.org/weblab/lovestories/dialogues/featured.shtml
Please tell all your friends and loved ones, and we hope to see
you there. And if you would like to keep up-to-date on this
dialogue technique, and see a preview of our ongoing evaluation,
check out the latest section of the Web Lab site dedicated to
this process:
http://www.WebLab.org/salon.html
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American Love Stories In the News
The American Love Stories site is capturing press attention! It
has already been listed as a Hot Site in USA Today and featured
in the Cutting Edge section of Los Angeles Times. This week,
the Chicago Tribune ran a piece describing the site, and Long
Island's Newsday prominently mentioned American Love Stories
in their two page spread on the series. Working Woman also ran
an item in its Coming Events column this month telling readers
to check out the site! More to come!
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American Love Stories Feedback
Did we mention how excited we are about American Love
Stories? We could (and have) gone on and on about it, but
we thought we'd take a minute to let you know what visitors
to the site have had to say:
"If all of you have spent some time in other dialogs - you have
noticed a negative - rather arrogant stream that usually runs
through the discussions. I am happy to say that I do not see
that here - LYNN was correct - everyone's personal thoughts
are on the line, and although this leads to FANTASTIC
conversations, it does leave them vulnerable to insults and
such. Thank you all for being such a fun group!"
"I love PBS and was curious about the web site. After reading
a couple of the love stories, I thought, this is terrific. I get to
see a slice of America that isn't out my back door. I work
with people who have similar educational experiences, and
live in a neighborhood where people have similar incomes.
We go to the same churches, shop in the same stores,
meet at the same Little League games. Not much diversity.
I think this is a really important Site."
"Until this PBS dialogue session started, I never realized how
naive I am about racial issues that saturate this society. I
am grateful for all of the insights and point of views given from
everybody. I still have a lot more to learn, as we all do, however,
I certainly feel more racially sensitive!"
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Open Call for WDF Partners
Announcing the Web Development Fund Partnership Program
http://www.weblab.org/wdf.html
One of Web Lab's first projects -- and probably the one for which
we're best known -- is the Web Development Fund, which provides
funding and a variety of support services for innovative sites
proposed by independent producers. The first two rounds of
WDF were done in association with PBS Online, which also
hosts the finished sites, provides extensive publicity, etc.
We've spent the last several months developing a Partnership
Program that will allow a range of organizations -- from
foundations, to technology companies that want to be associated
with innovation on the Web, to non-profits -- to create "tracks"
for special projects. For more information, please go to:
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Sightings
Our own Marc Weiss went to Hollywood this week to describe
Web Lab's experiences with online story-telling and their potential
to transform the way people understand who they are, when he
participated in a panel discussion on "The Changing Face of
Narrative: How the Net Is Changing The Story" at Digital Coast
'99, billed as "The Definitive Convergence Event" For more info:
http://www.digitalcoast99.com/
Marc is scheduled to make a presentation about the ALS
at the September 28 meeting of the Board of Directors of the
Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the agency that distributes
public funding to PBS and NPR.
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Job Opening - Development Director
We're still on the hunt for a Director of Development! If you are
or know somebody perfect, please spread the word. This is a
senior level position with a lot of responsibilities. Some of the
major duties include: coordinating all fundraising activities; initiating
contacts with corporations, foundations, and individuals; researching,
editing, and writing grant proposals. Candidates must have: 2 -3
years of development experience, superb writing and editing skills
and a general knowledge of Internet, communications, and online
issues. It's a fun and demanding work environment located in
downtown NYC. For more info:
http://www.weblab.org/jobs/devdir.html
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