The internet always astounds me for the richness and diversity of the resources it makes available to anyone with the time and the curiosity to discover them.

Consider my latest web find: Social Innovation Conversations. Its motto proclaims its mission: “reinventing the world together one conversation at a time”.

Described as “an open and collaborative online platform for cross-sector and multidisciplinary learning for social change”, Social Innovation Conversations was launched to achieve an ambitious and inspiring goal:

From the pandemic of AIDS, to challenges posed by climate change, to substance abuse and global poverty, our world is faced with increasingly complex and pressing social and environmental challenges. While knowledge, tools, and technologies to develop innovative solutions exist, channels are still needed to reach the people who could use and apply them to social problems.

Social Innovation Conversations’ mission is to expand the reach of important and valuable knowledge to people who otherwise wouldn’t have access to it by recording and sharing the spoken words of thought leaders in all sectors and disciplines and offering listeners a multi-stakeholder perspective on the world grand challenges and social issues.

Teachers and students of negotiation will want to tune in to a recent podcast: “Myths and Truths About Negotiation“, a lecture by Margaret Neale, Professor at Stanford Graduate School of Business. The five negotiation myths that are in for busting are:

1. Making the first offer is risky
2. Perceptions about dividing the pie
3. Honesty is the best policy
4. Emotions at the negotiation table are your enemy
5. I had no choice so I said yes

There is other knowledge worth exploring at Social Innovation Conversations — as you will discover for yourself.

“A Sound Mind in a Sound Body” is the theme of the latest issue of The Complete Lawyer, an online magazine covering professional development, quality of life, and career issues for attorneys published by Don Hutcheson. It explores ways to reduce stress; a look at nontraditional careers; and the link between mind and body for better quality of life.

The last issue of The Complete Lawyer introduced “The Human Factor“, a column focusing on ADR from the perspective of four attorneys who mediate - me and three talented colleagues, Stephanie West Allen of Idealawg and Brains on Purpose, Gini Nelson of Engaging Conflicts, and Victoria Pynchon of Settle It Now Negotiation Blog.

In our latest Human Factor column, the four of us describe the different paths that led us from law school to the practice of mediation.

Issue #215 of the Mediate.com newsletter is now available.

Highlights include “Ten Questions on Leadership for Hillary Clinton, John McCain and Barack Obama“, “Sincere Opening Statements Bring Best Mediation Results“, and “Film Review: “John Adams” - The Reluctant Revolutionary and the Negotiation of the Declaration of Independence. There’s also a round-up of great blog posts.

To subscribe to the Mediate.com newsletter, go to the Mediate.com web site, scroll down to the subscription widget in the left sidebar, and enter your email address to get the latest news and ideas affecting the ADR field delivered to your inbox weekly.

The latest edition of the Complete Lawyer, an online magazine that examines “best practices in personal and professional development that impact every lawyer’s success and satisfaction”, asks, “Are You a Healthy Lawyer?”

Among the excellent collection of essays that explore this question is an interview with ADR pioneer Leonard Riskin, “How Meditation, Yes Meditation, Can Improve Your Performance And Enhance Your Satisfaction With Work“.

Mediators and negotiators will want to see an earlier edition of the Complete Lawyer, which focuses on “Resolving Conflict“, and includes articles like “How to Master Crucial Conversations” and “The Human Side of Negotiation“.

(My deepest appreciation to my friend Stephanie West Allen, author of the weblog Idealawg, for introducing me to the Complete Lawyer and for so kindly sharing with me Len Riskin’s interview. )

Settle It Now, a web-based dispute resolution journal which launched earlier this year, has issued a call for articles for an upcoming issue. Settle It Now, published quarterly, was founded by Victoria Pynchon, a California-based attorney-mediator and author of a negotiation blog, Settle It Now Blog Spot. The submission deadline is September 15, 2006.

Vickie Pynchon has asked me to share with my readers the following information about Settle It Now and its inaugural issue:

We have a distinguished Advisory Editorial Board and intend to become one of the five top academic journals of note in the fields of alternate dispute resolution and restorative justice practices, as well as the social, cultural, psychological and political study of conflict. We are looking for articles in the fields of mediation, arbitration, restorative justice, international relations, consensus building and peace activism.

Our first volume (see http://www.settlenow.org) is eclectic in subject matter and international in scope. Robert M. Nelson of the Canadian Gowlings law firm contributed an article on the use of alternate dispute resolution programs in post-Communist societies. Robert Dobbins provided an incisive essay on best practices in drafting mediation and arbitration agreements — the commercial litigation “pre-nup.” Kenneth Cloke graciously allowed us to publish a chapter from his new book, The Crossroads of Conflict. The chapter published, “Mediating Evil, War and Terrorism — the Politics of Conflict”, is an unflinching look at the evil we suffer and the evil we do. Troy Anthony Thomas provided us with a fascinating study of the conflict resolution style and substance of Jesus of Nazareth — a much needed investigation given our nation’s present religious polarization on nearly every critical issue from religious study and practice in the schools, to “intelligent design,” gay marriage, and abortion. How would Jesus have resolved these conflicts in modern society? Finally, Editor-in-Chief Victoria Pynchon included her own article on restorative justice practices in the criminal justice system. She reviews the ways in which former offenders can find peace and purpose in post-offender communities in much the same way that recovering alcoholics have pursued healthy and productive lives through the principles and practices of Alcoholics Anonymous.

Upcoming issues will feature other original articles, essays, book reviews, practice updates and transcripts of programs that are of interest to all those involved in conflict resolution, be they students, volunteers, working mediators, arbitrators, ombuds, psychologists, anthropologists, sociologists or artists.

For further information, you can contact Vickie at vpynchon [at] settlenow.com, or view Settle It Now’s submission guidelines.