Just Launched A Dispute Resolution Blog? Here Are 6 Things Effective Bloggers Do (6/15/09)
Diane J. Levin
As a blogger who’s been at this now for over four years, I have been fortunate enough to know first-hand the impact of blogging on the way ADR professionals practice.

Conflicts Of Interest In The Age Of Twitter And Facebook: Neutrals Must Find Right Balance (6/08/09)
Diane J. Levin
Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn - if you are active on any of those sites or on the many others like them - then you no doubt have frequent opportunities to connect.

Skype Calling — Mediation in the 21st. Century (5/11/09)
Steve Mehta
As a mediator, and as a prior communications major in college, I recognize and accept the fact that complex mediations often require an interpersonal touch that can only be achieved in person. However, that is not always possible.

New Zealand Considering Ongoing Mediation Role for Online Piracy Disputes (4/01/09)
Keith Seat

A possible last minute compromise between copyright holders and internet service providers would rely on independent mediators to help resolve internet piracy complaints. Mediation would replace an obligation on ISPs and server operators to investigate piracy complaints and bar clients from the web, which would be imposed by the revised Copyright Act. Advocates of internet freedom marched on Parliament to protest the legislation, which was set to take effect at the end of February.

New Zealand Herald (February 20, 2009)

Negotiating Twitter: a mediator test drives the hot social media craze (3/23/09)
Diane J. Levin
Since February, I’ve been test-driving Twitter, the social media tool that everyone these days seems to be talking about. It’s a social and business networking, instant messaging, and microblogging service, all rolled into one. Twitter invites users to respond to the question “What are you doing?” Every day, thousands of users log in, eager to answer, using cell phones or computers.

The Culture in the Code (3/09/09)
Alma Abdul-Hadi Jadallah, Daniel Rainey
In the United States, alternative dispute resolution (ADR) has become a routine, and sometimes even a dominant force in the resolution of disputes that traditionally would have gone through some formal, legal process. One observation from the United States will probably serve to make the point. The American Bar Association (ABA), the premier professional association for attorneys in the United States, now has as its largest interest group the Section on Dispute Resolution – a group within the ABA dedicated to dispute resolution outside the formal legal system.

Cross-Border Internet Dispute Book Review (3/09/09)
Jeff Thompson
Interested in Online Dispute Resolution (ODR)? A new book is out on such a topic.

Screen-2-Screen Mediation For Face-2-Face Mediators (10/27/08)
Geoff Sharp
In light of Vickie Pynchon's recent posts Negotiating by Email? Think Again! and More Dangers in Negotiating by Email, this online course on how to mediate by email looks interesting.

Social media: join the shift from monologue to dialogue (7/07/08)
Tammy Lenski
In Making Mediation Your Day Job, I discuss at length the way dialogue and conversation are replacing the old monologue marketing model and what mediators should do about it. Still not convinced it’s worth your while to network online and use social media to promote your business? Take a look at this excellent slideshow, filled with some pretty interesting data. For instance: 36% of consumers think more positively about companies that have blogs. Millenials spend 16 hours or more per ...

Mediating f2f Holographically (6/10/08)
Geoff Sharp
Ok, when you are truly a carbon neutral mediator in future years and refuse to travel big distances to your high stakes mediations, remember you saw world’s first live holographic video feed here on blah... blah...See these guys? They are on stage together, but the chap on the left is in Bangalore, India and the two on the right are in San Jose, CA. This is now!My guess is that, within a decade, many of us will insist on mediating with 3D holographic display technology beaming up the...

Resolucion de disputas en y por internet (4/12/08)
Nora Femenia, Ph.D
El desarrollo de los métodos alternos de resolución de conflictos ha llegado al medio electrónico, donde tiene un poderoso aliado. Dado el crecimiento vertiginoso de las transacciones online, urge desarrollar nuevos métodos de resolver conflictos adaptados al medio electrónico. El internet ofrece tanto seguridad como privacidad, rapidez y bajo costo al procesamiento masivo de quejas y disputas con clientes de comerciantes online. Aquí se describen sus principios, sus diferencias y algunas exitosas aplicaciones prácticas.

Online Mediation Moves to Second Life (4/07/08)
Keith Seat

Law students in a dispute resolution class at the University of Dayton Law School are honing their skills in mediations held in the online world of Second Life, where each participant is shown as an avatar or animated character who communicates through its user’s voice or by text messages. In addition to the general communication among the group, separate private Instant Messages can occur simultaneously. Compared to communicating through conference calls, personality can come through in how the avatars are dressed and move. Biases based on appearance or voice can be eliminated, but gestures and facial expressions that are important to communication are also lost.

Dayton Daily News (March 16, 2008)

Four Questions About International Online Dispute Resolution Part Three (4/07/08)
Gini Nelson
Today’s post continues a series co-authored by myself and international business attorney Vonda K. Vandaveer on the use of online dispute resolution to solve problems associated with traditional ADR. [Earlier posts: Part One, Part Two.] This post addresses the question: What Disputes Work Well for ODR? Online ADR works well for most business disputes, assuming the parties want to obtain a mutually-acceptable resolution to their problem as opposed to “winning.” ODR is amenable to the same...

Four Questions About International Online Dispute Resolution Part One (3/31/08)
Gini Nelson
Today’s post introduces a series co-authored by myself and international business attorney Vonda K. Vandaveer. For business leaders, alternative dispute resolution rather than litigation has no doubt become the preferred process for handling problems, thanks to its efficiency, cost-effectiveness, and flexibility. As businesses become more global, however, the traditional methods of face-to-face mediation, arbitration or other dispute resolution processes pose significant logistical...

Four Questions About International Online Dispute Resolution Part Two (3/31/08)
Gini Nelson
Today’s post continues a series co-authored by myself and international business attorney Vonda K. Vandaveer on the use of online dispute resolution to solve problems associated with traditional ADR. [Earlier posts: Part One.] This post addresses the question: How Does ODR Work? ODR takes advantage of technology that most everyone in business already uses, such as computers, internet, email, instant chat, video conferencing, telephone conferencing, and increasingly VoIP (e.g. Skype). ODR...

Skype Meeting Tips (3/31/08)
Tammy Lenski
As more and more of my business calls are international, I've found Skype an invaluable tool for keeping the phone bills reasonable and being able to see eye-to-eye with the person at the other end of the phone line. So I appreciated Chris Garrett's Tips for Better Skype Meetings. For example, Chris suggests, Add contacts as your first job - Rather than waiting 'til the last minute, it is best to swap and add contact information before. Also share landline or mobile numbers ...

Nobody Does It Better: An Interview with Diane Levin (3/10/08)
Gini Nelson
This is an interview by Gini Nelson of Diane Levin. Diane Levin publishes the award-winning blog, Mediation Channel, which explores conflict resolution, negotiation, and the law, together with the social and cultural influences that shape them. It also regularly features articles on mediation, in particular the training and credentialing of mediators, and examines the intersection of law, justice, and ADR. Mediation Channel has been designated a “Featured Blog” at Mediate.com and attracts regular readers from throughout the world.   2 Comments

Cybersettle Makes The Case For Resolving Disputes Online (2/27/08)
Diane J. Levin
Richard Susskind, digital technology expert and legal visionary, once said, “The best way to predict the future is to invent it.” That’s exactly what Charles Brofman did. He invented the future. Brofman, a former trial lawyer, is the co-founder of Cybersettle, the world’s leading online claim settlement company. Cybersettle makes use of what is known as online dispute resolution (ODR), a kind of dispute resolution process that utilizes digital technology to settle...

Head of U.S. Office of ADR Services describes benefits of online dispute resolution (2/19/08)
Diane J. Levin
In an interview with Government Computer News, Daniel Rainey, Director of the Office of Alternative Dispute Resolution Services for the U.S. National Mediation Board, makes the case for online dispute resolution (ODR). Rainey, an internationally recognized authority on ODR, explains how collaborative technology can be used to resolve disputes successfully while saving time and money, as well as to promote online brainstorming and negotiation, streamline the intake process, and facilitate the...

Simplify How You Handle Email Inquiries (11/20/07)
Tammy Lenski
A side effect of a thriving mediation practice is an increase in email inquiries, especially when you have a healthy web presence as part of your marketing strategy. I’ve seen my email inquiries triple in the last year and the increase shows no sign of abating…nor do I want it to! But the increase made me realize that typing responses fresh each time was a monumental misuse of my time. So when I hired a VA in 2006, one of my first projects was getting her help in creating a series...

Using Email In Couples Counselling (11/20/07)
Colin Rule
Great new article from ADR pioneer David Hoffman on Mediate.com today. From the conclusion: "Because email is such a new medium {...}the techniques for successful communication via computer may be less intuitive and require more conscious attention...   Experience suggests that there is considerable potential in email communications for both misunderstanding and enhanced understanding. As Collaborative Practitioners, we have the added benefit of working on cases with colleagues who join ...

Communicating Collaboratively in Cyberspace: What Couples Counselors Can Teach Dispute Resolvers About Email (11/19/07)
David A. Hoffman
Mediators and Collaborative Practice (“CP”) professionals receive training in communication skills, but that training typically involves in-person communications. In a world where email is beginning to replace much of our face-to-face and telephonic communication, there is a need for training that addresses email communications. The purpose of this article is to begin to fill that void in training by examining some of the ways in which e-mail communication differs from other types of communication. In addition, the article will explore the lessons we can learn from mental health professionals about how to communicate more effectively using electronic media.   4 Comments

Who searches the internet for information about mediation? (11/13/07)
John Windmueller
Microsoft has an intriguing tool in development that predicts the demographics of different search phrases. For example, what are the predicted demographics of folks searching for the term mediation? Here’s what the tool reports: And here’s how the demographics compare between those searching for “attorney” versus those searching for “mediator”: The data that fuels the prediction comes from MSN Search statistics. In addition to giving the predicted...

The Online Media Workshop Highlights, ACR Phoenix 2007 (11/06/07)
Gini Nelson
Here are my notes for the presentation I made last Thursday at the ACR conference — just notes; you’ll have to go to the links for more information. (Oh, and I must confess that I may not recall all that we talked about, because we had a very lively, interactive discussion!) October 2007 ACR/Phoenix Wikis and Podcasts and Blogs, Oh My! HIGHLIGHTS Gini Nelson, MA, JD This isn’t a “how to”, so much as an overview of some of what I have tried in the past 1 and 1/2 years (and I ...

Jim Melamed is 2007 Recipient of ACR John Haynes Distinguished Mediator Award: A Tribute and Lament on the Field of Mediation (10/23/07)
Robert Benjamin
Writing this tribute to Jim Melamed is an honor, even if a troubling one. On the one hand, there could not be a more fitting recipient for this particular award, named for John Haynes, than Jim Melamed, the CEO and co-founder with John Helie of Mediate.com. The work for which both the recipient and the namesake of this award are known highlights what has been most compelling and important about the field of conflict mediation. On the other hand, this award can also not help but highlight the ebbing of the energy that first gave rise to mediation practice and a falling away from some of the first principles. What John Haynes was, and Jim Melamed continues to be, is a tireless entrepreneur doing the critically important work of selling mediation in a culture that does not exactly welcome the idea of negotiating differences with open arms.   2 Comments