Somebody Asked Me

What I think about starting a "new AVA" or something to that extent. I took the name of the sender off and posted what I replied here.

Hello,

The biggest of my concerns are the ones I blogged about here:
http://gionnetto.blogspot.com/2006/03/beware-of-nice-people.html
http://gionnetto.blogspot.com/2006/03/beware-of-honest-people.html

Namely, that either the new AVA would be a replica of the former “nice” one, OR that it would be a creature of spiteful anger without constructive criticism. I think that the biggest reason for AVA’s demise was the *lack* of conflict management skills, in a way or in the opposite, lack of skills that is also reflected in the way some members of CyberVPM “contribute” to the forum (on *both* the “nice” and the “angry” sides).

I think the new AVA would have to preserve and take care of both the CVA program and the JoVA, but being open to anything coming from the field, *especially* when the field is open to reflect on its practice rather than just saying/thinking “that’s the way it is because *I* think so”. I wouldn’t be open to help building anything that is divisive in nature or in methods. I also don’t believe in “experts” telling the rest of people how to behave, feel, and think, so I wouldn’t support any organization that has a top-down approach. I think the best venue to organize the new AVA from is CyberVPM, because it’s the only place in which a real and large community is already present. However I stay open to any other venue having a community or forming one for this purpose.

Finally, though I think times are ripe for discussion of and about a new AVA, I don’t think the time has come for founding a new organization, because no time for reflection on our present and past practices has passed yet.