Mediate.com Featured Blogger Interview: Diane Levin At Mediation Channel
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April 2009 |
When and how did you get involved in dispute resolution?
An inspiring boss and
mentor laid the groundwork for my receptivity to ADR. I was an attorney
fortunate enough to be working with an experienced trial lawyer who understood
the critical role of negotiation in reaching settlement and producing closure
for clients. An effective communicator
who listened carefully and asked thoughtful questions with skill, she also
helped me recognize the value of relationship building to get things done, not
only with clients but also with fellow lawyers, even those across the aisle.
When I learned of an upcoming mediation training, she
enrolled with me in the program and we trained together. 34 hours later, and I
was a convert. I knew this was what I wanted to be doing. The rest, as they
say, is history.
When and how did you start your blog?
I
launched my blog in January 2005. Concerned at that time about the little reliable
information available on the internet to those interesting in becoming
mediators, particularly with respect to training and education, I decided to
create an online resource, which I called “Online
Guide to Mediation”. I built
it in a matter of a few minutes using Blogger, a free blog publishing platform.
An avid do-it-yourselfer, I bought a couple of how-to books on blogging and
taught myself how to write HTML so I could make changes to my blog’s appearance
and add functionality. It was pretty primitive, but it worked.
Do you consider your blog to have a particular voice? Please
describe.
I ended up taking my blog
in an entirely different direction than originally intended. Somewhere along
the way I developed a fascination with popular culture and the social sciences,
particularly with social perceptions of law, negotiation, and conflict. I gave my blog a new name and a new URL, MediationChannel.com.
You can see the nod to pop culture in the cherry-red retro TV that appears in
my blog’s header. The notion of TV channels
also conveys my blog’s character – eclectic and wide-ranging, meant to appeal to ADR folks, lawyers,
negotiators, and anyone interested in conflict resolution. I confess that I’m a rabble-rouser at heart,
so I like to introduce a bit of controversy here and there as well. I suppose
you could say I’m a court jester - pushing people to confront their perceptions
and see the world anew – fitting I think for someone who is both mediator and
blogger.
What has been most satisfying about blogging?
Two things primarily:
connection and access to information. It
has connected me with remarkable men and women I might not have met otherwise –
a number of whom I count today among my closest friends. Blogging also depends upon the ability to
remain current with breaking news and the latest thinking in the field – we
bloggers are constantly on the prowl for the latest information or
controversial story. This means that
blogging has made me better informed and in turn a more reflective practitioner
willing to take risks and try out the techniques or ideas I’ve discovered.
There’s also satisfaction in mastering digital technology. Blogging lets you be
a perpetual student, always learning something new.
What has been most frustrating with blogging?
It’s not always easy to
find time to blog, particularly when work is really crazy. When you don’t get a
chance to post, you sometimes feel guilty, as if you’re letting down readers
(who will be sure to send emails, solicitously inquiring if you’re okay).
How about, most embarrassing?
In a post, I welcomed a new
blogger to the ADR blogosphere, a Belgian
mediator. I mistakenly identified him as
French. I almost created an international incident, but fortunately he was
extraordinarily gracious about it, and I hastily posted a correction. Moral of
the story: always check your facts before you post. And if you screw up,
apologize and fix it.
Do you think Blogging has contributed to the growth of
mediation? If so, how?
I do know that search
engines love blogs. Therefore, I like to think that ADR blogs have succeeded in
raising the profile of ADR in public awareness. Where I think blogging has
particularly contributed is in the dissemination of and discussion of ideas
connected to negotiation and ADR, particularly among students of law and of
conflict resolution. Theirs is the
generation that seems most plugged into Web 2.0. I get a lot of email from
members of these younger generations, interested in careers in ADR or wanting
to find ways to use negotiation and conflict resolution in their professional
lives.
How do you see mediation evolving?
Here’s what I predict. (You can come back in 10 years and let me
know how I did.)
Advances in neuroscience
and psychology regarding decision making and judgment will gain increasing
importance for practitioners of ADR, yielding practical applications and
techniques for producing better decisions.
As calls increase for professionalization and standardization of mediation
practice, one state will establish formal licensing for mediators in private
practice.
I anticipate in coming
years that mediation will have to confront some of its demons – the fierce
divide between facilitative and evaluative practitioners and between lawyers
who mediate and mediators who don’t practice law. There’s a cultural divide
that we ignore at our peril.
Just please don’t ask me to
pick the winner of the next Super Bowl.
What advice would you give
a fellow mediator who is considering blogging?
Understand that blogging is
fundamentally social. It is designed to be a free-spirited, interactive,
two-way conversation between the blogger and readers, as well as between the blogger
and other bloggers. During four plus years of blogging, I’ve seen plenty of ADR
blogs come and go. The bloggers that manage to last and attract a following are
the ones that seem to get this basic principle.
I see plenty who don’t ever link to other sites or to other bloggers and
don’t respond when a blogger links to them; they’re evidently afraid that if
they send their readers away, those readers won’t come back. They’re missing the whole point of blogging. So if you’re not going to interact with other
bloggers, don’t bother blogging. Get yourself a regular non-blog web site or
publish an email newsletter instead – but know that if you do, you’re missing
out on an opportunity to participate in the vibrant, engaged, highly informed
online community that is the ADR blogosphere. For
many of us, these online connections have directly resulted in close ties with
fellow mediators, yielded business opportunities, expanded our networks, and
kept us on the very edge of cutting-edge thinking – invaluable for those of us
who practice, consult, train or teach.
What are your favorite
blogs, dispute resolution and beyond?
It’s
hard to choose favorites out of the 175 I subscribe to. I have to start with my long-time blogging
pals, Geoff Sharp of Mediator Blah Blah;
Vickie Pynchon of Settle It Now; Tammy Lenski of Mediator Tech;
and Stephanie West Allen at Idealawg. (You can see other ADR blogs I enjoy in my blogroll.)
Beyond
ADR, I’m a fan of the following blogs:
Sociological
Images, a provocative blog that confronts and deconstructs images in
the media of race, gender, and other categories.
The
Situationist, which discusses revelations
from the field of social psychology
Blawg Review, an enduring weekly review of the
best in legal blogging hosted each week by a different blogger
Trust
Matters, a superb blog discussing the importance of trust in
business relationships
Boing Boing, a blog
that posts about cultural oddities because, let’s face it, everyone needs a
little fun in their lives
Thanks
so much for the opportunity to participate in this interview. ADR bloggers are
deeply grateful to Mediate.com for its enthusiastic support for our community.
You guys are terrific – thanks for all that you do.
Biography
Diane Levin, J.D., is a mediator, dispute resolution trainer, negotiation coach, writer, and lawyer based in Marblehead, Massachusetts, who has instructed people from around the world in the art of talking it out. Since 1995 she has helped clients resolve disputes involving tort, employment, business, estate, family, and real property issues, and serves on numerous mediation panels, including the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Training and coaching are an enduring passion -- she has taught thousands of people to resolve conflict, negotiate better, or become mediators -- from Croatian judges to Fortune 500 executives.
A geek at heart, Levin consults on web design and social media to professionals. She blogs about ADR at the intersection of law, science, and popular culture at the award-winning MediationChannel.com, regarded as one of the world's top ADR blogs. She also tracks and catalogues ADR blogs world-wide at ADRblogs.com, where she has created a community for bloggers writing about constructive ways to resolve disputes.
web site: http://dianelevin.com
Comments
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| Clayton , Bixby OK | organizational.ombudsman@gmail.com 05/16/09 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| A "newbie" give thanks too... | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Diane Levin, Boston | 05/06/09 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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| Jim Melamed, Eugene OR | 05/03/09 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Thanks for all you do | |||||||||||||||||||||
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