Greetings,

October is here and Cyberweek 2012 is just a couple weeks away! Please make sure you save the dates of October 28^h to November 2^nd and join us online for what promises to be a wonderful week of exploration and discussion regarding online dispute resolution. Registration and information is found at http://cyberweek2012.eventbrite.com/.

Building on the success of previous Cyberweeks, we’re offering new and exciting ways to participate. This conference marks Cyberweek’s 15^th anniversary, and the activities and topics become more and more compelling each time. We are looking forward to an engaging environment appropriate for all levels of students, practitioners, and scholars.

Two webinars with experts and innovators in the field, offering opportunities to engage in live conversations regarding various online dispute resolution topics, will be offered each day. A webinar featuring conflict engagement specialist Bernie Meyer, one of the recognized leaders in the ADR field, will close out the week. Bernie will reflect on the week and discuss the prominence of the integration of technology into today’s conflict engagement processes will close out the week.

One of the daily webinars will focus on a central topic of the ODR field; and the other will feature a live product demonstration via the webinar platform. You will be able to speak with the developers of the products and get a first-hand look at how they function most effectively.

There will be plenty of insightful and dynamic discussion forums providing an opportunity for asynchronous engagement regarding topics such as:

• Utilizing Online Tools for Large Scale Public Dialog
• Recognizing & Facilitating Emotions in the Online Environment
• 21st Century Online Tools for Growing Your Dispute Resolution Practice
• Cyberbullying

Many of the discussion forums are appropriate for students to participate in, and we look forward to professors encouraging their students to be active in the dialogues that take place. The field of ODR has developed through a constant flow of newcomers pushing the technological and substantive envelope, and new voices are not only welcomed, but highly valued.

Professors might want to engage their students in three special activities:

• The annual ABA Ethics student competition. Once again students will be able to respond to a case regarding ethics in ODR and will have their submissions judged by experts.
• The e-mediation competition coordinated by Cornell University. This opportunity will allow students to practice the online dispute resolution platform Modria as they participate in simulated mediations. Students will need to register for this event separately and can do so at http://fs11.formsite.com/knobles11/eMediationRegistration/index.html. Please review this flyer (eMediationCompetition-Cyberweek.pdf) for further information.
• A test-drive of the SmartSettle ODR platform. You will need to preregister to participate in this experience and can do so by following the instructions at this website: http://www.smartsettle.com/2012/10/10/cyberweek2012/

Two very popular activities from 2011 will be back again for Cyberweek 2012:

• ODR  Twitter chat on Tuesday, October 30^th from 8-9pm EST
• An Internet radio program regarding Online Dispute Resolution hosted by Pattie Porter on Tuesday, October 30^th from 3-4pm EST.

Further information regarding these events will be found in the Cyberweek 2012 website when the conference launches.

One final activity I want to mention here is brand new for 2012. This is a visualizing ODR gallery for displaying ODR/ADR related Infographics, Mindmaps, Illustrated Terms of Art, or other Creative Visualizations during Cyberweek 2012. Bill Warters is collecting these files and will create the gallery prior to Cyberweek. Please review this flyer (Visualizing_ADR-ODR_Call.pdf), or contact Bill at bill.warters@gmail.com for more information on how to contribute.

As you can see, there is plenty to look forward to and it promises to be a wonderful week of discussion and exploration. Register soon for Cyberweek, if you have not done so already, at http://cyberweek2012.eventbrite.com/. If you are already registered, please pass this information on to others who may not be aware of this free, educational conference regarding online dispute resolution.

One final note, the platform that the conference is hosted on is www.adrhub.com. This website is a great central resource for all things related to conflict resolution. To engage in the activities you will need to sign up as a member of this site. It is free and simple to do. Please do so prior to the week so you can be ready to go on day one of Cyberweek. If you participated in Cyberweek last year, you are already a member and will just have to simply sign on with your username and password.

We are looking forward to the week and will be updating registered participants to the rest of the programming and schedule as the conference approaches.

Take care,

Bryan J. Hanson

Assistant Director of The Werner Institute