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Episode 157

March 23rd, 2022

157: Beyond Hybrid: Facilitating in the Phygital Space with Thomas de Ming

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    Intro

    We meet online, we meet in-person, and sometimes we combine them to host hybrid meetings.

    But what happens when we bridge the gaps between physical and digital spaces and merge them together?

    Thomas de Ming is the person to ask – with his ongoing explorations of and research into ‘phygital’ meetings.

    The meteoric rise in popularity of the metaverse is plenty proof enough that more and more attention is being paid to what lies beyond ‘hybrid’. It’s an exciting space with huge potential, but plenty of question marks still to address.

    In this episode, we explore how to host workshops in liminal spaces, the costs and benefits of doing so, and the practicalities of making this nascent opportunity a common tool for facilitators to turn to.

    Find out about

    • Why ‘phygital’ is nothing to do with ‘hybrid’, despite their concurrent rise in popularity
    • The practical realities and common trapdoors when combing digital and physical spaces
    • What we’re missing when we talk about ‘remote’ work and why language matters
    • Easy introductory exercises to explore ‘phygital’ collaboration
    • How to manage and mitigate a workshop with mandated attendance
    • How Thomas uses tangible thinking tools to expand his groups’ ranges of perception

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    Questions and Answers

    01:20When did you start calling yourself a facilitator? 02:10What have you learned from TV and radio that informs your work today? 08:03 I think of you as the person who comes up with new names – does that feel like you? 12:46What changes when you facilitate a range process, rather than a change process? 15:32That brings us to our topic for today: the ‘phygital’. 17:58Can you give an example of a phygital space in action? 21:24It sounds like a great way to skill-share and to create new levels of abstraction? 23:19How much syncing work is needed beforehand? 25:17Could you do this tandem exercise with two people? 26:53What’s the difference here between remote, hybrid, and phygital spaces? 30:12 What is the benefit of bringing physical elements into our solely digital spaces? 35:03What are we overestimating about hybrid and underestimatong about phygital? 40:45 What is the difference between a digital twin and a humatar? 00:53How important is digital proficiency and fluency in phygital workshops? 05:38Does a feeling of safety make or break phygital experiences? 08:15What are the low-hanging fruits for people to get started with phygital? 11:27How do you use QR codes to create phygital experiences? 15:45What makes a workshop fail? 18:29What do you do to facilitate participants’ preparation? 25:06What is the future of facilitation? 32:52Is there anything you wanted to discuss that we haven’t yet covered?

    Links

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