Recently came across Julie Leung's blog and found this post with certain paragraphs (see below) that captures the essense and purpose of the virtual tour ... which is dissolving the concept of "us" versus "them" through glimpses into authentic voices worldwide.
Following links I found this incredibly insightful comment from Simon Phipps:
Cluetrain (reading the website is enough!) is all about maintaining an inclusive and authentic conversation in the marketplace rather than attempting to sustain the 'we know best' us-v-them attitude that was the traditional position of vendors in the days before the massively connected era began. In my view that's the true reason open source works too - because it enfranchises 'us', not because it creates 'free-stuff'. Now society is becoming massively connected, there is only 'us' and increasingly market success will be proportional to the degree a business embraces that truth. (Guess what my talk at OSCON is about!)
From Julie:
Hearing another culture's perspective is someone holding up the mirror to me in a new way. Or to use Jeff Sandquist's example, it is like someone coming and examining my fence, showing me where I'm missing paint and boards. It challenges what I believe, and lets me examine what I thought was true. It helps me learn from mistakes and grow. It shows me how I can listen and love better. I need to hear it. I want to know!
...
What I think conversation means is that I consider what is said to me. I listen. I think about it a few times. I turn it over in my mind and examine the facets of it, as a jeweler examines a jewel. I wonder what it means. I'm willing to let what is said change me and the way I live. I respect what is said and who is saying it. I take it seriously. I pay the price to invest time and energy. For it to be a two-way conversation, this has to be true on both sides.There isn't a recipe for relationship and I can't completely define what conversation is and isn't. But I think that it's something that can be sensed inside, in the soul: I know it when it happens and the other person does too. Conversation takes place on an individual level. Sometimes learning to communicate takes time and practice. It requires making mistakes and living humility. Yet the community and conversation are worth the price paid.
We need to dialogue across cultures. We need to have these conversations to cross the barriers. Whether that is bridging the gulf between pre-teen jean customer and Nordstrom's executive, or between people separated by oceans and continents, languages and history, on different sides of the world. Between the two people on either side of this wall where I sit. Or between two individuals reading this weblog. :)
Thanks for the comments - they moved me to recycle that remark as part of a blog entry, http://www.webmink.net/2004/05/polarisation-and-mistrust.htm !
S.
Posted by: Simon Phipps | May 24, 2004 at 08:22 PM