If there has to be a called meeting, HANDOUTS 3: electronica

Comments for Called Meeting: Technology. Email. Blogs.

Technology particularly computers and email is a very big part of my life. Technology is a big part of my options for accessing information, particularly “alternate formats” and design issues that help tools work together so that I can have somewhere close to the same access to information as sighted people take for granted. I want to offer these comments for seasoning. Basically, this is a weird invitation to further conversations.

Email:

First, THANK YOU to many Friends for bearing with my email. THANK YOU for feedback that has helped me over time write emails that I HOPE most of the time are clearer with action steps more easily identifiable.

THANK YOU also for bearing with a point I obstinately refuse to back away from: I really do sometimes get so upset I cannot talk. If I am that upset, I also cannot necessarily write coherent email either. Sometimes the data dump that results contains valuable information  and I appreciate Friends who hang in there in the conversation while I figure out what needs to be done with email. I also appreciate that an academic background in literature develops different skills disentangling meaning from complex texts that might occur for other disciplines.

Other times, I lose patience when I have something I am angry or upset about and a person on the phone says something like “I cannot hear you in that tone of voice.” I may or may not be able to adjust my tone of voice; that does not change the fact that a problem needs to be dealt with. I have done a TON of academic telephone tech support and I am pretty used to people being frustrated, confused, upset, sometimes about technology, sometimes about something else in their lives. But this like some of my other singular gifts such as sorting out email is something I take for granted and assume is as easy for other people as it is for me. I apparently need frequent reminders that this assumption is not reasonable.

I need to apologize because I know some of my email falls in a realm I also understand as harassment. For myself, I have learned that email has its limits and sometimes a phone call is the best pathway forward in a conversation. However, for me email is invaluable both because it creates a record of the conversation and it accommodates different schedules better than phone tag. I frequently cannot read my own notes. I also rely a LOT on search strings to keep track of conversations. And SOMETIMES having different eyes on the same email creates shared light different from what would occur one on one. 

I do not apologize for trying to be true to my Light about a number of topics; I absolutely do apologize for not finding kinder language.

Does any particular Light rise for Friends from these comments.

I would find it extremely helpful at some point to have some public discussion about the UFM email list.

Technology in general:

Technology including mobile phones, use of email, and what everyone can do online has evolved A LOT over my time at Meeting.

Parallel with this general evolution, there has been dramatic increase in design to include people with  different disabilities, including sensory, cognitive, and physical disabilities. This is GREAT when it works  and people have the devices, connection, and knowledge to use the new technology. It can be exhausting though to make all the necessary connections.

LOTS of Friends struggle with different technologies. I definitely encourage learning and I appreciate it when I hear of Friends supporting each other in this learning and growing what we can do with our time.

In 2003 I sat on a committee for NPYM about migrating from photocopying and snail mail distribution of documents to mainly email. This transition saved the Yearly Meeting thousands of dollars in print and mail costs but it also made the then secretary decide it was time to retire.

I have had on and off involvement with the NPYM IT committee ever since it was first created in 2004.

I have been very glad to see both Friends Journal and Western Friend develop online editions. I love the Quaker Speak videos and share them regularly.

About my blogs

Friends, I am happy to take responsibility for the content good and bad of my blogs. I do not always know how best to tend to concerns.

Http://RantWoman.Blogspot.com  

Mostly non-quaker but since faith and religion are important to me, religion wanders in.

I also sometimes include moments of Meeting life if they reflect problems common to other organizations. Examples include how do small organizations with little knowledge base about accessibility evaluate whether software is accessible to people with differing abilities as well as civic problems like parking and bikeshare.

Http://RantWomanRSOF.Blogspot.com

Blog as Quaker Journal with what I HOPE are understood as many disclaimers that comments reflect my understanding as of the moment or subject to wonky eyeballs and other paths to misinterpretation.

I take seriously Friends concerns and over time have adjusted some practices. I usually DO NOT offer to take down posts , but would be willing to consider requests and certainly to add material addressing concerns.

I also frankly consider some Friends’ objections to my content as silencing or gaslighting. As I frequently say, we are not required to like everything that comes along in life. Sometimes for me Light is painful. I spoke recently with a Friend who has a Buddhist practice. That Friend’s understanding: “pain is unavoidable; suffering is optional.” That frankly is not language I would use, but it does ask us all to consider different perspectives on difficult circumstances.

Thank you all for reading and holding in the Light as you are able.