The room slowly fills up with people. Some you know and some you do not. Some come armed with their weopons of choice: A macbook, an ipad, a net book, and real notebook. But probably what is more important is that they have come because of a desire to learn and share. Nearly every Saturday they troop toward the Asian Institute of Management to attend a range of technology forums from WordCamp, the launch of Mozilla’s latest browsers, the Blog and Soul Talks and last week WikiCon2011.
And soon much more. At least that is what I know as far as the Blog and Soul organization, which I am part of, is concerned. This Saturday there is going to be MapUp – mapping party using Google maps to put in location data -whereabouts – of places like hospitals, schools and police stations for the Philippine Red Cross. This is a part of disaster preparedness – having a ready map that points you were to go and how to call it if needed. And then there is the Webinar/WebCon Google AdSense Talk this June.
Amd all of it is free or at least in some cases a nominal fee.
Somehow it is hard to imaagine that this is happening. Am AACSB accredited businness School partnering with different organizations and groups to bring about such events and activities. The AACSB stands for the Association of Advance Collegiate School of Business. It, the AACSB, benchmarks and accredits business schools worlwide according to a strict set of standards guiding learners and would be students as to the quality of education a business school provides. I guess there are several reasons for this namely (i) there are connections betweeen the AIM and the organization through Regnard Raquedan and Jayvee Fernandez both members of the AIM. (ii) The support of Prof Ricky Lim and the people of AIM for these projects, and (iii) the mutual benefits the relationship brings – communication with the different on-line community and online branding and promoition of AIM.
Quite similar to the relationship between an Anemone and the Anemone Clownfish. It is Symbiosis: The Anemone provides protection and a home. The Clownfish keeps the Anemone clean; improves water circulation inside the anemone; and st times defend the Anemone against aggressors.
At the least and for now AIM provides a home for events and activities of online communities. And you see this consistentky Iblog has its home in UP and for most part at the COllege of Law. WordCamp was held twice at the College of St Benilde.
It is but natural I think that online communityes and educational institutions find themselves in partnerships. Most of the reason have been said three paragraphs above and they are (i) connections to the educational institution; (ii) support from within the institution and (iii) the mutual benefits it brings.
But lets go back to symbiosis: the anemone and the clownfish. Somewhat different from what we previously talked about. Why do these things and why do it ?
One reason could be that with the speed of intrusion and approach of the digital/information world in our civilization there is a need to prepare everyone – at the least those who are willing. We find ourselves confronted with the digital world that is constant and changing leaving the whole of humankind in perpetual flux of confusion on what to do. Several years ago it was blogs. Then it was microblogs – like twitter. Then there were the Social Networks – like Facebook. It is a sea of change sitting beside a jungle of constant dangers and predicaments. My personal though on the matter is that these events/seminars and forums are made not only for bloggers, programmers or members of a particular community but it was made for everyone – all those willing to learn.
It is inevitable. Whether one is connected or not one gets drawn into the digial world. You might not be in facebook or twitter or may not own a blog but it does not stop anyone from tagging and posting about you. Ecen a Hermit incide a hut on an island, inside a lake on top of a mountain several leagues from nowhere cannot prevent someone from blogging, twittering or facebooling about him.
Everyone has to be ready and this has to be one of the strongest reasons why these things are done.
