Intercultural Management Institute's 12th Annual Conference Blog

A Reflection on My Amazing Experience!

2010-03-16T19:24:00.002-04:00

It has been a couple days now since the IMI conference ended and the knowledge is still at the forefront of my mind. Based upon my experiences, I even considered "tweeking" my dissertation topic but a professor of mine convinced me not to go that far just yet. Although I attended many different sessions with a variety of presenters, there seemed to be a reoccurring theme for day 2...breaking barriers. Among other things I learned about the impact of culture on situational leadership, the power of non-verbal communication, how simple conversations between races can break stereotypes, and how the Internet can change a society. My two favorite points of the day were the lunch session and the TALK program case study.

I found Mona Eltahawy’s talk to be fascinating and engaging. First of all, I am amazed at how current she stays with her population of interest. She is not only observing them, she is interacting with them and learning from them all the time. I have been interested in the power of new media for a long time on a smaller scale. Mona’s talk showed me that this medium can not only change workplaces, but the history and traditions of the entire country. I was fascinated in how the blogs are changing the reach of the voice of women, LGBTQ relations and even the dating scene. My favorite thing she discussed is how she is a big fan of confusion in breaking stereotypes. I TOTALLY AGREE! The more you live away from the stereotype, the more your existence serves to educate others. Overall, she gave me an increased interest in intercultural training that I’ve been wavering with for sometime. I can only hope to help people in half the way she has over the years.

The TALK case study presentation was also very fascinating. I love hands on approaches to learning and TALK provides opportunities that most likely otherwise would not be experienced by the students. I also love how they emphasized the power of food in their workshops in bringing people together because it is something I would not have considered. I also thought the activities we did in the session were interesting and gave a good idea of what the students experience week to week. I think this session provided numerous tools I will be able to walk away with and hopefully find some useful implementation in the near future.

Although I had a wonderful day overall, these two sessions were the ones that made me want to ‘get up and go’. As I move forward post conference L I plan to use the things I learned to become more proactive and make a bigger difference in intercultural relations. I am extremely excited about what is in store for my future. I thank IMI for this amazing opportunity!

Turning walls into tables to talk

2010-03-14T23:47:00.000-04:00

Two very strong women left a strong impression in my mind with their stories and skills in the final day of the workshop. Luby Ismail, President, Connecting Cultures and Mona Eltahawy, an award winning columnist and an international speaker on Arab and Muslim issues. Each woman shared their perspective of being a Muslim woman in America. During one of the simulation exercise, Luby Ismail brought forward the general opinion and assumptions that people make about Muslim women. She helped the participants by breaking down the stereotype image that we tend to have about Muslim women being oppressed, powerless, submissive and disempowered. I came out with two important lessons from her workshop, which is going to stay with me for a long while and which I hope as a trainer, I will be able to pass on to others : the impact of non-verbal communications in breaking barriers and the power of stories. The non-verbal exercises which included the use of photographs and music proved to break down the barriers that existed among the participants themselves. It also brought into light some very interesting perspectives from different cultures i.e. we had participants sharing cultures pertaining to West Africa, India, US, Turkey, Middle East among others.

Mona Elthahawy, during her keynote address, spoke about the use of internet by young people to challenge the authority in Muslim-majority countries or where they reside as minorities. She shared an interesting story about how young women in Saudi Arabia are using face book and blogs to build a movement against bans such as driving by women and advocating for their rights such as their right to vote. It was enthralling to hear that some women dress as men and drive around in cities of Saudi Arabia. The most interesting of all was the story of ‘Saudi Girl’ who inspired hundreds of young girls and women to start blogging and spewing against the draconian bans and subjugation of women in the name of religion. In a very interesting twist it turned out that the ‘Saudi Girl’ was actually a boy. This showed how young men in the Middle Eastern countries and worldwide are advocating for the rights of women. She also touched upon that are thousands of young forces who are trying to reform Islam using the medium of internet. There is also massive information and discourses available on ‘Quran’. Coming from India and living in a secular environment, it was intriguing for me to listen to the voices of these two powerful and successful Muslim women. The IMI conference indeed gave me the platform to network with great and passionate minds . And I hope to take with some of the learnings that I received during the two day conference back to my country and apply it in my field.

Reflecting on the Conference

2010-03-14T23:36:00.000-04:00

The 11th Intercultural Management Institute Annual Conference was, in my eyes, very well organized, very well attended, and had very interesting presentations from most panelists: Overall, an extraordinary opportunity to interact with practitioners, students, and interested persons in the field of intercultural Relations. Having majored in business and a Masters candidate in International Affairs, this was a great experience in bridging these two seemingly disparate fields. Not only was there a good and healthy balance of business focused topics, such panels were infused with many important findings and sharing of intercultural knowledge.

Personally, the highlights of this past Thursday and Friday were: “Voices From Home: The Personal and Family Side of Short-Term International Assignments”, presented by Anne Copeland of The Interchange Institute and Vania Broderick of Dwellworks; “Intercultural Communication, Business Negotiation, and Promotional Effectiveness”, presented by Bagher Fardanesh of Piaget Consulting; “Intercultural Knowledge Management in Global Organizations”, presented by Neal Goodman of Global Dynamics, and “Strategic Vigilance for the Global Manager”, presented by Richard Linowes of Kogod School of Business, American University.

In “Voices From Home: The Personal and Family Side of Short-Term International Assignments”, presented by Copeland Broderick, a presentation on case studies on relocation and Human Resources compensation policies, effective business practices that affect the successful outcome of a short-term (overseas) assignment were discussed. The findings of the research done by Copeland under the sponsorship of Dwellworks were very telling of how proper HR support policies can make a difference in almost all professional and social aspects of the assignees and his or her family. Out of a sample of 1471 employees and 68 of their spouses, important professional aspects such as attitudes towards work, their ability to get the work done, and their willingness to go on another such assignment were examined, along with very important personal aspects that influence work, and vice-versa, such as mental health, perceived quality of marital situation, and substance abuse, among others. The findings showed a great degree of interrelatedness between overall work/personal satisfactions. The innovative side of the study, however, lied on studying not only the employees themselves but also the opinions and perceptions of their spouses, thus pointing towards a need for HR policies to not only properly compensate the sacrifice these employees have made for their careers, usually at the expense of quality family time, but also to support the employee throughout the assignment in a way that such a decision would be the least taxing to his or her family as well. The goal would be for a win-win solution for all parties involved.

The interactive presentation by Fardanesh, “Intercultural Communication, Business Negotiation, and Promotional Effectiveness”, had many examples of failed international marketing attempts due to cultural misunderstandings and an acted out example of the breakdown of a business negotiation due to cultural distance/misunderstanding. As a former employee of an MNC myself, I thought it was very illustrative of real and actual day-to-day challenges we face in an international business setting. The implication of having a better understanding of our own intercultural competencies and interactions is very important, but due to the stakes involved in a business setting, it is clear they become essential. Many examples were shared and the proper interaction fostered by the presenter with the audience allowed many to share their own experiences, which made the session richer. The guidelines exposed by Fardanesh to identify the pitfalls commonly experienced, even by the seasoned professional in an international setting, and how to avoid them were a welcome surprise to a session that was more than informative, and rather enriching.

“Intercultural Knowledge Management in Global Organizations”, presented by Neal Goodman left the impression it was one of the most well structured and well thought out presentation I had the privilege to attend during this year’s conference. Delivered as a skills workshop, it also was at the cross roads of business and intercultural relations. It dealt, however, with the acquisition, retention, and diffusion of intercultural knowledge for the growth of the organization itself, other than solely for it’s employees. An analysis of the different departments within an organization and their intercultural knowledge management can be seemingly disconnected was discussed, following with the presentation of a model to increase productivity and profitability leveraged on the proper use of such knowledge. After discussing with other participants, I left with the clear impression that no matter the size of an organization, large or small, intercultural knowledge management remains as a challenge for many, as it is the fluid nature of the subject, and the otherwise orphan status it has in most companies that lends for most of the difficulties participants experience in their own organizations.

Last, but definitely not least was “Strategic Vigilance for the Global Manager”, presented by Prof. Linowes. As a student at American University, taking some international Business classes at Kogod Business School, it was good to see the organizers of IMI were able to tap into the great resident professors that abound at this school. Prof. Linowes did not disappoint. Focusing in emerging markets, where most of intercultural breakdown usually occur for the western businessman, first we were asked to share our own experiences abroad with each other and the group as a whole, which made for a very rich and diverse experience. Since many had been abroad, or were otherwise coming from abroad themselves, insights were many and meaningful. This session was particularly interesting to help put in perspective all anticipated and non-anticipated events that could hinder any prospective international business venture.

As I reflect back on this past Conference, I can only think of the many rewarding and diverse experiences many have had that I would like to experience for myself. I remind myself of my own intercultural difficulties, and reflect back at how I would have done things differently, given the chance. Most importantly however, are the lessons learned I will be taking with me to add to my own experiences to foster an improvement of self. Once again, I cannot stress enough how well this conference was organized, the diversity and open mindedness of participants, and the professional level of all presenters involved. All in all, this was a great experience, filled with knowledge I am glad to say will be very useful not only in a professional setting, but in my personal life as well.

Day 2: An Emotional Experience

2010-03-13T12:43:00.002-05:00

The last day of the IMI Conference was an emotional one for me. Three sessions in particular touched me: American Indians and Health Care, a rivoting keynote speech by Mona Eltahawy and a session on Muslim Perspectives through Film and Dialogue.

In the session titled "American Indians are NOT Generic: National Health Reform Debate and Tribal Nations," which was facilitated by Deborah Broken Rope, a member of the Sioux nation, I learned so much about the American Indians in the U.S. I did not know that there were 564 federally recognized tribal nations overlapping state and national boundaries and representing about 1.9 million American Indians and Alaska Natives residing on or near reservations. I was never taught this information in all of my years of higher education. I also did not know that in the 1970s, 25% of American Indian children were adopted away from their families and that state adoption records from this time period are sealed. Also, that American Indians currently have a 65-70% unemployment rate on reservations and rely upon subsistence farming and barter. I can't fathom why the U.S. would focus on development work in other parts of the world and not look in the mirror and realize that there are disadvantaged people that need help within its borders. Broken Rope also explained in great detail the structural problems that American Indians face in accessing federal subsidies to health care through their states. She also noted that the average lifespan of American Indians is about 10 years less than the rest of the U.S. I left the session feeling profoundly saddened by the poverty, injustice and the seemingly endless obstacles that American Indians have faced in this country since its founding. It made me determined to see that the health reform bill addresses the structural issues that they face in accessing healthcare.

I left Broken Rope's session shocked and humbled, and attending a fantastic and memorable keynote speech by Mona Eltahawy on the misconceptions and stereotypes that Muslim women face. It was refreshing to hear a strong, feminist female Muslim voice to counter the typical U.S. media portrayal of Muslim women as submissive, abused, silenced and even invisible. Her speech was inspirational not only for Muslim women, but also for women and even men of other cultures who share her sentiments that women of all faiths and ethnicities deserve an equal voice in politics and, importantly, in the home as well.

Finally, I attended a session on Muslim perspectives through film and dialogue. This session reinforced Eltahawy's speech by showing biased and inaccurate media clips from commonly watched U.S. movies and news programs that protrayed Muslims as uneducated, barbaric, inhumane, extremist killers. As a result of the strong influence of the media on U.S. public opinion, it's no wonder why many Americans have a negative view of Muslims and associate all Muslims with terrorists, who, in reality, are a very small percentage of all Muslims. This session inspired me to host a film and dialogue session in my living room to generate dialogue on positive Muslim contributions to society and to debunk misconceptions.

All in all, I am grateful to have had the opportunity to attend this conference, which definitely expanded my cultural sensitivity and knowledge. Thank you very much for the opportunity and I can't wait to come back next year.

Day 2: building upon one’s learning

2010-03-13T03:30:00.000-05:00

My second day was yet another great one filled with excitement and learning opportunities. I kept my own promise from last night, which was to step out my comfort zone and challenge my cultural identity. I’m very proud of myself!

Having originally come from a country that is thousands miles away from the US, I am also aware of my challenges. Being a “marginal person” who is living on the borders of two completely different cultures, I feel my values and beliefs are constantly challenged especially in my daily work, and sure enough, in every session I attended throughout this conference as well. Whether I’m serving as a participant or facilitator, I often confuse myself by trying to maintain my own cultural background or/and insisting my bi-cultural identity that I’ve developed since I came to this country seven years ago. And, what is challenging is, when I’m confused, I tend to chose to be quiet, disengage, and pause from the moment. However, I was different today because I made differences in my attitudes and released myself from the fear I had before. That was, I took the most of the safe environment created and tried to contribute by engaging and sharing with the group/individuals I was working with at the moment. The reactions within myself were significantly different than those which had been unless otherwise; therefore, so were my learning outcomes. These results were the product of overcoming the confusion. Our keynote speaker, Mrs. Eltahawy stated that “I’m a big fan of confusion. Because, when you confuse someone, you have to pause and rethink what you thought was true.” This was exactly what happened to me today. I loved the freedom and flexibility that were granted for us to be able to put on and take off either the trainer’s or the patient’s hat depending on the activity or context in which we were working at the moment. There was a lot more to gain.

Many of my international students and study abroad returnees also experience a similar dilemma in regards to fear and confusion. Now my goal as a trainer is to create a safe learning environment for them, as I have repeatedly said to myself. That is a community, space, or classroom where they can share their feelings and thoughts without any fear for making others confused. Whether each of us is an international student, study abroad returnee, or domestic student who has never left the country before, we all come from different regions, socio-economic, classes, sexual orientations, ages, religions, and ethnic groups. In order for us to build a community within such a diverse group of people, differences must not be ignored but shared through the promotion of cultural understanding and respect. If you don’t see that’s happening, make it happen. As Mrs. Eltahawy said in her presentation, “If you are a minority, celebrate it because that’s where the changes have come from in the past,” which was one of the most powerful statements I heard during the conference.

I had set goals for myself before coming to the conference, which were to improve my KSAs in student engagement, experiential learning, and intercultural relations. Although I realized those goals were too broad to begin with, I am fully confident to say they all have been successfully accomplished because I’ve had such tangible experiences. I’ll look forward to keep building further learning upon them at my work.

I thank you all so much and hope to see as many of you as possible next year!

"Notice what you notice"

2010-03-13T01:38:00.003-05:00

During a non-verbal exercise today, Luby Ismail said "Notice what you notice," and I was struck by the unfamiliar phrase. It became the key phrase of my experiences today. I noticed that when I met Luby the day before, she was kind and genuinely interested in me. I noticed today that I did not notice she is Muslim. I noticed that when I discovered she is Muslim, I felt more connected to her, because I somehow felt safer knowing that we believed in the same God.

I'm from south Louisiana, and the more I travel away from my community of origin, the more I realize how taboo it seems to talk about religion in public. The exception is Islam, because it is currently a sexy topic. So, I'd like to be somewhat bold today and ask, "How can we put religion on the table in a non-threatening manner?"

As a Catholic attending conferences such as this, I often wonder if people will make assumptions about my beliefs, motives, and intentions. Because I am applying for jobs, I worry that those in the public sector will see my Masters degree in Religious Education and assume I am closed-minded or want to evangelize the secular organizations. I was extremely grateful for Luby's courage in her presentation. She was willing to be vulnerable enough to reveal her true self. I was especially excited to hear her say that she is passionate about interfaith dialogue, a field I have become increasingly interested in during the past year and a half. I believe it is the first answer to the question I asked above. Rather than being afraid to address religion, we should embrace it and learn to communicate with one another about our deeply held beliefs.

Today's sessions seemed to focus on communication, and I gained practical skills to communicate more effectively in different situations. A few of the highlights were exercises in non-verbal communication, storytelling through images, spreading awareness through video, active listening, and learning to ask the right questions through an action learning demonstration. We use each of these skills to come to a better understanding of the people with whom we are working. These same methods can be used to begin religious dialogue and promote religious understanding.

I am grateful for the work that Luby does, as well as the work of UPF, MAS, and many other organizations who are giving the world an accurate view of Islam. It amazes me to see how closely related my own Christian faith is to the Muslim faith, and I wonder why I did not recognize these connections before. I would be very interested in having a session at a future IMI conference to address the sibling rivalry between Jews, Christians, and Muslims. We all seek to serve and praise the same God, but we do it in unique ways which should be embraced not rejected or suppressed for the sake of being politically correct.

I understand religion adds a scary, sometimes dangerous dimension to intercultural relations, but I also believe it cannot be ignored because it is so instrumental to so many people. To borrow a quote from one of the UPF videos: "It's not religion per se that separates people. Anything can separate people when people have a mind to be separated.” We need to learn to use religion as a tool for peace, rather than as an excuse for negativity. I think it’s time for the next step, so I repeat my question, “How can we put religion on the table in a non-threatening manner?” How can we use religion sensitively in the public sector in order to enhance communication and draw people deeper into self awareness and awareness of others?

Another Great Day

2010-03-13T01:03:00.001-05:00

Today was another day packed full of new information, thoughts for contemplation, and meeting and interacting with an amazingly diverse group of people. During the 2nd session I attended, titled “Teaching Without Speaking” I was very excited to see that the speaker, Luby Ismail, was a fellow Lesley graduate from the Intercultural Relations program. Her presentation did not disappoint. It was truly an “ah-ha” moment to see how nonverbal exercises can so beautifully and clearly make a statement, and bring across a point, in a way that verbal exercises, perhaps, can not.

Today’s luncheon talk, given by Mona Eltahawy, was also a high-point of the day. Her talk was a combination of inspiring, educational, humorous, and relevant which made it a pleasure to listen to, leaving me with quite a few thoughts to ponder and further explore. Her rich illustrations and examples of the use of technology in giving people a forum to voice their opinions and advocate for change truly demonstrated how the “virtual” translates into the real world. One comment that particularly resonated was her question “since when has the majority changed anything?” It is all too easy to become jaded and forget the power we hold as individuals and I appreciated the reminder as I leave the academic world and begin my professional career.

At the end of the day, looking through my small notebook, I realize that I have a very long list of websites, organizations, films, and various resources to explore and incorporate into my own intercultural practice. I’m so grateful that I was given the opportunity to attend this conference and collect such a rich body of information and resources.

I left the conference energized and excited to see where this year takes me. Looking forward to next year already and another selection of wonderful speakers. Until then!

A Good End to a Good Conference

2010-03-12T22:08:00.002-05:00

After two filled and fulfilling days of intercultural sharing, dialogue, and learning, the 11th Annual IMI Conference came to a close this evening. This was my first time at an intercultural relations conference (I have been to a variety of ethnomusicology conferences, which tend to be somewhat different) and I must say that it was a great experience.

For me, the highlight of day 2 was by far the keynote speech by Mona Eltahawy. What an inspiring, energetic, and courageous individual! Not only was her discussion of Arab women's empowerment through social media and Internet-based forums enlightening, but she was an absolutely fabulous and engaging presenter. I think that everyone at my table was really blown away by her enthusiasm and poise. I, for one, left lunch feeling inspired and wanting to go out and enact the change that Ms. Eltahawy called for when she quoted one of her Egyptian inspirations: "Since when has the majority changed anything? Forget the mainstream and be ok with being the minority."

Ms. Eltahawy focused her talk on the ways in which the Internet provides a third space - a liminal space - in which individuals who might not be able to meet in real life are able to form communities, bridge intercultural barriers, and express opinions that are not allowed by external censorship. I have been thinking a lot about marginalized communities in my work, lately, and I think that her arguments raise an interesting point about the Internet as providing a level playing field. Are the Internet and its various branches - blogs, forums, chat rooms, social media outlets - the great democratizing force of our age? Or is it a space that adds to the saturation of information and technology that surrounds us? Certainly in the cases mentioned in the keynote speech (for example, www.meem.com, the SaudiGirl blog, and the Musawah Movement) I would have to believe the former. What I do think, however, is that these kind of discussions are absolutely pertinent to our greater analysis of cross-cultural interactions. While most of us would agree that there is a great deal of difference between an Internet-based cross-cultural interaction and a face-to-face one, the world wide web nonetheless provides an arena that is ripe for study, critical evaluation, and future intercultural development.

Teaching without speaking

2010-03-12T19:42:00.000-05:00

The beginning of the presentation attracted much audience’s attention with beautiful music and interesting use of iceberg analogy, which showed the apparent features as skin color, gender, and dress, and at the same time the unapparent features as education. It went more interesting when the presenter asked the audience to close their eyes, and when everybody opened his eyes again, the presenter changed her outer appearance a little bit by wearing a headscarf. By doing this, she asked her audience to write some stereotypes that exist in society about women dressed like her, with the headscarf.
Such a beginning is very much engaging. Everybody was sort of convinced of the power of non-verbal communication because everybody got exactly what the presentation would be about. The presenter then asked the audience to do group work on the question: How could you non-verbally engage us here today on a topic like stereotyping, prejudice, or ethnocentrism?
There were five groups who presented stereotypes on marriage between man and woman and bias on gay marriage, names that bring prejudices and assumptions, and so forth. Every group showed successfully that non-verbal communication could be as much as or even more effective than verbal communication. People could refer to pictures, videos, and performances to achieve communication thus breaking down the wall to tables. Everyone just learned how to teach so effectively without speaking, not by listening to a lecture or a presentation, but by participating in it. It’s the best presentation I’ve ever been in.

Day 2

2010-03-12T19:26:00.000-05:00

Initiating with a serious of innovative frameworks and models, today’s sessions were as great as yesterday. The curriculum contained academic research and practitioners’ experiences, specifically focusing on the implementation of intercultural knowledge in the real world. One minor improvement that could be made in the future is the structure of audience interaction. While everyone had different presentation style, the common goal in this conference was to clearly explain the content in a limited amount of time. In addition to the theoretical framework, a little more experience-sharing and case discussion would help the audience to engage further with the speakers.

The most impressive session today was from our keynote speaker Mona. By adopting the video clips and social networking tools, she effectively changed everyone’s understanding about the Muslim religion in modern society. I have never thought about how these Web2.0 instruments could empower young Muslims to freely express themselves in the aspects of politics, human right, and activities. I am optimistic about the change (which is probably following after a serious of confusion as Mona noted), and consider it as an initial aspect of a revolution, which indicates that more diverse voices will be heard in the future.

Great cross-cultral education

2010-03-12T10:02:00.000-05:00

Rosian Chia is a professor in the Department of Psychology at East Carolina University. Her presentation together with her colleague Biwu Yang on Education for Generation Y is a pretty detailed introduction to the project they’ve been successfully doing. The project goes very well with the trend of the growing use of technology in education; it does international education technologically. Basically, they provide courses on anthropology, psychology and other courses to students who cannot afford to study abroad. The way they teach is much more student-centered. Students have various ways to communicate to each other via internet, specifically skype, blog, wiki, email, and so forth in class simultaneously and after class for more discussion and communication. The project is working well because it does not need so much money, but can bring great benefits by properly using sources cross-culturally. It is win-win.
The best thing, to my knowledge, is that students are excited about the way they are taught. Actually, they are not taught; they are learning initiatively with their peers in other countries. They are touched at heart by communicating with “real” people from different cultures. It would benefit them most if they are learning culture, or intercultural communication. They can learn real culture from real people. The different teaching pedagogy will also be something of culture. The presentation covers even the challenges the project faces and the ways to approach them, including different Time Zone, technology, language and so forth.
The project is pretty applicable and will definitely benefit countries where education needs more help. Take China as an example, most universities have sound multi-media equipment, locked in labs with nobody using them. The co-teaching via internet will help promote computer-aid teaching. Another fact is that language major students want to communicate with real foreigners to improve their language proficiency, but they don’t have any access to them. Knowing this project, I think it would be a good idea for the exchange of culture by having language classes from abroad and offering native language classes to abroad. Besides, the meanwhile exchange programs are always taken by very few elite students, but this model offers opportunity to every student equally the chance to experience the live, real foreign languages and cultures. It is a money-saving, practical model which worth our efforts to benefit student interculturally.

Interactive Learning

2010-03-12T01:26:00.000-05:00

The IMI conference workshop is definitely one of my best experiences in group learning. I had a really great time in today’s session. The curriculum was well-designed and the instructors were very knowledgeable about the interactive training skill, leading the whole session with effective control of timing, rich material and intensive brainstorming.
The participants surprised me too. Within a friendly atmosphere, the workshop progressed under an organizational culture of sharing in a short period of time, allowing everyone to feel comfortable and confident in expressing his/her point of view. Each of us played the role as both audience and teacher at the same time. While we listened to and enjoyed instructors’ presentations, we were also required to observe and think about the class content, provide feedback and self-reflect to our own abilities as well. Many participants are very experienced trainers in the intercultural area; they not only showed their great passion for this issue, but also share valuable opinions based on their practical experiences, such as tips to motivate audience participation or the importance of dealing with cultural taboos.
Back to the very beginning of the pre-conference workshop, participants reached common ground that intercultural training is not only about knowledge and skills, it is also about attitude (probably the most important element). I got the strong impression that creating interactive cultural exchange is based on the open attitude. Many great books I seen are interesting and could serve as guide books for inter-culturalist, but learning how to implement these methods effectively in the real world is even more valuable for today’s conference.

Thinking Outside of the Box

2010-03-12T00:51:00.002-05:00

Having an Engineering background, I often tend to over analyze situations and find logical ways to address problems. Today's sessions reminded me that this is not always possible when dealing with people, and cultural dilemmas require thinking outside of the box. Fons Trompenaars clearly illustrated this by showing how linear models often miss the mark through his example on the value of integrity. As professionals in the field, we often get bogged down with theories and forget that people don't always fit inside the box. I was grateful that Mr. Trompenaars was so passionate about reminding us that there does not have to be one right and one wrong answer to every dilemma. We must ask the right questions in order to encourage people to come up with innovative solutions which incorporate a combination of preference, rather than simply pushing a position we think is right.

Throughout the day I was reminded that real people have real emotions and as basic as that sounds, it is often easy to forget when we are overwhelmed or stressed out. However, the sessions today constantly brought this to mind for me. I began to reflect on the practical methods presented today in light of my work in the field of Education. I often work with teenagers, and I can adapt the games which Dr. Harris led us through to lessons in cultural awareness and effective communication. More importantly, thinking outside of the box, I can see the deeper implications of these lessons and how students respond to them beyond the obvious goals. Ray Leki also brought up mindfulness and the fact that when we are mindful, we can better observe our responses to situations, thus regaining control in stressful situations. This is especially useful when working with teenagers who often do not know how to refocus or re-center in intense situations.

Overall, I learned many new techniques and other helpful information today, but for me the most important aspect of the conference so far has been this realization that we constantly need to think outside of the box. As people grow and change, we need to constantly develop innovative ways to meet their needs. And, in our fast-paced society we need to remember to take the time to be aware of ourselves, our emotions, and the emotional responses of those with whom we work and serve.

2010-03-11T23:15:00.001-05:00

Cross Cultural communications: what to say and what not to say?

2010-03-11T22:48:00.002-05:00

Fons Trompenaars, Dr. Gary R. Weaver, Bagher Fardanesh and Motoo Unno; all of them have one thing in common and that is a passion to demystify and explore intercultural relations and communications and its impacts on our interactions in a multi cultural and global society, day to day lives or business practices and negotiations. I got the opportunity of listening and interacting with them and a host of other intercultural practitioners, during the first day of the 11th Annual Conference on Intercultural Relations: A Forum for Business, Education and Training Professionals held at American University.

For me the main highpoints of the day were the following sessions: key note address by Fons Trompenaars, internationally acclaimed Dutch author in the field of cross cultural communications. With his humorous presentation style, he captured the participants’ attention and spoke about models of communication and dimensions. Next in line, was Dr. Weavers’ simulation exercise called ‘The Mr. Khan’ which looks at cross-cultural communication and analytical skills. It was very interesting to note that how communication barriers and cultural differences can affect business negotiations. We were informed that the contrast-culture simulation was developed in the mid-1960 as a part of a training project commissioned by the U.S. Army to improve the interpersonal communications skills of its overseas military advisors. I have personally become a fan of Motoo Unno, visiting scholar from Meiji University, Tokyo Japan. His presentation on the Toyota hearing reflected on the Japanese values, beliefs and thought patterns. He also touched upon the differences between Japanese and Americans when it comes to conflict handling and negotiation styles. His easy and conversant style of presentation with anecdotes was a great hit among all of us.

Day 1: Self-Awareness

2010-03-11T22:43:00.001-05:00

Hi, everyone! This is my first IMI conference and I must say that it has been one of the best conferences I have attended in my professional career. I’m not just saying to prove that I’m a good scholarship recipient (!) but to show how much I’m learning through the sessions I attended and the people with whom I interacted with today.

My conference was off to a great start with a very hands-on and interactive session this morning, which I’d say was the highlight of my Day 1; “Fun, Function, & Fundamentals: Games & Intercultural Theory” by Mr. Harris. He had us try a couple of activities, which required teamwork, thinking outside a “box,” problem solving skills with very limited resource, and creativity. Those activities were perceived differently depending on the participant; fun, challenging, interesting, and etc. My experience was actually driven by “fear” for not understanding the norms or patterns of a culture, which in this case was the “game.” I tried to “pretend” that I was following when everybody else had started figuring things out, but it felt painful to behave in a certain way with a great deal of uncertainty. Why? Because it requires mistakes and experiences in order to fully immerse yourself in a new setting/environment/culture. You have to replace your fear with courage to take off your cultural lenses and put your cultural perceptions aside. It’s not about right or wrong, win or lose, nor superior or inferior. Everything above is what I have to constantly remind myself of. My very first IMI experience was followed by a session on “Cultural DNA” and two more hands-on training of trainers sessions in the afternoon (“The Mr. Khan Exercise” and “Power Dynamics & Inclusivity”), which consisted of simulations, interactive discussions, and role-plays.

I must emphasize all the facilitators of the sessions I attended today knew exactly how to handle group dynamics. They were great at soliciting input, letting people bounce off ideas, and dealing with silence, which is an important skill set when approaching a culturally diverse group of people. Although the fear for not being accepted, included, and recognized by others affected part of me today, I know I’ll be able to step out of my comfort zone because the safe learning environment will continue to be created by the facilitators and participants in tomorrow’s sessions. It is my opportunity to further explore and challenge my cultural identity and improve KSAs as an intercultural trainer and I will not waste that.

As a closure, my favorite quote of the day is by “Mr. Khan” - “everybody should be respected by one another because everyone has/is a flower to bloom.”

A Full First Day!

2010-03-11T22:22:00.001-05:00

I came home today and thought "wow, this did not feel like a day off of graduate school!" :-) I am overwhelmed by what I learned over the course of the first day. In my doctoral program, I spend a lot of time doing research and looking at the theoretical side of things so it was SO much fun to learn more about the practical side of the field.

I started the morning off the morning in the "Fun, Function and Fundamentals" session. To be honest, I was attracted to the session party because "fun" was in the title and I always need some fun first thing in the morning. This was such an excellent choice because of the great training techniques introduced through the workshop. It is interesting to see how a room full of training professionals navigate through training activities. My favorite activity we did was definitely the one where we were all given different photos from the Istvan Banyi picture book Zoom and asked to put them in order without showing anyone else in the room. We honestly, struggled as a group and due to time constraints, did not get to finish the activity how it was fully intended. Despite being cut short, the process of learning was excellent and I can see so many ways to implement this exercise with various groups.

After learning training exercises, I headed over to “Intercultural Communication, Business Negotiation and Promotional Effectiveness” with the hope of learning more about communication guidelines when working with culturally diverse climates. The speaker was engaging and provided extremely vivid examples of failed promotional strategies to further drive home the point. It reinforced to me the importance of diversity training in any international organization! I do not see how successful business can be conducted without sending an employee with the proper “tools” that are learned through these conversations.

Lunch was great and I’m not just talking about the food! Hearing Dr. Tromenaars speak was an opportunity I feel lucky to have experienced. After reading so much about cultural dimensions, it was interesting to hear his perspective of how it is not about the difference between values that is important but about where they are connected. I also appreciated his association between values and good leadership practices. Dr. Tromenaars is an amazing scholar and I look forward to reading more about his ideas and how I can implement them into my research.

After lunch, I attended “Intercultural Knowledge Management in Global Organizations”. I chose this session because it was something where I felt like I could truly learn about a topic in which I had little knowledge. I was extremely enlightened regarding how much my knowledge increased in the short time of the session. Although I was a little confused by the concept at first, after some time I was surprised how I had gone so long without understanding how important sharing knowledge is in the workplace. I most enjoyed hearing how other conference attendees speak on their experiences with this topic and their practical applications in the workplace.

To wrap up the day I attended “Extending the Reach: The Convergence of Technology and Cross-Cultural Training”. My research interest pertains to intercultural interactions and electronic communications so this session was of the upmost interest. The speakers provided an interesting case study currently being implemented with intercultural training of soldiers in the US military. I found the program to be wonderful and am extremely intrigued with learning more about topics like these! This session was the perfect end to a perfect conference day! I look forward to seeing what’s in store for tomorrow.

Pre-conference Interactive Workshop

2010-03-11T22:20:00.003-05:00

On Wednesday I attended an all-day interactive workshop which kicked off my participation in the IMI 11th Annual Conference. I was so excited to be offered the opportunity to attend the workshop as part of my scholarship award! The session was packed with valuable interactive and experiential exercises, where fellow participants and I practiced new methods of training and adult learning based on Thiagi's Interactive Lectures.

The presenters, Judee Blohm and Chuck Needlman, began the session by asking the attendees to draw a map of the world, and identify where we were born. Initially, we weren't sure exactly how big it should be, but we all quickly got out of your seats, walked towards the blackboard along the side wall, and drew a map. The end result was one of the funniest maps I'd ever seen drawn by a group of adults! There was a great spirit of playfulness to open up our workshop. It was also nice that the USA wasn't in the center of things! We joked about blurred boundaries, and oddly shaped countries. This initial activity created a convivial atmosphere amongst everybody almost immediately. Listening to each participant's story was a great way to find out about each other and it was an excellent ice breaker that I'll plan to use in my training and workshop designs.

We began a series of interactive exercises that were designed to create a feeling of connectedness amongst folks in a diverse group. Most activities gave the participants a strong imprint in the collaboration process, enabling them to feel completely engaged. Throughout the day, Chuck and Judee conducted a debrief of each exercise, explaining the benefits, and potential pitfalls.
Being in the role of a participant enabled me to learn some new things about myself. I experienced first hand what it felt like to have someone in my group that wasn't being inclusive, and it made me feel uncomfortable. The experience allowed me to empathize with participants who for one reason or another might not have the same level of comfort as others or might be feeling marginalized. Improving my own level of self-awareness will enhance my skills as a trainer and learning facilitator.

The session ended with a concise recap of the activities from Judee, along with a debrief of the scope and goals of the exercises used from Thiagi's book. I left the class with a renewed sense of respect and appreciation for all the rich resources that Thiagi has given to our intercultural community. Judee and Chuck did an outstanding job with this workshop.

Reflection on Day 1, or Why I Like Intercultural Training and Fons Trompenaars

2010-03-11T22:12:00.001-05:00

Day One has left me contemplating the many directions I can take my own intercultural career. As I near graduation in May, I’ve been weighing my choices for employment. Unfortunately, I have been focusing so much attention on my natural comfort zone, study abroad, that I have been neglecting a track that I truly enjoy: intercultural training. As Richard Harris said in this morning’s session, “Fun, Function, & Fundamentals,” what we focus on determines what we’ll see. This 9:00 a.m. realization snapped me out of my study abroad coma.

Two sessions on training were absolute highlights for me: Harris’ session and Nick Sakurai’s “Power Dynamics & Inclusivity.” I’m not sure if the content naturally appealed to me or if participating in activities and simulations at the beginning and end of the day appealed to my inner child more, but both sessions offered new insights, games, self-awareness, and take-aways. For example, Harris’ “Crossed or Uncrossed” activity reminded me of how effective and powerful simple games (with minimal props) can be. Our group was large (37 attendees), but this also helped me think about being flexible and adaptable in my training plans. Similarly, Sakurai’s session on identity issues was simple yet powerful as we shared our strengths and weaknesses in facilitating training sessions. There’s nothing like creating your own Twister mat of blue, yellow, red, and green dots representing important, challenging, and empowering aspects of your identity to tap into your artistic and contemplative side. In sum, what made these two sessions valuable and worthwhile was not just the activities, but the debriefing and group feedback, as well.

Given my renewed interest in training, I did not find the business- and marketing-related sessions on “Interactional Sociolinguistics & Visual Analysis” and “Intercultural Knowledge Management” as readily applicable to my work. Also, these sessions were heavy on presentation and pairs/small group work. I think I’ve realized that I enjoy participating in sessions, rather than feeling like I’m sitting in on a graduate course.

As one final comment on the day’s events, Fons Trompenaars’ plenary speech far surpassed the cous cous and vegetable kebabs we had for lunch. He was witty, energetic, informative, and realistic…characteristics I aspire to have when I speak publicly. I was particularly motivated by his statement “Recognize that there are opposing viewpoints…as a leader, it’s your job to connect them.” What a terrific decision to invite him to our conference!

A Day of Excitement and Learning

2010-03-11T22:01:00.003-05:00

Today’s conference provided so many new and diverse ideas and perspectives it’s hard to know where to begin! After the morning coffee and muffins I was very excited to sit in on the talk “Barking Up the Wrong Tree” by Ray Leki. I felt that it really pinpointed an important area of cultural training preparation that has not received the emphasis and recognition it should, specifically tackling the physiological manifestations of “culture shock” before being able to move onto developing the cognitive and analytic skills of adapting to a new culture. Having taken part in this session I now can’t imagine not including this in a pre-departure training for an international student or professional.

Another highlight for me was Fons Trompenaar’s luncheon presentation. Being such a well-known figure in the interculturalist field, and having read and studied some of his work, I was intrigued to see and hear him in person. His insights into intercultural management, combined with his incredible wit and humor made for a very entertaining and thought-provoking hour. I particularly appreciated the point he made at the conclusion of his talk where he demonstrated that dilemmas can be the same across cultures but that how you react to them is culture based. It is our jobs as leaders to bridge the gap between these sometimes polar opposite reactions to a problem.

The third session for the day was also quite interesting and very well organized. I appreciated listening to the discussion regarding the difficulties and complexities of developing a tool for sharing knowledge within an organization. Perhaps I was a bit less engaged in this topic than I was in the others because as a Masters student, not quite launched into a professional career, I wasn’t able to see an immediate use for the information. Nonetheless, I plan on keeping the interesting thoughts and ideas that were shared during this session in mind for a point in the not too distant future when I’m sure they will become more salient.

It was an incredibly interesting and engaging day and I’m looking forward to seeing what tomorrow brings!

Reflections on Day 1

2010-03-11T21:23:00.003-05:00

My first day of the IMI Conference was packed with opportunities to test my intercultural management skills. As a graduate degree candidate in International Communication at American University's School of International Service, I enjoyed seeing how these crucial skills impact communication across cultures, whether it be negotiation, diplomacy, policy formation or development work. The conference provided a safe, tolerant environment to wrestle with various conceptions of culture and the challenges that they bring. My greatest concern is how to address cultural difficulties and misunderstandings outside of such a tolerant setting.

Voices from Home was the first leg of my intercultural journey. This session addressed the often overlooked, but nonetheless vital, personal and family context of short term assignments overseas. The study found that the more satisfied and supported overseas employees were by their companies, the better they perceived their personal and family life to be. I sincerely hope that corporations will implement these suggestions to support employees with overseas assignments.

My next stop was an exploration of sociolinguistics and visual imagery to raise cross cultural understanding. As a communications professional, I greatly enjoyed this session. We reviewed two Japanese and two American Honda Prius commercials and analyzed the differences between the two and what clues they offer about Japanese and American cultures. The interactive and engaging nature of this session was fantastic.

At lunch, Fons Trompenaars gave a lighthearted and insightful speech that challenged traditional conceptions of culture. He recommended reconciling different conceptions by using 'through' rather than 'either or' - in other words, not thinking of culture in diametrically opposed terms.

After lunch, it was a journey into the 'Wicked Problem of Coordinating Across Time Zones.' I learned that there are 40 time zones in the world and that Russia alone has 11 of them. The complexity of coordinating teams across the world is indeed a practical challenge that multinational organizations face. New telecommunication technology holds greater promise of international collaboration, however does it facilitate better coordination in reality? Our breakout group had an engaged discussion on this subject.

Finally, the charismatic and talented Motoo Unno showed video footage of the Toyota hearings in which U.S. Congressional representatives questioned Mr. Toyoda and his team of translators and legal counsel. It helped to see a real life, high stakes cross cultural conflict between two very different cultures with very different social cues. We then analyzed the situation and discussed what could have helped facilitate communication and understanding. I learned a great deal from this session and had fun.

I can't wait for day 2!

Reflections on Day 1

2010-03-11T20:33:00.002-05:00

I was really excited to attend this conference today. As a student in a master's program in management with a focus on professional communication, I realize that I still have a lot to learn about intercultural communication. Today served as a great introduction into the field and I am looking forward to not only what I will learn tomorrow but all of the many things that I can pursue independently after this conference. I would like to find ways to incorporate what I learn at this conference into my graduate studies since my program does not focus too much in this area of knowledge.

It has been very rewarding to be around so many experts in the field. While I have tried to participate in the conversations during my sessions, I have found myself taking a more passive role so that I can listen and take it all in. I have so much to learn. At the same time, I found that I know more than I think I do when it comes to the nuances and customs of other countries, but also how very important it is to be culturally aware when it comes to navigating the workplace and establishing relationships with international business partners.

One of the highlights of today was the keynote speaker, Fons Trompenaars. He was not only humorous and kept my interest, but I really enjoyed the exercise he gave us regarding making a decision based on integrity and cultural standards. I was particularly happy to hear him say (to paraphrase) that diversity trainings fail when people are afraid to include humor in the dialogue.

I am looking forward to what tomorrow brings!

Day 1 - Starting Strong

2010-03-11T19:55:00.005-05:00

What a privilege to take part in the 11th IMI annual conference! Today was a wonderful experience, one that was filled with thought-provoking discussions, talented individuals, and challenging arguments.

After (rather embarrassingly) forgetting to actually turn my alarm ON and sleeping through the first panel session this morning (what a shame!) I arrived at AU during the first coffee break. After the break I joined Dr. Fardanesh's session entitled "Intercultural Communication, Business Negotiation, and Promotional Effectiveness." I have been interning and working at GALA Hispanic Theatre (www.galatheatre.org) for the past several months, and part of my job entails cross-cultural marketing to both Hispanic/Latino and non-Hispanic communities within DC. I thought that the presentation might provide some useful suggestions regarding intercultural marketing and, as such, would be applicable to my work at GALA. The session, however, covered only general concepts of cross-cultural business and really only scratched the surface of the issue. Although the topic was quite interesting, I left wanting more.

Next on the schedule was the luncheon and the keynote speech by Fons Trompenaars, "Creating a Culture of Innovation." I thoroughly enjoyed Dr. Trompenaars presentation and his delightful sense of humor, which inevitably poked fun at everyone in the room. One of the most significant aspects of his presentation, in my opinion, was his discussion of a "through/through" approach to intercultural interactions rather than an "and/or" or an "and/and" approach. As Dr. Trompenaars pointed out, so much of culture cannot simply be placed on a linear continuum (male/female, high context/low context, dominant/submissive) but must rather be viewed in another dimension that does not create binary oppositions. His 5 Rs - Recognize, Respect, Reconcile, Realize, and Root - provide a framework within which to go about this process of multi-layered understanding and nuance.

My favorite session of the day, however, was Neal Goodman's presentation on "Intercultural Knowledge Management in Global Organizations," which followed lunch. This was a subject with which I have had little or no experience, and I will admit that it was somewhat challenging when we all had to share our thoughts on what aspects should comprise an effective knowledge management system. After a period of time, however, I began to see the enormous value of such a knowledge resource for any organization and I left the session energized to try to implement some sort of knowledge database in my organization. My fervor for implementation has been tempered somewhat by the interceding hours, and at this point I think that it is rather unlikely for me to be able to get an effective knowledge management system in place. Nonetheless, the session challenged me to explore this topic, and it is something that I plan on investigating more in the future.

To end the conference day, I watched "On a Wing and a Prayer: An American Muslim Learns to Fly" as part of the iFilm Series. I am particularly interested in intercultural issues that deal with Muslim or Arab populations and I thought that the film was a fun and interesting way to explore some of the issues that these populations have faced in recent years.

So that was my day, more or less.

In general, I think that one of the most interesting and exciting aspects of my first day at the IMI conference was just seeing and interacting with the incredible mix of people, interests, and occupations that made up the conference participant body. As a self-professed "art person" (I am currently working on a masters degree in Performing Arts Management with a focus on Cultural Diplomacy and Intercultural Arts Management), I felt a little bit out of place at times, and yet it was inspiring to discuss issues of intercultural relations with individuals from the business, political, non-profit, medical, and communication sectors. The conference was strong precisely because there were so many different experiences and backgrounds represented. Although I will admit that I wish there were a few more arts-inclined sessions (well, I can dream, right?) I thoroughly enjoyed challenging myself to interact with participants from different backgrounds than my own (and I will just add that I'm excited for tomorrow's presentation on creative media!). When introducing myself at lunch, I got a few questioning looks when I presented myself as an "arts manager," although everyone was supportive and encouraging, wanting me to share my thoughts on why the arts have an important role to play in intercultural relations. The woman sitting next to me (I apologize - I can't remember her name - but if it was you and you read this, let me know :) ) made an excellent comment, which I will hold with me for the rest of the conference and beyond. She said, essentially, that so often in intercultural relations we get caught up in the trainings, the politics, and the business of it all, the result of which is that we relegate the arts - a core cultural component - to a subsidiary role (if we give them a role at all beyond entertainment or diversion). It would be interesting, perhaps, to reverse these roles and place the arts first and foremost in cross-cultural interaction. It would certainly allow for an interesting process! I would be interested to hear what anybody else thinks about the possibilities for the arts (however one chooses to define them) as players in intercultural management. Should they be an important part of our discussions or should they play only a very minor role? This topic is not expressly part of the conference agenda, but it is one that I will have in mind as we move on to day 2 tomorrow.
Until then...
Laura Smith

Intellectual Disneyland

2010-03-11T19:29:00.003-05:00

To quote Neal Goodman, today was an "Intellectual Disneyland." I ate too many muffins and drank way too many cups of coffee, but it was worth it.

After several attempts to get some Web 2.0 tools up and running in my organization, all of them unsuccessful, I have struggled to figure out a way to capture the expertise and knowledge of our employees. Yammer, wiki pages, blogs... none of them have taken off. There are 300+ employees who work for, or with, my business unit and I am a learning and development department of one. I can't know it all, so I hoped to get some tips from Neal's session today on "Intercultural Knowledge Management in Global Organizations."

It was reassuring to hear other attendees talk of their struggles to collect the knowledge in their own organizations and how to make it accessible to those who need it. Recruiting champions for this type of effort is the first place to start. Who needs this information and who will populate the database? Get those people behind the effort and you're more likely to succeed.

Use available technology, but do not let it become an IT project. It's for the people, by the people.

One activity I struggled with today was when we were asked to describe what our databases would look like. What kinds of information it would capture and share. I was uncomfortable coming up with the database structure knowing I wasn't the person who would be using the information. What about my "customers' " needs? What kind of information would be most helpful for them to have access to? How will they want to access/input information? What features would make them more likely to use it? These are questions I cannot answer, well, not if I want the database to valuable, anyway.

I appreciated having a framed discussion around what a knowledge management system would look like, but I guess this is another task I'll have to look to my coworkers for help in designing and implementing!

Hester Darcy

Is Everyone Ready?

2010-03-05T11:07:00.003-05:00

Well, the 11th Annual IMI Conference is about to begin, and I for one am ready! We can't wait for the rooms to be full of professionals, academics, and students, and for everyone to be having a great time. And of course, what would the Conference be without the blog? This is where you all get the chance to discuss what you learned in the sessions--to continue the dialogue once the session is over--or to reflect on the Conference as a whole. Take a look at least year's posts--lots of good stuff there. This really is a chance for you to expand the Conference into the digital realm, and to maintain connections once the Conference is over. Take this as an opportunity to help you synthesize the information and training you receive in the sessions; maybe someone in the same session had a completely different take on it!

So: enjoy the Conference! We hope you learn a lot and have a great time doing it. And, we want to hear all about it--Happy Writing!

Dan Deming-Former IMQ Editor

Welcome to the IMI Conference Blog!

2010-03-05T11:03:00.002-05:00

Welcome to the IMI Annual Conference Blog. Since launching the blog in 2007 it has become a powerful and useful discussion tool for our Conference Ambassadors and participants alike. You start the conversations; others join in. Use this space to expand on session topics by highlighting something you liked, pointing out something you disagree with, and posing questions you still need answers to. We hope you enjoy the conference and take away new tools and learning points for your careers and studies.

2009-03-14T16:04:00.025-04:00

What an incredible IMI! I have learned a great deal and was energized by discussions in the sessions as well as with colleagues I was meeting. The pre-conference workshop gave me an overview of current tools and jargon and participation in interactive games and exercises to get warmed up for the days ahead. Especially useful was an "item ranking matrix" which I can use in a variety of training situations to rank competing interests of groups and is very adaptable. I might add that the use of an inteculturally themed sample leturette would have enhanced learning more for me, rather than the monetary example used.

Session reflections:

Differing Cultural Perceptions of the Good

Richard Harris has such a warm and generous sensibility with his style and approach to this subject. It was validating to further understand the significance of basic culturally specific beliefs of very basic concepts such as what is good (or paradise) and how these differing perceptions can contribute to cultural conflict unless uncovered. I learned a great historically based and thorough avenue to be able to bring this discussion up for participant reaction. Well done Richard. Wish we had had time to hear more of his findings when using this technique with different cultural groups, multicultural groups, and regionally diverse groups. Does he have a paper describing these data?

Peacebuilding with Muslim Exchange Participants in a Post 9/11 World

What an incredible experience for Carol Radomski. Unfortunately I missed something. I was hoping to hear her findings in a format that I might apply to Muslim exchange students experiences in other situations. Perhaps I may need to read her dissertation summary for that kind of information. Is her summary (and program action ideas for future) available? The small group discussion of a case study was invigorating.

Keynote Luncheon - Michael Paige

Wish I could hang out with him daily just to catch his many fascinating insights and experiences. It was so refreshing to hear our history of the field with all the benchmarks so succinctly presented with humor and appropriate urgencies. I would love to read his reflections of whichever sessions he attended. Please let him continue to keynote often so we can continue to gain from his perspectives on the field. I believe Gary Weaver should also keynote more for the same reason. Ditto on reading Gary's reflections on sessions he attended. Actually, wouldn't it be exceptional to read a conference summary made up of brief conclusions by the presenters of each session highlighting any new ideas that came out of their session? Is that possible?

How Medical Tourism Treats Cultural Challenges

This one ended up not matching my needs so I popped out to try another session, got enjoyably waylaid in discussions in the foyer and by the time I got to another session I could not catch up to where they were. I should have taken a break or stayed in the first one. Learned that lesson.

Cross-Cultural Communication in Complex Emergencies

Let us continue to listen ... Thank you, thank you, thank you. I am so glad to have participated in this session. Since I do not currently work with AID related endeavors, I wondered how applicable this session would be for me -- Steve Hansch so accurately reminded me of the importance of continuing to update myself and others in the intercultural field, media, academicians, trainers, etc. of just what the humanitarian devotees are experiencing ... and how their experiences are evolving (and reinventing) post 9/11 and most excitingly post Bush. I especially appreciated Steve's insatiable curiosity with finding appropriate solutions to needs because that is also a personal raison d’être. This session reminded me again of the necessity of keeping our intercultural heads together on cultural competencies and always sharing experiences from the "aid" field. Baseball cap or helmet - the ever evolving question ... I am glad we have another window of opportunity to try to work on this question openly and transparently in the years ahead. Somehow I did not receive a handout from this session and would really be grateful to receive his power point to go back over and reexamine the many questions we discussed. Fascinating. Let us continue to listen ...

The World is Flat: The "What" & "How" of Virtual Leadership in a Multicultural Environment
Finally a chance to brainstorm about virtual teams. The literature and discussion were right on target. Glad to hear intergenerational challenges discussed in this context. Wish we could have had more time to fully discuss best practices. I would love to see Ursula's list of best practices she has discovered from her experience working in virtual teams and leading these types of discussions. Does she have such a summary?

Keynote Luncheon: Carol Bellamy, World Learning

She's great and has done so much for women and the field. While I was glad to hear her speak, it was so general that I did not gain as much new information as I had hoped.

Study Abroad for Global Engagement

Our sage Michael Paige - you go Michael. How exciting to finally have 50 years worth of formal data regarding study abroad! There definitely needs to be 2 follow up actions from this information: 1-seek funding for a control study of non study abroad students from the same time period and 2 - share results of the voluntary simplicity result to energy companies, health and environmental groups for future investment in study abroad.

Looking Forward

2009-03-13T23:02:00.001-04:00

The conference started out great, but it was during the second and final day that things really came together for me. All three sessions I attended focused on cross-cultural communication styles and strategies and I thoroughly enjoyed each and every one of them. The sessions and speakers were all very interesting, informative and provided a good deal of interaction. As a graduate student just getting started in the field of cross-cultural communication, I found it incredibly inspiring to get to know and work with other students and professionals who share the same passion and goals but work in diverse capacities in both the public and the private sector, often in business, academia or the government. I am now even more confident than ever that I am in the right field. As a first-time participant, I felt very welcomed and I look forward to next year’s conference. Many thanks to the Education and Development Fund and all those who made it possible for me to attend this conference.

Contextual Quotent (CQ) on top of IQ and EQ

2009-03-13T19:55:00.004-04:00

Here is the bottom line. I have had a tremendous learning and networking experience at the conference - there is absolutely no doubt about that. If there was one thing that I do wish to see more of, it would be a more diverse mix of conference speakers in terms of cultural background and experience.

In this respect Dr. Motoo Unno's presentation on "Contrasts in Leadership and Identity: The Multicultural Barack Obama and the Monocultural Overseas Japanese Manager" was a refreshing eye-opener. Dr. Unno draws on his personal involvement in the grassroots campaign for President Obama during the elections to identify and observe the leadership traits of President Obama. Combined with other credible sources inlcuding general knowledge about the president, articles written about the president, exerpts from books written by the president himself and in depth observation and analyses about leadership traits portrayed by the president, Dr. Unno concludes that President Obama exhibits a blend of both transformational and transactional leadership qualities.

Dr. Unno attributes this to the multicultural background of President Obama - how his rich cultural experience since childhood was elemental in shaping an identity and character that is 'sensitive to culture and diversity', a hallmark of the identity and character of the president.

Nevertheless, the point that drove home a powerful message to me was that this 'sensitivity' could be learned and developed. Dr. Unno demonstrates this most aptly through contrasting effective and ineffective Japanese managers of companies operating in China and India. In this instance both these groups of managers were 'monocultural'. According to Dr. Unno, why one group thrives (effective) whilst the other fails (ineffective) was largely dependent on 'contextual intelligence' i.e. how well they were able to appreciate the shift in context, how much they were able to gauge and learn about the new context, and how well they could adjust accordingly. To me it was a seminal point in the presentation - I believe that Dr. Unno has just coined the term 'Contextual Quotent (CQ)'. Perhaps in this post-global world where everything is influenced by global forces (this is taken from the presentation by Dean Foster - another great session), I believe that CQ will very soon become an important quality to look for in a leader.

Dr. Unno's style is something that I feel deserves more credit and space in this entry. The documented efforts of canvassing for President Obama was interpolated with soul searching and self awareness on his part. The delivery was personal, yet sincere. I don't profess to speak for everyone but it reached out to me and drew me to share his personal journey through layers and layers of cultural awareness - first as a Japanese student who has had to make many mistakes in order to learn and adapt to the American culture; then being constantly mistaken as Chinese, Vietnamese or Korean; and finally being taken for granted as an American during his canvassing adventure. This topic is unarguably his of right - he stands as an authority who could accurately testify to 'monocultural' Japan, 'multicultural America' and perhaps everything in between.

Perhaps most would remember the humour and laughter that punctuated the session. The beauty of it all was how the richness in content was not one bit compromised in what I would call a truly wholesome and phenomenal presentation.

Contemplation and action

2009-03-13T17:14:00.002-04:00

As we concluded the IMI conference today, I found myself in a contemplative space, thinking about all that has happened in these two days. I remember David Bachner's comments from the IMI video - that IMI hopes to provide a balance between theory and practice at their workshops, conferences, and in their consulting. Indeed, that intention has been realized in this conference.

The sessions I attended and the subsequent conversations I had with other attendees have given me both practical tools and concrete sets of knowledge to carry with me. On the other hand, many of the sessions elucidated a certain wisdom that "cut underneath" the practical pieces and invited me into reflection about the theoretical aspects of field, e.g. the "why" questions which reveal to us the deeper motivations behind why we all showed up today and why this field has a significant place in our world.

I am walking away from this conference, more certain than before, that a balance of contemplation and action in this field is crucial and necessary. In order to give intercultural training/education/consulting the integrity it needs to be valid and sustainable source of knowledge and services, that balance seems indispensable. A balance of voices too, is necessary as we continue to create intercultural knowledge and give direction to the field. So, I hope to continue cycling through the process of contemplation and action around intercultural issues and gain insights from further conversations you.

Thank you, again, to IMI and to all of you with whom I had the privilege to converse for this opportunity. See you at the next conference!

2009-03-13T16:17:00.005-04:00

I am very pleased to have been able to attend the IMI 1oth Conference.I thank very much the Committe for granting me the Scholarship and I will go back to my home country with this good experience and knowledge.
Here are some of my comments on the sessions:
Wednesday Pre-Workshop, was very interesting and useful for gaming techniques.
Thursday March 12 : the highlight for today was the workshop given by Ruth Van Rekken and Paulette Bethel.I believe it was very well presented, they showed professionalsm in the preprartion, you can tell they really took their time to prepare it and study very well.As a third world citizen myself (now global world citizen) I observe the information we obtained from this workshop was very useful and hopefully we will be able to turn the iceberg!!!
Friday March 13: Today the conferences were all very good, the one about Negotiations with Dean Foster and of course the Khan experiment directed by Gary Weaver.These two conferences were very well set and have been very useful.
In general I have achieved my expecations and look forward to attending more events in the near future

Interest-Based Negotiation, does it always work?

2009-03-13T08:32:00.004-04:00

When I reviewed the conference agenda for the first day, I had no doubt about which concurrent session in the first slot I will attend: Through the Prism of Culture;Interest-Based Negotiations and the U.S. Air Force. Last semester I took a course on Interpersonal, Group and Systemic Conflict Resolution with C. Merchant where we primarily focused on Interest-Based Negotiations (IBN). It was a great course which gave me a lot of "food for thought" and ever since I have been "experimenting" with IBN (in smaller scale, mostly in interpersonal conflicts). I discovered that IBN doesn't always work in the other word you can't "do" IBN to people. They have to buy in for the process to work. Its especially harder to do with people from my own culture where negotiating with your family members and friends seems "rude" and inappropriate. So I was very curious to hear what the presenters; Dr. Gary Weaver, Kenneth Lechter and Dr. Stefan Eisen, who have been successfully using IBN in practice in a much bigger scale have to say about it. I guess I wanted them to built my confidence about the effectiveness of the IBN and its applicability. And I wasn't disappointed. I gained a lot from this session and got a great advise from K. Lecher how to convince people to buy-in into IBN. I will keep "experimenting" with this great tool to conflict resolution, IBN while keeping in mind that as Dr. Stefan Eisen pointed out IBN doesn't have to be to solution to all conflict situations, depending on situation or constraints you may have to choose another way of solving a conflict.

Day 1: In a “Paradise” of Intercultural Learning

2009-03-13T00:20:00.004-04:00

Well, this morning I woke up energized for my first IMI Conference and was very much looking forward to a day of dialogue and intercultural intrigue...I was definitely not disappointed! As a first year graduate student of International Education, I haven’t had very much contact with intercultural communication yet and so I came to absorb and digest new knowledge. However, as a study abroad returnee and aspiring Advisor, I was pleasantly surprised by the direct application that the sessions have had so far to my exact interests. In particular, I thought that Michael Paige’s luncheon presentation was a wonderful overview of the field and touched on many issues that I view as pertinent to the concepts I am so passionate about. I am truly looking forward to hearing more tomorrow in his session on “Study Abroad for Global Engagement.” I am also interested in learning why he uses the term “global engagement” and what he thinks of the term “global citizenship.” Perhaps I can write more on that tomorrow.

About the sessions: Although the three presentations that I attended today were all very well presented and I took much away from all of them, I would most like to focus on the “Ideal Myths & Real Consequences: Differing Cultural Perceptions of ‘the good’” session. For me, this presentation illustrated a fresh approach to working with diverse groups.

To begin, Richard Harris provided a well-placed, brief introduction to the Greek logos, ethos, and mythos. From there, he explained the six categories of paradise visions that he has found in his research. We were then invited to spend some time defining our own ideas of paradise, which is not easy: I find myself hovering between different categories of paradise visions…is my paradise Utopian? Elysian? Hesperidean? Finally, we divided into groups and worked toward compromise on hypothetical environmental, state, or social policies. The discussion generated was both humorous (ie “we’re all going to just live in Madison, WI” and “money will grow on trees”) and thought provoking (ie what would people’s versions of “hell” be?). I look forward to a chance to apply this experiential technique in a more diverse setting where views of Paradise (Mythos) may seep more obviously into the way that we reason (Logos) with each other over practical issues.

Thank you very much to the Education and Development Fund for the opportunity to attend this conference - see you all tomorrow!

Perceptions of Paradise

2009-03-12T22:48:00.001-04:00

What is “good”? Today I attended Richard Harris’ session called “Ideal Myths and Real Consequences: Differing Cultural Perceptions of the Good,” where we learned about different classical concepts of Paradise. Dr. Harris made the session interactive, first allowing us the opportunity to brainstorm what our own personal Paradise is, and then having us work in small groups to come to a consensus about different aspects of Paradise. Having to write out in words what we think is “good” – the ideal, Paradise – was a much more challenging task than I thought it would be. Having to somehow decode the feeling I have when I hear the word “Paradise” was akin to having to describe the events of a dream: it is impossible to describe because the details are vague, but the feeling strongly lingers. I completely understand and agree with Dr. Harris’ message that Paradise is different in every culture, though I think that the one universal characteristic of Paradise is that in all cultures the very word (translated, of course) conjures vague memories and vivid feelings as it does for me.

Toward the end of the session we discussed how the activity of examining Paradise as subjective rather than objective could be used in intercultural training to better understand others’ cultural perspectives. Although we did not discuss this much during the session, I think another use of this activity could be in applying it to those who do development work in other cultures. Development projects are often fueled by a belief that what one is doing is “good.” However, how do we decide what is good? What informs our perception of what is ideal? If culture shapes who we are, it largely shapes our value system, and therefore what we decide is good. While we may think that our decisions of what is good and right in the world is based on some universal, instinctual belief, it is really based on what our culture typically determines to be good.

I would be interested to see how this activity could be implemented into trainings for those working in development to make sure that what they are doing is based on host culture definitions of the good. If my Paradise is different than others in the room this morning and we come from fairly similar cultural backgrounds, I cannot image the extent to which development workers’ and developing communities’ Paradises vary. Rather than imparting our own dreams upon others, they should be empowered to decide what is good for them, because one man’s Paradise very well may be another man’s Hell.

A fantastic start

2009-03-12T22:43:00.006-04:00

I share Dan Deming's enthusiasm and am excited that the IMI conference is finally here! I have been looking forward to attending for quite some time. It is a joy to finally be here ~ listening to and meeting the many scholars and practitioners who have contributed so much to the field; my deepest gratitude to IMI for this opportunity to attend.

The pre-conference workshop yesterday with Judee Blohm and Chuck Needlman was chalk full of Thiagi’s interactive lecture activities designed to help trainers deliver varied content in ways more engaging than traditional lecturing. Not to make our presenters tomorrow nervous, but Judy and Chuck set the bar very high indeed. We walked away with a toolbox of NASAGA activities, practice using them, and a unanimous feeling that we could have stayed there all day. Let us not forget the lively trivia game about the U.S. penny, which revealed the playful and competitive sides in many of us – who knew that so early on in the conference we would be calling upon our basketball skills to “box each other out” in a race to ring a bell!

Highlights for me today included Richard Harris’ intriguing discussion about varied cultural conceptions “the Good”. We came to know first-hand from our small group discussions how each of our ideas of paradise underpins the logic and rational thinking we use in creating our society. I agree with Richard’s premise that the mythical has often been underestimated as a motivating force behind our “common sense” or why we do what we do.

Anita Schmied’s session on new trends in medical tourism, also known as, “international patient care” and “international health traveling”, was a hot button topic for many of us in the room. Is this the globalization of healthcare? We looked at the facts of this newly emerging area of international business and discussed some of the provocative implications for cross-cultural communication and how it is an expanding career path for interculturalists.

Looking forward to tomorrow!

IMI 10th Anniversary Conference: Day 1

2009-03-12T22:06:00.003-04:00

The IMI 10th Anniversary Conference is off to a great start. I attended Ray Leki's presentation on "Personal & Organizational Security in a Global Age". It would be an understatement to say that it was merely informative: it was both eye opening and challenging.

I had the opportunity to take a personal inventory of threats I am under and that are of my making as an international traveler. The questions were engaging and really forced me to question my own assumptions. For example one of the questions posed was "Have you left instructions for your wishes to be enacted if you should die overseas, or become incapacitated...".

I quickly realized the threat of my travels to the safely and security of my family. In the event of an untimely accident more than their sense of well being would be compromised. Each and every person should take such an assesment on how our travels not only impact our outlook, but our jobs and relationships at home and abroad. We constantly have to assess our own self-awareness as intercultural communicators, and this workshop helped me see the neglect and short-sightedness of being unprepared for such an event.

Although, my example topic is a bit morose, this workshop offered many other equally profound insights into the personal risks to security and safety inherent in international travel. I thoroughly enjoyed all of today's workshops and look forward to day two.

-Lisa Mayorga

USD22,000 vs. USD511 for a Hysterectomy Procedure

2009-03-12T21:58:00.004-04:00

It all started with a pageant (yes - some of you have heard this one so shhhh)...

Several years ago one of the Miss Chinatown Malaysia finalists was asked this question during the Q&A segment of the pageant: "How would you promote medical tourism in Malaysia?"

The contestant smiled awkwardly for several minutes and looked nervously at the host. The host, sensing the urgent plea for help (and call for damage control), quickly made a description about 'medical tourism' and asked if she agreed that Malaysia would be the perfect destination for such industry. Well, of course she agreed that it would be.

The point was not lost on many who watched that Q&A segment. Several days later journalists and feature writers took to the streets to conduct a survey on how much did the Malaysian public then know about medical tourism. As a consolation to the poor contestant, the results of the survey showed that a large majority of the population were either ignorant of the term 'medical tourism', or unaware that the industry existed (let alone was flourishing) in Malaysia, or both. Yours truly was one of those who fell into that last category (ahem).

It wasn't as if I was planning to enter any pageants but I lost no time in learning more about what medical tourism entails, and to what extent Malaysia had then been engaged in the industry.

When I saw that medical tourism was going to be discussed within a cross-cultural context in the conference, my excitement peaked. I called my mom in Malaysia and told her about this great opportunity to harvest more knowledge in diverse areas of expertise that would add on and enhance the existing practice in Malaysia. Those who know me can testify to how I often and unabashedly proclaim my goal of equipping myself in all ways to be able to contribute to the growth and development of my country.

As a prelude to the session I had marked off as 'must attend', I shared my enthusiasm with a friend about medical tourism, taking great pains to illustrate what I thought were all the benefits and advantages of travelling abroad for medical treatments whilst doing some sight-seeing at the same time. The discussion essentially turned into a debate when my friend (who is an American) insisted that he could not see how 'saving a small fraction' of the costs would induce people to give up valuable medical insurance protection and sense of security by accepting treatment overseas. Furthermore, he felt that he wasn't sure if 'he could trust the skills and expertise of the doctors and nurses from "Third World Countries"'.

Well, in the wonderful session presented by Ms. Anita Schmied, I was informed that this 'small fraction' translated into a choice between USD22,000 for a Hysterectomy procedure in USA as opposed USD511 in India; USD100,000 for an Open Heart Surgery performed in the USA versus USD4400 for the same in India, and the list goes on. The difference is so much more than figures can convey. According to Ms. Schmied, the kind of services you get are beyond comparison. The above, much lower amounts, cover 5-star hotel-like suites, personal concierge in certain cases, customized meals according to a patient's dietary needs, and other hospitality oriented services.

The irony though, as Ms. Schmied showed us, lies in the fact that only a small segment of people whom have opted for medical tourism were influenced by the costs, according to a report published by McKinsey. Most of their decisions were driven by the top-notch expertise and quality access available via medical tourism. My friend would be reassured to learn (and should I rub it in a little? haha) that most of these hospitals overseas have been accredited by the US based Joint Commission International (JCI) and that the only way to earn an accreditation from JCI is through illustrating and practising high standards of medical care in accordance to the standards set by JCI.

It was very interesting to learn about how the big players in the industry, like Wockhardt Hospital Groups in India, are fine-tuning their services to be more cultural-sensitive to patients from other countries like the USA and Europe. Ms. Schmied shared with us how Wockhardt Hospital convey their capacity to offer a very cultural friendly environment to patients in all relevant areas like language, religion, food, etc. This was demonstrated through marketing undertakings that range from sensible (arranging prayer rooms for Jews, Muslims etc) to hilarious (training their staff to be accent free). I personally feel that it was a powerful illustration of how cross-cultural competencies would become more and more relevant and important as players of the industry realize its significance in the industry.

Needless to say, the session by Ms. Schmied opened my eyes to a lot of the reality and ongoing practices in the industry. The session had just the right amount of content for the time allocated and a healthy dose of interaction between the presenter and the participants and amongst the participants themselves. Above all else, I observed that it managed to peak the curiosity of many of the participants, whilst at the same time challenging the perception of many with regards to some of the 'best practices' of the industry. Nonetheless, if there was one word to bring away from the session, it would be none other than 'intrigued'.

What happened to me?

2009-03-12T21:06:00.002-04:00

Professor Michael Paige stated that the reason he loves working in the field of intercultural education is that everyone is passionate about the subject, truly believes in it’s need, and then added comically, and in the end “you’re just trying to figure out what happened to you!”

As a novice to the field of intercultural communication and education I have a general understanding of why it’s needed without having to read any material or do research; it just makes sense because of the world we live in. But today I had several moments of realization that affected me on both a personal and professional level and I thought: “oh, that’s what happened!”

Ideal Myths and Real Consequences was the first workshop I attended at the IMI conference. The main focus of the workshop was that although we consider our respective societies to be very rational and logical that what often affects our idea of common sense and logic is the “mythical.” Richard Harris used paradise as his example; all cultures have a concept of paradise, what it would be like, and how to get there. This concept is often based on religion, folklore, or myth and yet can shape our logic and how we reason.

The idea that my faith or beliefs could somehow influence my logical thought seemed far-fetched at first, but the more examples he gave, the more it rang true. For instance, how our recent president could justify his decisions on foreign policy and war on faith and Christian ideals—the Middle East being something out of Revelations or having a Biblical reference. His decisions were rational to him and to many Christian Americans.

I do not believe that the “mythical” affects all of us in the same way, but it must impact all of us to an extent.

I left the workshop wondering whether there really is such thing as “common sense” if it’s all subjective? Also, what have I internalized through my own culture and upbringing that makes my thought process totally unreasonable and illogical.

IMI's 10th Annual Conference

2009-03-12T19:38:00.001-04:00

I am so happy to be a part of the IMI's 10th Annual Conference. The pre-conference session was an enlightening experience and I felt obliged to share it with all the talented and experienced individuals that participated at it. The pre-conference training did provide us with different techniques and resources for interactive training activities that we can use in any conference presentation we conduct or we can use to evaluate any session we attend.

We are different, and differences do mater. Therefore, it is so important to learn how to communicate effectively and appropriately. This is the number one lesson I learned from attending the first day of the conference. Since we are different we have to learn how to flip the iceberg chart so we can connect in our humanism. This way we will concentrate on, the likeness, our human needs. Also, we will then respect and will not be afraid of what differentiate us wither it’s a race, gender, language, or a belief.

The three sessions I did attend today complemented each other. The second lesson was that negotiation is not a contest; it is a search for a common interest.
Successful interest-based negotiation requires being aware of our own culture, and a more realistic cultural empathy.

Now, the call is not only for cross cultural communication, due to the increased diversity and globalization. The call is for intercultural communication. Therefore, the value and the need of such conference and training are increasing. Communication and negotiation skills are a key must to a good business and to a good living.

Is Everyone Ready?

2009-03-11T13:15:00.002-04:00

Well, the 10th Annual IMI Conference is about to begin, and I for one am ready! We can't wait for the rooms to be full of professionals, academics, and students, and for everyone to be having a great time. And of course, what would the Conference be without the blog? This is where you all get the chance to discuss what you learned in the sessions--to continue the dialogue once the session is over--or to reflect on the Conference as a whole. Take a look at least year's posts--lots of good stuff there. This really is a chance for you to expand the Conference into the digital realm, and to maintain connections once the Conference is over. Take this as an opportunity to help you synthesize the information and training you receive in the sessions; maybe someone in the same session had a completely different take on it!

So: enjoy the Conference! We hope you learn a lot and have a great time doing it. And, we want to hear all about it--Happy Writing!

Dan Deming

New blog about intercultural issues

2008-06-09T21:36:00.002-04:00

Hi everyone - I wanted to let you all know about a new blog I launched a couple months ago, The Interculturalists. Since you blogged at the IMI conference I figured you might interested in checking it out or even in contributing. I'm always looking for new contributors (no minimum frequency requirement) so don't be shy! Peace.

It is not about conning Khan

2008-03-16T23:45:00.002-04:00

As this was the first time for me to attend an IMI conference or event, I was not sure of what to expect. In the end though, I can say that attending the IMI 9th Annual Conference not only taught me a great deal about current issues in intercultural relations, but it allowed me to meet with many of the great scholars and practitioners in the field.

Over the two day conference I attended five sessions, all on a broad range of topics. Out of the five sessions though, the two that really impacted me the most were Dr. Richard Harris' Managing Space: Cultural Differences in Perceptions of Space and their Implications for Managers and Dr. Gary Weaver and Mr. Khan's Contrast-Culture Simulation: the "Khan Exercise."

Dr. Harris' session brought a whole new cultural aspect, which impacts how we communicate and interact with others, to the table. When I first read the title of the session, I almost didn't attend as I thought the content would only deal with personal space between people. However, as Dr. Harris has lived and worked in Japan for the past 25 years, I knew I had to go to his session. (I myself have lived in Japan for the past five years, so I felt I had a connection with him.) As soon as he started his workshop, I knew I was going to learn something new and exciting.

Dr. Harris outlined six different types of cultural "space" and the impact they have on our interactions with one another. The six types were 1) Cosmological 2) Personal 3) Communal 4)Residential 5) Geographical and 6) Environmental. One of the interesting exercises he did to explain his theory was use a picture of a landscape and the D.I.E. model -- Description, Interpretation, Evaluation. He asked us to look at the picture and try to tell him about it only with descriptive words such as trees, green, sky, etc. However, as all of us found out, it is VERY difficult to do that. Most people unconsciously used interpretive or descriptive words such as lush, beautiful, and peaceful. Dr. Harris then pointed out that interpretive and evaluative words are all culturally based. What may look peaceful to one person, may in fact look unstable, or dangerous to another. This was quite eye opening to me and made me think about a plethora of other issues for quite some time.

The second session that really made me stop and think, the Khan Exercise, was brilliant. As the title of my blog says, "It is not about conning Khan." Mr. Khan, a person whose national identity is unknown, engages in a role-play with someone in the audience, an American "Mr. Smith," over a business project that is taking place in Mr. Khan's country. The purpose of the role-play is not for the audience to figure out where Mr. Khan is from, how to con Mr. Khan, or how to avoid being conned by Mr. Khan, but it is to reflect on the way Mr. Khan makes us feel. His identity is that of someone non-Western, someone different from 'us' -- he is the 'other.'

Due to time constraints, the role-play only lasted for about 15-20 minutes, but it was easy to tell from the get-go that Mr. Khan was making the entire audience feel out of their cultural norm. As for me, I realized how different my concept of productivity was, as I felt Mr. Khan spent too much time asking Mr. Smith personal questions. Mr. Khan also seemed to make a great deal of chit-chat with Mr. Smith, but he never seemed to talk about the work on hand. It was obvious as well that it was making Mr. Smith a bit frustrated.

Dr. Weaver also took part in this session and briefed the audience on some cultural issues, such as the difference between "to do cultures" and "to be cultures." After the role-play was over, Dr. Weaver also debriefed us and allowed us to ask questions to Mr. Smith and to Mr. Khan. It was very intriguing to see what each of the men thought regarding their conversation they had just had. It made me realize that it is not about trying to out-guess or out-know the other person's culture so that you can effectively communicate with them, but it is most important to know your own cultural ways and values first.

I would like to thank IMI for awarding me a scholarship and allowing me to attend this wonderful conference. I look forward to next year's 10th Annual Conference and all of the new knowledge, skills, and contacts I will come away with!

Thank you!

Final Reflections

2008-03-16T20:35:00.001-04:00

As the IMI 9th Annual conference came to a close on Friday, I took what has been one of the most beneficial courses in my professional development coursework – “Back to the Basics: EEO” with Ben Alexander [who is teaching a 2-day seminar in conjunction with IMI in April, by the way]. This course truly gave me a broad understanding on how to explain, implement, and evaluate diversity programs in organizations. It was a difficult decision to attend the course, since there were others during the same session that piqued my interest, but I am extremely happy that I made the decision to!

Mr. Alexander made me recognize that “diversity” as having two realms: (1) the “unchangeable” [race, gender, ethnicity, etc.] that you are born into and cannot alter; and (2) the “exposed” [education, economic, etc.] social elements that may change based on what a person is exposed to and how their development is impacted by this interaction. Understanding that these two dynamics are at play when understanding diversity and culture is fundamental to creating a successful program in an organization.

I think that the important thing that I learned from this particular session, and why it was so important to me to take as a person who is directly responsible for human resources and employment issues in her job, is that constructing a plan that promotes an organizational culture of understanding is to not create a program that focuses on the elimination of the recognition of differences, but to foster views that appreciate them. Additionally, Mr. Alexander gave the group 10 reasons why programs fail to achieve their goals. This portion of the presentation was extremely helpful to me because as I progress through my professional goals, I expect to encounter programs that have some of these flaws, or I will be creating the program from scratch. I look forward to hearing what Mr. Alexander has to say in his July IMI Skills Institute session.

This was my first year attending the IMI conference, but it definitely will not be my last. It gave me the broad range of understanding of multicultural management and developing programs and confronting issues that will occur in professional lifestyles. I am excited to have discovered this training, and truly look forward to many more sessions with the IMI!

IMI Conference Reflections

2008-03-15T14:36:00.002-04:00

What hit me most was the sense of passion and urgency, as I visited each presentation at the IMI conference. Those two key ingredients were motivating at the same time validating to all of us who are advocates for multiculturalism. All of the presentations I’ve attended, including the key note presentations, were outstanding but I will choose a few to reflect upon.

Dr. Richard Harris presented the cultural differences in perceptions of space. His goal was to inform people of the importance of physical space in intercultural encounters and how we can reduce the potential for misunderstanding by understanding them. He talked about how the physical space, or interpersonal distance, manifests itself in six different frameworks: cosmological, geographical, environmental, communal, residential, and personal, and how it influences our perceptions to respond in various culturally conditioned ways. It was particularly interesting how even a geographical map and communal and residential layout can reflect how we interact with others.

I would venture to guess that this topic is of great interest and passion to Dr. Harris since he has lived and worked in Japan as a person from another country. I met him during luncheon and it was actually our conversation that triggered me to visit his presentation. Without going into details, he immediately asked me a question when he found out that I had spent my youth in Japan as a foreigner (as a person of Korean ethnicity), and his reaction immediately led me to believe that he personally and fully understood my experience as a foreigner in Japan. His presentation was enlightening in that he was able to open our eyes to the unconscious ways in which we do interact with people from outside our own cultures, as it relates to a physical space. It validates the importance of non-verbal behavior and brings up another important factor in our intercultural communication which can be overlooked but influences how we perceive others and behave. It is a positive lesson in that physical space is something that we all can alter and learn and understand more readily; yet it brings us another step closer to a successful intercultural communication and relationships.

The presentation on current international education by Fanta Aw, Shoshanna Sumka and Kristina Thompson was another presentation that stood out for me. I walked into the room in the middle of Ms. Aw’s presentation since I was doing a sort of “presentation-hopping”. It wasn’t easy to choose which presentation to go into due to so many choices.

The topic on U.S. style campuses overseas that Ms. Aw presented was of particular interest to me since its role and implications in international education was something that I wasn’t fully aware of in my own professional experience working with international students. Ms. Aw’s presentation was so full of in-depth information and passion that I am not fully able to reflect here, but in a nutshell, the U.S. style campuses overseas provide an American education opportunity for the students in their own countries. The campuses can take different forms such as curriculum that is an exact or modeled copy of a particular university that may or may not lead to an American education degree to those that only constitute international focused studies. Barriers that results from government regulations in the U.S. and overseas, visa dilemmas, possibility of losing number of incoming foreign students due to the availability of U.S. style campuses overseas were discussed. As a person who has personally experienced education systems in three different countries and worked with the same, I know all the dilemmas and struggles that are faced by the foreign students and those who work with them. Despite some negatives, I still do believe there is nothing that can be as truly growing and enriching experience as actually being a foreign student in the U.S. or even being an American student in a foreign country; however, taking advantage of good U.S. style campuses in other countries, and perhaps even an existing or future international -style campuses within U.S. may be a great substitute.

I appreciate Karen Santiago (and Jennifer) for inviting me to attend as a scholarship recipient as well as Gary Weaver, all the speakers, and the staff for making all of this possible.

Chilly Jill Lee

IMI Day 2

2008-03-15T10:59:00.002-04:00

The IMI's 9th Annual Conference was a very enlightening experience, and the number one lesson I learned from attending the Conference was that the field of cross-cultural communication is best learned without books. It was difficult to choose a highlight from Day Two, but after some serious thinking, I would say that the "Mr Khan" simulation run by Mr. Khan and Professor Gary Weaver would be my choice.

Truly innovative, the Mr. Khan simulation allows for people to roleplay an interaction with a person from the "other" culture, and it is run by Mr. Khan so that it is a lesson in immersion, and cross-cultural friction. It was awesome watching the simulation run, and I would say that programs such as the "Mr. Khan" simulation, and indeed, the entire Inter-cultural Management Institute, are examples of the cutting-edge nature of academic life here at American University. Maybe I'm drinking some of that American red-white-and-blue Kool-Aid, but what distinguishes the School of International Service at American University from programs at other colleges is its emphasis upon the value of full-spectrum learning in the context of international studies; SIS forces you to look at the world from many more perspectives than national security, the "Clash of Civilizations", and the grinding ideological burden of being a contributor to the expansion of American power. The anthropological, communicative focus of many of the programs at AU, among them the IMI, makes me proud to be an Eagle. I would also like to thank the IMI for awarding me a scholarship to attend the Conference, it was a wonderful experience, and I will recommend it heavily to many, many people.

A great conference

2008-03-15T00:13:00.001-04:00

I feel very fortunate to have attended the IMI conference this year. Not only were the issues covered of great relevance to the multicultural world of today and tomorrow, but the manner by which they were presented and the high caliber of presenters was exceptional.

Having read and heard about the Khan exercise multiple times, today’s session far outstretched my expectations! Dr Weaver was once again poignant and articulate in his introduction and debriefing of the Khan “experience,” as I now prefer to call it. It was a great pleasure to watch Khan conduct his craft, bringing the cultural theories and dimensions we have all been learning about to life. Even as an observer, I felt as though I was part of the experience and learned a great deal about my own preconceptions and how they may interfere in successful cross-cultural interaction.

This conference has left me better prepared for cross-cultural interaction across many levels. At an interpersonal level, the Khan experience taught me about the true, even quantifiable importance of self-awareness and knowledge of my own culture. At a business level, the Time Zones presentation increased my awareness of the logistical, cultural, and communicative complexities in working across countries and time zones. Even at the conflict resolution/negotiation level, the Air Force ADR session provided a great deal of fresh knowledge on effective negotiation tactics and how to cultivate relationships from even the most dire of conflicts.

All in all, I feel a more complete interculturalist, well equipped to identify, manage, solve, and educate others to the vivacious cornucopia of cross-cultural issues.

See everyone next year!

wrapping up the conference

2008-03-14T22:41:00.000-04:00

Today being the last day of the conference I left full of new knowledge and the confidence that I was lacking previous to these past two days. Attending William Dant’s session Leadership across Cultures, he talked about a few different cultural practices that I have never had imagined before. There is so much consideration when dealing with different cultures on a personal or business scale. There are many different approaches to these issues such as female mutilation, but finding a way the indigenous people will listen is the key to success. These are problems that I knew exist but never really put much thought into it until today when going over these case studies with William Dant. Case studies like Dant’s and other session exercises were another aspect to the conference I found useful. It helped me be engaged and to really see an outcome that these professionals have to deal with on a daily bases.

At the last session I attended was the career panel which gave me the confidence that I had lost while attending school. This session gave me an insight on how these professionals found there way into this field. It was interesting to get their perspective on what they do at work. Along with there personal experience we had a recap on the best way of writing a resume and cover letter for applying to such fields as intercultural communications.

I am so grateful to be apart of this conference and hope to attend in the future. I feel as if this was a mind altering experience. These past two days have made me reconsider my options for a new job and hope for those changing careers will have luck in doing so as well.

a new opportunity

2008-03-14T21:46:00.001-04:00

I feel fortunate to have had this opportunity to attend the IMI conference. This field of work is all so very new to me and I feel grateful to share it with all the talented individuals here. I have already learned so much from each member I have met, along with the sessions I have attended. These people include David Bachner, among others, who made me feel right at home. Also, keynote speaker Sherry Mueller and Gary Weaver were especially inspiring to me. I feel as if I have found a path for my education and career.

As a recipient of a study abroad scholarship I am grateful to hear from Harriet about Senator Fulbright. It is refreshing to know how he was inspired to create the scholarship. It really brings a face to the scholarship knowing this person’s life and his accomplishments; it will never be just a scholarship to me. I think it is also the foundation for what we are now implementing through international cultural education. It is important to fund students to study abroad especially for the young and eager individuals lacking the means to accomplish these goals.

The sessions today brought a lot of light to subjects that in the past have only been mentioned. Attending Ursula Leitzmann’s, Challenges of a Multicultural Workforce, made me think twice about how I will be communicating with employees on the job. Working here in Washington, DC being a multicultural city, I see daily the reoccurring theme of multicultural communicating and I will continue to implement it in my career.

Live Blogging, Day 2

2008-03-14T09:19:00.001-04:00

Alternative Dispute Resolution

2008-03-13T22:39:00.003-04:00

Hi everyone!

I had the pleasure of attending this morning's session on alternative dispute resolution within the US Air Force.

As my opinion of the military and their recent combat missions is very low, I was skeptical of this from the onset, and indeed, during the early parts of the presentation. However, as Dr Eisen and Dr Weaver began discussing the problem faced and the solution posed it became clear how powerful their research was, despite who was doing it.

Over the years, the Air Force has become extremely good at attracting and promoting a particular personality type. The STJs (Meyers-Briggs Type Indicator) have a preference for data, reason-based decision-making, and see the world in black and white. While these preferences make them exceptional fighter pilots, it does not make them good at the negotiation table. The Air Force began seeing a problem of these highly competitive personality types attempt to solve disputes through a “position” based approach whereby they entered negotiations with a pre-determined position and tried to convince their counterparts that it was the best position.

Not only were these negotiations failing in the immediate sense, but they were also failing in the long-term sense as relationships between the two parties deteriorated. Hence, the Air Force has begun a training program that teaches negotiations as a specific skill set. In essence, if you can team someone to be a fighter pilot you can also teach him/her to be a negotiator. Ultimately, the result is an “interest” based approach to negotiation whereby you attempt to convey your interests and understand the other’s interests. This ideally leads to a more fruitful negotiation process in the near term, and also promotes healthier relationships in the long term.

Dr. Weaver closed the discussion with a wonderful piece on the importance cultural knowledge plays in these negotiations when conducted across cultures. Understanding one’s own culture is tantamount, this provides perspective on your own values, assumptions, perceptions, and stereotypes. Of course, it paves the way to accurate understanding of cultures that differ from your own. Having at least that understanding of alternative values, assumptions, and perceptions can only bolster your chances of success in negotiating across cultures.

A powerful point Dr Weaver brought up, especially in lieu of the current PC-ness/colorblindness of American culture, is that it is important to understand that we are all very different. Yes there are similarities, but to assume that we are all the same, with the same desires, goals, approaches to conflict, etc is to make a grave mistake. Recognizing and attempting to empathize with diverse values, assumptions, and believes – without judgment, is the first step towards more effective negotiation and ultimately cross-cultural efficacy.

See you all tomorrow!

Reflections and Recognition

2008-03-13T21:06:00.000-04:00

One of the reasons that I wanted to participate in the IMI conference is because of its emphasis on presenting a foundation to understand the dynamics of multi-cultural and cross-cultural communication. As I progress throughout my career, not only do I want to have the skill to communicate people of different ethnic and cultural backgrounds, it is a necessity for everyone to have these traits, regardless of their professional background. I realize that the forces of education, business, and technology are putting people of different cultures in contact more rapidly than ever before.

During the first session, “Challenges Of A Multicultural Workforce”, Ursula Leizmann guided us through the cultural dimensions that affect business functions. One dimension that stood out to me was “individualism”: Is the success of the individual more important than the success of the team? I have a diverse professional background, specifically as an attorney and a middle-school teacher, and found this question to be extremely internally polarizing. At “big name law firm”, individualistic accomplishments were rewarded with bonuses, promotions, and most importantly (to those on that path), partnership. It is an individual-centered path that is cultivated in law school and nurtured throughout one’s professional maturation. As a teacher, however, individual success is the school’s success. Ideas are freely shared with other teachers, and the students’ successes are celebrated within the school, the district, the county, and the state.

“Individualistic” was a term stated when asked by Ms. Leizmann “What are the perceptions of the US business culture?” It is a term also used to describe Americans when I have lived and worked abroad in Paris, Dakar (Senegal), and The Gambia. It also a term used “intra-culturally” amongst Americans of different ethnic backgrounds. This concept does not register well with other cultures who tend to shun individual praise in lieu of recognition of the team as a whole.

As a business-person, the conference raised the questions: How does this affect the pipeline of entrants into a multi-cultural workplace? How does it affect the retention of employees of different backgrounds? Who yields to who?

An intercultural trip down memory lane

2008-03-13T19:12:00.002-04:00

I first met Dr. Gary Weaver as a junior at AU when I was taking his Intercultural Communication class. During the first session, he asked us to fill out index cards with our name, contact info, majors, hometowns, and cultural backgrounds. I was born in Louisville, KY, grew up in the Paris suburbs, and moved back to KY for high school. I've always considered myself a bicultural French-American. Dr. Weaver, however, deadpanned: "Ms. Marechal, you're not bicultural, you're schizophrenic!"

Children tend to be rather egocentric, so I didn't realize how unusual my upbringing was until college, and even now I am constantly rediscovering cultural quirks from my family and childhood. This afternoon during Richard Harris' excellent presentation on "Managing Space: Cultural Differences in Perceptions of Space and their implications for Managers" it occurred to me that I had spent most of my life in the middle of a cultural battlefield. Most of the battles were subtle. For example, throughout my childhood the furniture would mysteriously move an inch away from the wall and back again, as my American mother's preoccupation with permanent dust lines settling into the wallpaper was thwarted by my French father's desire to prevent objects being lost behind the furniture. By the time we moved out of that apartment, there were dust lines AND treasure troves of lost knickknacks.

Dr. Harris' discussion of communal and residential spaces also led to a "Eureka" moment. Having grown up in what most Americans would characterize as a busy urban area (though any French person who's been to Bourg-la-Reine knows that it's a prodigiously dull little suburb), I find American suburbs and many American cities very uncomfortable. For me, the "normal" way to live is in a modestly-sized apartment in a mixed-income neighborhood with many shops and buildings, where you know many of your neighbors but not all, and certainly where walking, public transportation and bycicling are the normal means of transportation - only driving when strictly necessary. I once spent a weekend alone (with the dog, thank goodness) at my father's house in the French countryside and was absolutely terrified. The sky was too big, the night too quiet, and there weren't any neighbors anywhere. On the other hand, I feel quite safe walking around DC by myself late at night, whereas I know many natives of suburbs who won't ride the metro alone past 9pm - and certainly not a city bus! In fact, I'm fairly certain that the Circulator buses that started running between Capitol Hill, K street and Georgetown were purposely designed to look different from regular WMATA busses to lure upscale riders. I've heard more than one person comment that they don't ride the bus, they ride the metro and the Circulator - that's completely different.

So far this conference has been great - I've learned a lot, networked with fascinating people, and it's lead to a lot of introspection about my cultural identity, how it was formed and how it shapes my interactions with the world around me. Thanks, AU, and Go Eagles :)

IMI Day One

2008-03-13T17:54:00.002-04:00

Today was whirlwind, with plenty of opportunities to meet and shoot the breeze with important contributors to the field of cross cultural communication. In particular, during lunch I got to sit down with Mr. Ray Leki, who is the director of the Department of State's Transition Center. An engaging and witty fellow, Mr. Leki is not only a great conversationalist when just chilling, he ran one hell of an afternoon session, entitled "Keeping Students and Institutions Safe on Study Abroad Programs."I was drawn to the training because I had studied abroad in Beirut, and only missing the confusion and frenzy of the evacuation of American citizens (many of them students) by two weeks, Mr. Leki's symposium challenged me to analyze the yeoman's work of creating, and sustaining, study abroad programs, and the difficulties that can arise unexpectedly when trying to coordinate study abroad programs.

Both keynote speakers, Dr. Sherry Mueller, and Harriet Mayor Fulbright, made excellent presentations, and I enjoyed getting a chance to relax with some good food and get to know a lot of different people who share my interest in the process of engendering salient cross cultural communication, and the methods, old and time-tested or new and innovative, to get that communication done. I am looking forward to immerse myself some more tomorrow.

Live Blogging from the IMI Conference

2008-03-13T09:09:00.002-04:00

I'm very excited to be attending this conference and look forward to sharing the ideas and discussions that will come out of it.

I'm also excited to try a live blogging application from www.coveritlive.com . Live blogging is/can be a great tool for blogging from conferences, during political events, or other times when information is coming in a concentrated block of time.

If you are seeing this blog during the conference, you can watch the posts coming in, in real time. If you are seeing this post after the conference hours, you can watch an "instant replay."

I welcome you to join in the discussions, and please comment on anything that is posted throughout the day, or on the live blogging itself.

Laurie

Congratulations to our IMI Education and Development Scholarship Recipients!

2008-03-06T16:46:00.004-05:00

Congratulations to our 2008 Scholarship Recipients! We are happy that you will be able to partake in our conference activities.

This year's recipients are:

Jill Grinager
Emme Lynne Hawkins
Nick Heras
Adam Kaplan
Chilly Jill Lee
Nathalie Marechal
Laurie Moy
Jill Muhm
Michael Rainaldi
Karyn Riley
Chad Ryerson
Shanti Soji
Andrew Smith

If you are a scholarship recipient, we ask that you place your thoughts, reflections, and questions that you have at the end of each conference day on our blog. This is just a fun, yet productive way to see your reactions to the conference, and how it can be improved during its course.

Once again, Congratulations. We look forward to seeing you next Thursday!

Laura Hash
IMI Staff

Current Issues in Intercultural Relations: A Forum for Business, Education, and Training Professionals

2008-02-29T13:32:00.007-05:00

Greetings from the IMI staff!

As our 9th Annual Conference approaches, our staff is excited to provide a forum for discussion through our blog. We welcome any posts concerning our conference session topics, speakers, logistical questions, and any other information you feel to be relevant.

For more than 30 years, IMI has worked towards promoting cultural understanding through innovative and dynamic intercultural communications training. Never before have the effects of international communication been so far-reaching and immediate. The lesson is clear: in our global community, we ignore the importance of intercultural relations at our own peril. To that end, IMI has chosen to focus this year's 9 th Annual Conference on current issues in intercultural relations. The impact of immigration, the growing number of educational opportunities abroad, and the increasing importance of public diplomatic relations highlight how current decision-making impacts cultures in multiple ways. In our 9 th Annual Conference, we hope to promote discussion and knowledge of these issues and their significance.

Lets begin this journey towards an advanced understanding of intercultural affairs! Post your thoughts today!

If you have any direct questions, please contact our program coordinator, Karen Santiago, at karen.santiago@american.edu or 202-885-6439.