Let’s have some fun. Please join us for a short global online social event December 30, 20:00-20:45 GMT (3pm-3:45pm eastern U.S.; 9pm-9:45pm in Western Europe; early morning in New Zealand).
Our plan is to catch up with some old online friends, meet some new friends, pour some wine or other beverages, and take turns proposing toasts to some of the heroes for the planet in 2019.
Theme. Building on the viral hashtags #flygfritt2019 and #FlightFree2019, we especially celebrate and encourage people who are making a new years resolution. The idea is to generate energy within our circle of committed friends at this social event Dec 30, planting the seed for bubbling conversations at our separate New Year’s Eve parties in the wider world the following night.
The webinar. With no planning required on your part, it is sufficient to follow the WebEx link below (may require approving a free software installation if it is your first time on the platform). Password is FlightFree2019. The agenda will be a series of toasts, brief words of greetings, and expressions of hope for 2019.
The wider conversation. At the same time, for multi-directional side conversations (like the chatter around the room at a cocktail party even while the MC is blabbering), let’s use hashtag #FlightFree2019 on Twitter. This may have the side effect of building momentum for New Years Eve social media the next day.
What if the party gets too big for the webinar? This may be a small gathering, where we all can talk at length. If it gets larger, I will try to note who has joined the webinar, and will do my best to serve as MC, calling on the next person for greetings and toasts in turn. It seems unnecessary to plan the agenda more formally than this. However, if it should happen that this invitation spreads, and sufficiently many people join the meeting to keep everybody from getting a chance to talk, use the chat function in WebEx and also the side Twitter conversation to offer additional comments. We can go back later and read all the threads.
Mechanical details. I will open the WebEx link 15 minutes early. If your link works and you are troubleshooting audio, use the chat window function and folks will help you. Please use the mute button whenever you are not speaking, to limit background noise. With apologies, I may also need as host to mute people if there are audio difficulties. If I do this, you can still use the raise your hand button and unmute yourself later. If possible, plan for internet access with high bandwidth. For audio, note multiple convenient WebEx options. In my experience, the best audio options are (1) telephone call-in number and (2) earphones/mic headset with good internet (but internal laptop mic has been less successful). If multiple people are in the same room, it is great if each has their own video link (because one-face-per-camera is best for seeing facial expression by webinar), but be sure to have only one audio link unmuted in each room (to avoid echo).
Broader initiatives. For personal resolutions, see Twitter #flygfritt2019 and #FlightFree2019. There is a link (in English) to record your new year’s resolution for 2019. A great site with inspiring examples of people walking the talk is noflyclimatesci.org. Following the principle that personal resolutions are insufficient on their own, and coordinated advocacy is essential, see also our initiative for institutional change in academic communities flyingless.org, including petition, FAQ, and list of academic supporters.
Personal touches. We are experimenting and learning to provide webinar formats with more of the personal warmth and nuance of in-person meetings. For example, at in-person meetings we share the same food and drink. One person has already shared to the Twitter thread a recipe for vegan holiday cookies. I myself was planning to toast with a red wine from Rioja in Spain (a beloved place that I cherish in reminiscence during these years of not flying), so feel free to join me in this if it appeals to you. Also, to give a sense of place (in contrast with traditional webinars that always have an indoors office background), I will take a couple photos outside that day for possible screen-sharing, and will briefly point the webcam outside the window of our suburban Massachusetts street, and you all may do likewise if you want (I recognize it is night time in Europe).
WebEx Links:
#FlightFree2019 Social
Hosted by Parke E. Wilde
Sunday Dec 30 2:45 pm | 2 hours | (UTC-05:00) Eastern Time (US & Canada)
Meeting number: 736 621 736
Password: FlightFree2019
Agenda: Social event to share the word about #flyingless initiative (flyingless.org) and kick off conversations about #FlightFree2019 resolutions at New Years Eve parties around the world the next night.
https://tufts.webex.com/tufts/j.php?MTID=m1b6670442ab51cdf63fd676ccf05de87
Join by video system
Dial 736621736@tufts.webex.com
You can also dial 173.243.2.68 and enter your meeting number.
Join by phone
+1-617-627-6767 US Toll
Access code: 736 621 736
