David G. • Matthew

Two main reasons I think.

+ Most face to face KM events struggle to make money. Its even tougher for online ones.

+ People learn best face to face and enjoy it more too.They also value the networking and social aspects of a face to face event.

best wishes David

Mark H. • Matthew,

I have no information on David's first point above, but would ceratinly support his second.

We probably need to remember that KM is not about the technology, but about people who know. The technology provides part of the infrastructure that enables the management of knowledge, but knowledge itself resides only in people.

Tia C. • I never see it as an either/or. One brings great value to the other and creates strong ties. Delivering stimulating information or data to promote and provoke conversation via both options can accelerate the process of engagement.

Bill P. • There is a definite anti-social networking and online interaction bias among many KMers I've met. KM is seen as a way of brining the human back into the organization so many in the KM area emphasize the 'personal' aspect of interaction. KM is full of people who have had or are having careers in the technology area and they have become disenchanted with what technology has to offer. These people tend to be on the wrong side of 40 so they may be suspicious of social networking and online interaction.

Matthew L. • Tia, I agree, to me the question isn't why we still have face to face meetings in KM - as Dave and others quickly pointed out, KM is largely a social manifestation.

The question to me is why there are so few online events. I would have predicted that there would still be lots of in person events, but that there would have been a blossoming of online events as well to support, augment, and expand the brick and mortar ones.

Victorian socialites who liked attending balls probably also wrote lots of letters when balls weren't on that week's social calendar.

Roxanna S. • KM is not about technology, KM and KS is about connecting people. David is right, people enjoy more face-to-face, they learn better and they learn more. Having said that a good example of on-line KM/KS exchange are the Tuesday KMers tweet chats

Nick M. • Because learning is a contact sport

Matthew L. • Nick, brilliant as always. :)

So what does that say about eLearning vs classrooms?

Bill P. • ... hmmm this is online - why doesn't it count? Maybe peopole like the face to face because they are poor electronic sharers ... All lot of learning I've done has been alone .. maths, memorizing thousands of Chinese characters, programming languages, web page design, - all learning is not in a gorup but sometimes when I'm stumped I really like the gorup so I can ask a question. The group is bigger online aka Wikipedia.

Nick M. • As Larry Prusak says, show me the e-learning enthusiast that doesn't send their child to a real school!

Matthew L. • Nick sure, although I am not sure where I would place the growth in homeschooling in the US.

I am thinking more in terms of adult education and ongoing professional development.
A decade or three back, lots of corporations had big education facilities, even campuses that rivaled the universities, and most of those are now gone.

If eLearning doesn't hack it, then are we heading back to the corporate college model that is either a collaboration with traditional universities and colleges, or rough and ready cafe's, r ...?

My view is that we get a blended model, but one in which eLearning plays a big role.

Simon T. • Having organised a number of events for London-based intranet managers, we wanted to make material available online to non-attendees.

Unfortunately, we found that while many organisations are happy to show something briefly on screen to a limited audience, they would not allow it to be distributed on the web. These concerns can only be intensified when looking at KM.

Avinish M. • So, why not start start now. To start with, I request all the members to share(if possible) best practices from their live career about any of the following:
1. Collaboration
2. Knowledge Sharing
3. Communities
4. Connectivity
5. Knowledge Retention

Best wishes
Avi

Swinitha N. • Knowledge sharing helps to use existing knowledge rather than each section/unit in an organisation do the same work several times. It helps to reduce organisational silos, time , effort and resources as knowledge is freely available. Collaboration will follow as sections/units share what they have done. Those who are interested in same type of work get together in informal communities. I think each of the topics is interconnected.
I remember in our school we had the annual sharing of the light (the teacher will light the candle and the student standing next will light the candle from the teachers candle till all the candles are it) It was all about sharing and every one got to share. Now I think about it and believe sharing will help others learn while the person who shared the knowledge with others will not lose anything.
But, in some organisations because of the culture, people do not like to share unless there is a record of ownership as someone else will get the credit for his/her work
Swinitha

Tom P. • I am in full agreement with the argument for a face to face experience. However, I would think that the argument for reduced expenditures and greater inclusion would result in more online events. My organization embraces the use of LiveMeeting for standard business meetings to reduce travel, why not KM events?
Outside of the business community I attended a cyber-cafe on leadership that originated in Munich. I live in Oklahoma, USA, so, the cost to attend in person would have been prohibitive for me. If learning is best face to face, that does not mean that learning is non-existent when an event is on-line, only somewhat less than optimal, but a viable second choice.
.

Stanley B. • I am in agreement that KM sessions in person are of great value, if just for the networking to share ideas face-to-face, and meeting with friends. Learning is an on-going experience with sharing globally in the virtual world, without the need to invest the time and expense of flying great distances. On-line learning, or continuing educations, is also highly desirable for many people. Noting some other comments that KM is not about technology, I would suggest that technology can be an "enabler" of KM, along with several other benefits. If this were not the case, then I suggest that SharePoint and Lpcube would have no place in assisting with the KM implementation process, instead of just discussing “theories” about KM. It is my understanding that Lpcube is putting together a series of webinars for those interested in finding out more information, which might be the first step towards having a virtual discussions without jumping on a plane and going through all of the security checks, immigration and flight delays at the airport. Check out www.lpcube.com if interested in joining these webinars.

Inger Lise E. G. • Face to face settings would in my mind be the most ideal setting for sharing ideas and tacit knowledge. However, I do believe that there should be more online meetings arranged, considering on the technology we have available today.

Mark H. • Just going back to the original question (sorry, it's the facilitator in me)...

Meetings such as conferences and seminars are not the same as information that is made available online to facitate learning or ongoing discussion fora such as LinkedIn of WikiPedia

The eLearning material is essential, but quite often cannot stand-alone. This is something I found while studying a Masters and an OU KM Module by the distance learning method...in both cases, following lots of on-line (and real-book) research, queries and questions I had were answered quickly during face-to-face tutorial/workshop sessions.

Similarly, I have tried following Twiter on-line discusions and have found that 'real-life' interuptions make these very ineffective...subsequent study of the transcripts are more meaningful.

On-line meetings using video-conferencing or confertel technologies are, I have found, fine for progress monitoring during projects or for very specific subject matter (such as an auditclosing meeting) but for the more 'fluffy' things such as idea generation, problem solving, conferences and the like, I think the face-to-face meeting cannot be beaten.

John T. M. • Hi - As probably the person that has conducted more face-to-face KM events, over the last three decades, than all others combined, arrival at the definitive answer to this question is easy.

The bottom line is impact and outcome.

Same-time, different-place (STDP), different-time, different-place (DTDP) and different-time, same-place (DTSP), aka, Webinars, eLearning, Learning Centers, etc., are excellent for deterministic impact and outcomes. These are activities where the outcome is known. Thinks like certification training, operations, policy diffusion, ‘best practices,’ etc. These complicated activities are well-served by technology.

Same-time, same-place (STSP) is for non-deterministic impact and outcomes. This is where the outcome is unknown, emergent, complex. These are creative activities like design, relationships, strategy, etc. These complex activities depend on authentic conversation, genuine collaboration, diversity, personal interactions, trust, ongoing relationships, etc.

There are NO exceptions to these rules. Unfortunately, KM people aren’t very good at leading these activities. The main and classic problem they have, is, of course, leading-with-technology. Never worked, never will. People matter.

KM is about Creating the Future. Thus, by definition, ALL worthwhile KM activities must be STSP.

To be honest and blunt, it make no difference what you think people enjoy or value. What matters is impact and outcome. No exceptions. People will serve the social networks that best serve their goals and objectives. Guidance and configuration are certainly welcome.

Fortunately, the KM trend line is favoring STSP. Social media, communities, CoPs, etc., are great KM practices in-so-far as they serve STSP KM. That’s good news and all KMers should be encouraged!

Again, build and strengthen your STDP, DTSP and DTSP programs and activities for training.

For KM, STSP carries the day. Always has, always will.

This is among the key themes of the Network Singularity…

http://www.networksingularity.com/

Thanks to all for the thread.


P.S. To anwser the specific question, in proper social media venacular --

Q: Why are so few KM events done over the web?
A: Becasue they suck.

Barry W. • Matthew, I've just joined this discussion and what a great debate you've started. I've been running on-line learning via webinar for two years now. This comes after delivering face to face learning for 25 years. I think it has huge potential and whilst I still relish the cut and thrust of 'classroom' encounters I feel this can be re-created both innovatively and interestingly on-line. Lets face it people learning on-line now have access to a wealth of research material at their fingertips...in a classroom they don't, and have to wait to 'get on-line'. This requires the facilitator to take a whole new approach to design and delivery, an area I'm still learning and experimenting in as much as I did when I first started teaching and facilitating. Let e-battle commence!! Barry