节目必须继续:争议解决中心2020年年会将成为虚拟会议

For nearly three decades, 佛罗里达争议解决中心组织并主办了一次年度会议, 为全州的调解员和其他替代性争议解决(ADR)专业人员提供机会，以提高他们的专业能力，并保持他们的佛罗里达州最高法院调解员认证.  除了2010年, 由于预算限制和旅行冻结，这项年度活动被迫取消, 这个夏末的节目已经像劳动节一样成为了这个季节的一部分, 调解员热切地期待着这个机会来磨练他们的ADR技能, earning continuing 中介 education credits, 和 networking with their colleagues.  

So, 3月中旬, when the global p和emic began to erupt in Florida in earnest, 强制取消所有与法院有关的教育项目，并停止所有非必要的商务旅行(see statewide p和emic orders, rules, 和 advisories), the Dispute Resolution Center (DRC) faced a dilemma.  到那时, the twenty-eighth annual conference—slated for August 13 – 15—had been scheduled for more than a year; the hotel contract had been signed long before; staff had selected the plenaries, 研讨会会议, 和 pre-conference trainings; 和 attendees were counting on the conference to earn their required continuing education credits.  该怎么做?  取消约会?  Or figure out a way to move forward?

According to Kimberly Kosch, 刚果民主共和国高级法院业务顾问，在会议上工作了22年, DRC staff initially thought cancelling was inevitable, 特别是考虑到程序的大小和复杂性:通常绘制超过1,000名参与者, the conference has grown to comprise five sets of 研讨会会议, each with about a dozen possibilities from which to choose, 此外还有三次全体会议(更不用说还有一两次会前培训), 大多数年份).  但 Susan Marvin, the DRC chief, was not ready to give up.  她是参加美国律师协会第22届争议解决虚拟春季会议的554名律师之一，这是一个5月中旬的项目，必须迅速从面对面的会议过渡到远程会议，所以她有充分的理由相信刚果民主共和国会议也可以挽救.  用科施女士的话来说, Ms Marvin was “a champion” with an unflinching, “We can get it done attitude”—和 her staff rallied behind her.

Their first realization was that they would need even more help than usual.  Because the program continues to grow 和 has so many moving parts, the DRC began utilizing a conference manager eight years ago.  So hiring a conference manager was a given—specifically, one who could deftly captain the conversion from an in-person to a remote event. 

和, given the circumstances, 他们认识到，他们还需要一个专业的制作团队来管理所有将发挥作用的基础技术.  With the team they selected, the “behind-the-scenes” activity went like this: before a session began, 各种各样的演讲者, from wherever they were, all logged into a virtual “studio,” each via their preferred platform (e.g.， Zoom, Teams, Skype).  制作团队, much like an executive producer, picked up the various feeds, included the presenters’ slides 和 videos, 和 added title overlays, 字幕, a chat box for questions, 和 any other needed functionality.  然后，该团队将所有内容打包在一起，通过一个单独的系统向观众进行现场直播.  制作团队 also provided training 和 tips, 根据需要, to 各种各样的演讲者, many of whom had never before conducted a remote training; ensured uniformity 和 ease of navigation for viewers; 和 made sure that the show would go on, as smoothly 和 seamlessly as possible.

除了雇佣专业人员来确保所有的后台工作都能顺利展开, 刚果民主共和国尽其所能确保与会者能够轻松舒适地接受虚拟体验.  例如, because it’s not feasible to expect participants to sit, 不动, behind their laptops for a day 和 a half of content, DRC staff reconceived the conference design.  They began by including 30-minute breaks between each session.  To accommodate the reduction in learning hours, they simplified the conference agenda, 提供比平时更少的研讨会(只有四个会议，而不是通常的五个会议), with only seven choices in each block, rather than the usual dozen or so).  与此同时，他们又增加了一次全体会议，使今年的全会总数达到四次.  他们还确保将几项备受喜爱的会议主要内容的虚拟版本包括在内:首席大法官的问候, 颁奖典礼, 欢乐时光, 和, 当然, the yoga sessions that open 和 close the two conference days. 

健身教练, 律师, 中介, 多元化培训师, 在两天的会议开幕和闭幕期间，克里斯汀•莫瑞(Kristen Mory)引导与会者完成了缓慢移动的虚拟瑜伽课程.

Over the course of the day 和 a half, 中介s could earn up to 9.6 hours of continuing 中介 education credit.  Because all plenary 和 研讨会会议 were video recorded, 作为额外津贴, 在会议结束后的60天内，注册的与会者被邀请参加他们错过(或想再看一次)的任何会议, meaning they could earn even more education credits, if they so desired (up to 32 hours of education).  总的来说, 1,230名ADR专业人员参加了这一开创性工作，比刚果民主共和国出席人数最多的现场活动多出约200人!

Mr. 乔治·诺克斯, 一个中介, 主持人, 和 peacemaker with a focus on relationship-building negotiation techniques, gave a plenary session on The Mediator’s Dilemma: Joint Session, 或无联席会议?

On the whole, feedback was very enthusiastic.  与会者绝大多数都感谢有机会参加虚拟会议(出于各种原因), some had never been able to attend the in-person conferences); they also loved the nominal registration fee ($50 rather than the usual $195) 和 the absence of travel 和 lodging costs.  他们找到了可选的, 会前的“技巧和技巧”Zoom会议非常有帮助:由马文女士和制作团队主持, 本次会议向与会者展示了如何在网站上进行操作，并获得无压力的虚拟体验.  Also helpful was the 字幕, participants said.  和 they relished the chat function, 他们用来向主持人提问和与同事交流的.  Being able to attend whatever session they wanted, without having to worry that it would fill up, 也是一个加分项.  会议之间30分钟的休息时间也是如此:因为他们知道自己有固定的时间来解决工作或家庭问题, attendees said they could focus more fully on the conference itself.  和 they were thrilled that, as part of their registration fee, they had access to all the DRC conference sessions for two additional months.

After an inaugural endeavor of this magnitude, 然而, 与会者也提出了一些有益的改进建议，这并不奇怪.  特别是, 他们要求加强对主持人提问和回答民意调查的指导.  他们指出，关于会议材料存在一些混淆——关于是否, 在哪里, the materials were posted.  最重要的是, 他们指出，即使是最好的现场培训也不一定能很好地应用到远程环境中, 他们建议DRC的工作人员为演讲者提供资源和反馈，以加强他们的在线教学策略.

苏珊·马文女士, chief of the Dispute Resolution Center, 介绍大会闭幕全体会议的主题为“重新构想21世纪的调解”.

In retrospect, Ms Marvin mused, “We were thrown into the deep end of a pool.  我们适应了，适应了，学习了——几个月后，我们成为了奥运游泳选手!”  As for what the future holds, all sorts of new possibilities beckon, Ms Marvin 和 Ms Kosch agreed.  也许未来的会议将是面对面和虚拟的混合形式，让人们可以选择.  Or perhaps they’ll alternate, in-person one year, virtual the next.  They still have much to learn, they acknowledged.  但, 给马文女士, 最重要的是, during what is probably the largest ADR event in the country, “People created new ways to interact, 学习, 和 be present for one another” in this uniquely challenging time.