The Show Must Go On: Dispute Resolution Center’s 2020 Annual Conference Goes Virtual
For nearly three decades, Florida’s Dispute Resolution Center has organized and hosted an annual conference, offering mediators and other alternative dispute resolution (ADR) professionals from across the state an opportunity to enhance their professional competence and maintain their Florida Supreme Court mediator certification. Except for 2010, when budget constraints and a travel freeze forced the cancellation of the yearly event, this late summer program has been as reliably a part of the season as Labor Day, and mediators have eagerly looked forward to this occasion for honing their ADR skills, earning continuing mediator education credits, and networking with their colleagues.
So, in mid-March, when the global pandemic began to erupt in Florida in earnest, forcing the cancellation of all court-related education programs and the discontinuation of all non-essential business travel (see statewide pandemic orders, rules, and advisories), the Dispute Resolution Center (DRC) faced a dilemma. By then, the twenty-eighth annual conference—slated for August 13 – 15—had been scheduled for more than a year; the hotel contract had been signed long before; staff had selected the plenaries, workshop sessions, and pre-conference trainings; and attendees were counting on the conference to earn their required continuing education credits. What to do? Call it off? Or figure out a way to move forward?
According to Kimberly Kosch, senior court operations consultant with the DRC and a conference veteran of 22 years, DRC staff initially thought cancelling was inevitable, especially given the size and complexity of the program: typically drawing more than 1,000 participants, the conference has grown to comprise five sets of workshop sessions, each with about a dozen possibilities from which to choose, along with three plenary sessions (not to mention the one or two pre-conference trainings that are also offered, most years). But Susan Marvin, the DRC chief, was not ready to give up. She had been one of 554 attorneys who participated in the American Bar Association’s Dispute Resolution Virtual Twenty-Second Annual Spring Conference—a mid-May program that had to quickly transition from an in-person to a remote event—so she had good reason to believe that the DRC conference could also be saved. In Ms Kosch’s words, Ms Marvin was “a champion” with an unflinching, “We can get it done attitude”—and her staff rallied behind her.
Their first realization was that they would need even more help than usual. Because the program continues to grow and has so many moving parts, the DRC began utilizing a conference manager eight years ago. So hiring a conference manager was a given—specifically, one who could deftly captain the conversion from an in-person to a remote event.
And, given the circumstances, they recognized that they also needed a professional production team to manage all the underpinning technologies that would come into play. With the team they selected, the “behind-the-scenes” activity went like this: before a session began, the various presenters, from wherever they were, all logged into a virtual “studio,” each via their preferred platform (e.g., Zoom, Teams, Skype). The production team, much like an executive producer, picked up the various feeds, included the presenters’ slides and videos, and added title overlays, closed captioning, a chat box for questions, and any other needed functionality. Then the team packaged it all together and broadcast it live, via a separate system, to viewers. The production team also provided training and tips, as needed, to the various presenters, many of whom had never before conducted a remote training; ensured uniformity and ease of navigation for viewers; and made sure that the show would go on, as smoothly and seamlessly as possible.
In addition to hiring professionals to make sure all the backstage work would unfold fluently, the DRC did everything it could to ensure that attendees would be able to embrace the virtual experience easily and comfortably. For instance, because it’s not feasible to expect participants to sit, immobile, behind their laptops for a day and a half of content, DRC staff reconceived the conference design. They began by including 30-minute breaks between each session. To accommodate the reduction in learning hours, they simplified the conference agenda, offering fewer workshop sessions than usual (only four blocks of sessions rather than the usual five, with only seven choices in each block, rather than the usual dozen or so). At the same time, they added another plenary session, bringing the total to four this year. And they also made sure to include virtual versions of several beloved conference mainstays: the greetings from the chief justice, the awards ceremony, a happy hour, and, of course, the yoga sessions that open and close the two conference days.
Fitness instructor, attorney, mediator, and diversity trainer, Ms Kristen Mory guided attendees through slow-moving virtual yoga sessions at the opening and close of the two conference days.
Over the course of the day and a half, mediators could earn up to 9.6 hours of continuing mediator education credit. Because all plenary and workshop sessions were video recorded, as a perk, registered attendees were invited to access any of the sessions they missed (or wanted to see again) for 60 days after the conference ended, meaning they could earn even more education credits, if they so desired (up to 32 hours of education). All told, 1,230 ADR professionals participated in this pioneering effort—about 200 more than the DRC’s most well-attended live event!
Mr. George Knox, a mediator, facilitator, and peacemaker with a focus on relationship-building negotiation techniques, gave a plenary session on The Mediator’s Dilemma: Joint Session, or No Joint Session?
On the whole, feedback was very enthusiastic. Participants overwhelmingly appreciated the opportunity to attend virtually (for a variety of reasons, some had never been able to attend the in-person conferences); they also loved the nominal registration fee ($50 rather than the usual $195) and the absence of travel and lodging costs. They found the optional, pre-conference “Tips and Tricks” Zoom session very helpful: hosted by Ms Marvin and the production team, this session showed attendees how to maneuver around the website and have a stress-free virtual experience generally. Also helpful was the closed captioning, participants said. And they relished the chat function, which they used to pose questions to presenters and to communicate with colleagues. Being able to attend whatever session they wanted, without having to worry that it would fill up, was also a plus. As were the 30-minute breaks between sessions: knowing they had built-in times to address work or family issues, attendees said they could focus more fully on the conference itself. And they were thrilled that, as part of their registration fee, they had access to all the DRC conference sessions for two additional months.
After an inaugural endeavor of this magnitude, however, it is not surprising that attendees also had some helpful recommendations for improvement. In particular, they requested enhanced instructions for asking questions to the presenters and for answering the polls. They pointed out that there was some confusion about session materials—about whether, and where, the materials were posted. And most important, they noted that even the best in-person trainings don’t inevitably translate well into a remote environment, and they suggested that DRC staff provide presenters with resources and feedback for enhancing their online teaching strategies.
Ms Susan Marvin, chief of the Dispute Resolution Center, introduced the conference’s closing plenary session on Reimagining Mediation in the 21st Century.
In retrospect, Ms Marvin mused, “We were thrown into the deep end of a pool. We adapted, we accommodated, we learned—and became Olympic swimmers within a few months!” As for what the future holds, all sorts of new possibilities beckon, Ms Marvin and Ms Kosch agreed. Perhaps future conferences will be hybrids, both in-person and virtual, giving people the option. Or perhaps they’ll alternate, in-person one year, virtual the next. They still have much to learn, they acknowledged. But, for Ms Marvin, the bottom line is that, during what is probably the largest ADR event in the country, “People created new ways to interact, learn from, and be present for one another” in this uniquely challenging time.