Online Community Tips

Over a year ago at iGEM 2015 I connected with the founder of BioTreks and showed him Breezio. In it, he saw the potential to make a monumental impact on how high school synthetic biology research could be taught, particularly with regard to exposing students to the publication experience and the peer review process. In order to achieve this, some of the biggest challenges we needed to address involved how the schedules of typical high school students, and their teachers/mentors, presented time constraints that were vastly different than college students. Another challenge was that he understood there would be great benefit to bringing high school synbio students together outside of iGEM to help with each other’s research, but he didn’t have an easy ‘place’ for everyone to meet.

I desire the good life, but I don’t want an easy ride. Easy is boring.

In the words of the late-great David Bowie this year, Breezio has made some pretty exciting ‘cha cha cha changes’ to the platform that we’re excited to highlight here!

Every Fall our skies are filled with the honking sounds of thousands of migrating Geese traveling away from the frigid Canadian winter on their epic journey to the warm Southern United States. As soon as they take off they form the iconic flying ‘V’ formation and one goose begins to lead the flock on a strategic mission to their final destination. Studied extensively by scientists and equally referenced by motivational speakers, geese have a number of lessons that can also help us lead our online communities.

Beginner’s Mind

What do all beginners have in common aside from the theme that they are novices? As intuitive as it may seem, beginners are often owners of beginner’s mind, a concept in Zen Buddhism called shoshin. Shoshin refers to an attitude of eagerness and openness towards and with no preconceptions of what is being studied. As such, beginners have a freedom and an ease to ask questions, decode what is unknown to them while evolving their clear slate of mind to absorb that which is new. Experts or even intermediate learners often lack this attitude imprisoned by what they think they know or what they think they should already know and, as a result, fail to ask the right questions--the ones that would stimulate deeper understanding or a new way of approaching the concept. Their rate of growth the moment they lose shoshin diminishes drastically, almost exponentially. But are these students also the best teachers?

"The opposite of autonomy is control. And since they sit at different poles of the behavioral compass, they point us toward different destinations. Control leads to compliance, autonomy leads to engagement.” –Daniel Pink in Drive

In this month alone, Breezio has logged more than 156 hours of platform progress--50% more than company expectation. Breezio is making big changes with you at the forefront of their innovation.

Society Day at the 2016 STM’s Annual Conference was dedicated to exploring the trends that are reshaping societies strategies over the coming few years within publishing, membership, technology, innovation, and growth. I was honored to be a member of the Panel on Emerging Collaborative Technology and Tools Moving Research Forward which was moderated by: Daniya Tamendarova, Director, Strategic Business Development, APA Journals. My co-panelists included: Susan Cato, Director, Digital Strategy & Member Services, American Society of Plant Biologist, Deric Corlew, Vice President of Business Development, Research Square, and Josh Freeman, Founding General Manager, Trellis and Senior Adviser, Multi-Media Strategies, AAAS.

Amazing things happen when you fill a conference center with 600 innovators, entrepreneurs and community builders. The community has the opportunity to share experiences, learn and support one another. The power of many can always accomplish more than that of a few and this year’s Entrepreneur Expo hosted by TEDCO proved no different.