National Institute for Advanced Conflict Resolution(NIACR) has announced the winners of its first Annual Mediation Blog Roundup, naming five as the top mediation blogs.

Winners are this blog, Online Guide to Mediation, ranked #1 and selected as Editor’s Choice, Geoff Sharp’s Mediator Blah…Blah…, Tammy Lenski’s Mediator Tech, Mediation Mindset by Anthony Cerminaro, and Florida Mediator by Perry Itkin. Congratulations to everyone. You can read all about it right here.

To the best of my knowledge, this is the first time that any organization has recognized mediation blogs as a unique genre. I know that I am certainly grateful for the recognition and appreciate that NIACR took the initiative here in raising public awareness of the value that blogs can add to the Internet conversation, particularly with respect to a field that actively promotes dialogue and collaboration.

What has been tremendously exciting has been to see the growth in popularity of blogging among conflict resolution professionals just within the past 12 months. Today there exist 25 active blogs devoted to alternative dispute resolution with 13 additional blogs that regularly feature posts about ADR for a grand total of 38. It may not sound like much, but when I started doing this, you could count us all on one hand.

I hope to continue to add names to my Directory of Alternative Dispute Resolution Blogs in the coming months. In fact, I’m breaking ground on a new home for the Directory at www.adrblogs.com and hope to announce a housewarming party soon.

Technorati tags: alternative dispute resolution, blogging, mediation, mediation blogs

Anyone who has ever gotten married (or reads Dear Abby) knows only too well how many family feuds are sparked by wedding plans (which is probably why my husband and I eloped to Las Vegas). Battles can and do ensue over guest lists, menus, ceremonies, religious traditions, and who’s paying for what.

Stepping in to pour oil on troubled waters are wedding planning mediators who help couples and family members resolve thorny issues to prevent nuptial arguments from leading to divorce court.

(Thanks to my friend Bill Warters for kindly alerting me to this story.)

Technorati tags: conflict resolution, mediation

Stephanie West Allen, who publishes the blog Idealawg, sent me this article which attributes an increase in professional civility among lawyers to the use of mediation and arbitration to resolve disputes.

(Thanks, Stephanie, for the link.)

Blawg Review, for those who haven’t discovered this weekly review of the best in law blogging, is a worthwhile read for anyone interested in keeping abreast of the latest legal issues and news, and that includes us alternative dispute resolution professionals. It’s always informative, not to mention entertaining (as you’ll see from Blawg Review #56, which bears the spicy title, “Blawg Review #56: Sex, Virtual Weddings, and Baseball”).

Since the host changes each week, so does the perspective and the theme, and it’s not only attorneys who take turns hosting it but also poets, mediators (yours truly), dead presidents, goddesses, and law students. Blawg Review #58, this week’s edition, is hosted by blawgfather Kevin Heller, one of Blawg Review’s founders.

The anonymous and dedicated editors of Blawg Review are cooking up something special for Memorial Day, so if you’ve got some good stuff you’d like to submit, send it here.

Be a good listener. Your ears will never get you in trouble.

~ Frank Tyger

Technorati tags: mediation, mediation quotes