LLEWT 2024

This weekend I was at LLEWT 2024, a peer conference on Anglesey, north Wales, discussing communication. Given the day jobs of the participants, it was no surprise that the experience reports and the conversations that followed them mostly focussed on software development contexts.

Notes from my presentation are in Express, Listen, and Field. I made sketchnotes (below) for each presentation and a mindmap (above) to try to summarise the whole. Without much reflection yet, I guess I would pull these common high-level threads from the day:

There are multiple reasons that communication fails
... like, duh!
... but having multiple strategies for framing a message can help
... and having multiple tactics for delivering a message can help too.
Understanding what you want from an interaction is key
... so setting the context to make that more likely is wise
... which might mean meta-conversation, being transparent, or changing your approach
... or not engaging at this time, or at all.
Be prepared to look at yourself as a contributor to a failure
... but remember both sides need to be willing and able to engage productively
... and the other side might have things going on that you don't see
... or they might just be a dick.

I 💘 peer conferences so much that I organised CEWT for years and later wrote a how-to, Peers Exchanging Ideas. In my experience, there's no reliable recipe for a successful peer conference but the people, the facilitation, and the vibe are all critical factors. LLEWT nailed them all.

I'd like to thank and credit the organisers and other participants: Christ Chant, Joep Schuurkes, and Elizabeth Zagroba; Maaike Brinkhof, B Mure, Duncan Nisbet, Vernon Richards, Oliver Verver, Ash Winter, and Neil Younger.

Maaike's experience report

Comments

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