On 1/31/11 I met with Jim Melamed in my continued quest to understand the history of community mediation in this area. I really enjoyed meeting and talking with Jim, also Clare Fowler who works with Jim and with the University was there. We met at a coffee shop near campus and Jim filled the hour with a great deal of interesting information.
Jim offered a perspective I hadn't yet come across in the interviews I've conducted - the role of the internet and mediation. I hadn't considered the possibilities for mediation made available with our ever-developing technology. Jim is obviously a visionary kinda guy - I understood that he played a huge role in the development of mediate.com and the case management software now being used by CMS, from inception to daily maintenance. Jim has ideas for using online technology like Skype for mediations under the right circumstances. Although there are obviously some disadvantages to parties not meeting in person, online mediation surely has a place somewhere in the future of the conflict field.
I appreciated Jim's willingness to sit down with me and the new perspective that helped open my mind to the myriad mediation possibilities that exist.
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