Well, if you visited this blog, you know that I like reading and writing.
Actually, I published yesterday and today two short multilingual stories (Everybody knows… and Not just writing…) in my “virtual village”, as I call my profile inside Draugiem.lv 
What links the title to those two articles?
If you want to skip to the solution, this is the link
If you want to understand the background, keep reading
I am learning Dutch (almost with no talking- just reading writing and listening; funny, isn’t it? but that’s worth another story!).
And in July, after passing my first exam, I decided to share my learning experience by writing a gaming format (I registered it in the USA with the WGA registry), that goes as follows: a story a week for twenty weeks, 10 verbs for each story, in Dutch and English.
So far, 9 stories (plus the introduction) have been published.
Last month I added in my “virtual village” the “GoogleTranslate-ready” multilingual experiment, that is much simpler.
The story: I used to write once in a while my d-gramata (the diary entries) in English and other languages.
As long ago I was able to speak (but not write) Latvian, I had occasional complaints that I write too much.
And that I should write in, say, Latvian and Russian 
Therefore, I played with “globish” (a simplified English). Then, I tried GoogleTranslate- far from perfect, but often above the A2 level
From August, each story published in my d-gramata is written in simplified English, and then I check if the Italian translation is close to what I meant.
That being the case, I ask also the translation in Latvian and Russian, and publish the 4-languages blog post online.
Studying Russian- a 30 year old project that once in a while comes back.
Also because, since the accession of the former COMECON countries, I hear more and more often Russian between the over-30 in Brussels.
And I read somewhere that up to 30/40% of the vocabulary of Slavic languages is shared- therefore, I could then “cheat” as some Eastern European friends that claim to speak five languages… only Slavic ones
Result? More people actually posting comments and sending messages- and more readers.
Because I try to write something that survive translation.
If you browse around this blog, you will see long articles.
Because I really used this blog to share experience and analysis with my network- and visitors.
Sometimes, I wrote articles that discuss subjects that are a little bit controversial (like: the side-effect of new technologies or policy choices),.
But, this being a public place, nobody can say that I hide my view- or that I share my views only with people from outside Europe
Wherever you are, if you are able to survive my prose, probably you can save few pennies in consulting fees- or avoid reinventing (organizational) wheels.
Not because I am smarter- but just because I like to share experience and research.
To simplify: I am boring real-politik loyalist with a leftist political inclination. If you want to know more about me, search the blog, or visit my e-business card.
But what about the Asynchronous Guided Brainstorming?
Frankly, I started using the word brainstorming probably no more than a fifteen years ago- before, I used other ways to describe my favorite business approach.
First, I identify the reason for the brainstorming.
Then, the audience of its results and who “must” be part of the brainstorming team (yes, it is a political choice).
Finally, I carry out all the needed research, and see what could be a summary reference material to distribute before, during, or after the brainstorming.
And when the brainstorming begins… I am just an open-minded facilitator, guided by the reason for the brainstorming.
With a basic rule: what is said in the brainstorming, unless otherwise grudgingly agreed to, stays in the brainstorming.
Starting from September 7th, I will move from publishing articles with my view, to adopting an approach closer to the one that I experimented with “The Language Game” and the “GoogleTranslate-Ready” test.
(If you skipped the introduction, this is the right time to feel guilty
I am just joking- keep reading, you can skip the introduction!
ok, if you want you can go back to the introduction)
It goes this way.
I like writing. And I like reading.
And I believe that the former cannot exist without the latter.
Since February 2009, when this crazy blog started, I never published an article, also when I was reporting just my experience, without first checking what I wrote vs my (physical and virtual) library.
Search for the series GMN2009, and you will see here and there links and references to books.
From Tomorrow, every week I will publish each week from one to three articles “tagged”, as part of the AGB2009 series.
Each week I will first publish the “abstract” (300-500 words), or theme of the article, along with a bibliography, either links to online articles or books from my library that I suggest as a reference.
The following week, the “abstracts” of the previous week will be completed with a link to a mindmap or other structured outline; the article will receive a new tag “AGB2009MAP.
Thereafter, depending on the length and content, the article could appear here- or somewhere else; adding another tag: AGB2009SUMMARY.
Why this three-staged approach: because I like dissenting opinions (that’s what brainstorming is all about- thinking outside the box).
And, instead of passive readers, I prefer active, engaged readers, who might derive a completely different set of ideas from the same “abstract” and bibliography.
Or could simply use the same outline to develop completely new conclusions.
Incidentally: and this is probably a shared result of my learning about theatre from the inside- look at something online (the blog is bilingual, English and Italian).
If you are really lazy… get ready: over the last nine months (from September 2008) I prepared a set of mental outlines of whatever I was reading and using as a reference for my online publications.
Therefore, from October I will start publishing the “abstract” and “reviews” of books and magazine articles online.
The purpose of all this? I am tired of reading books and articles written by people who believe that their own opinion on facts is more important than sharing the facts underlining their opinion.
And, often, if you dig a little bit, you see why they do not share the references- because they “lift and twist” numbers and factoids that could fit their theory.
In the XXI century, online publications should share their sources, to let the reader be the judge.
If readers will trust their judgment, and eventually assume that what they report and present as “fact” is based not just on a whim, but on sound analysis.
Otherwise- online publishing will go the way printed publishing is going, replaced by a chaotic mix of shouts, where reality is mixed to fiction, and reporting sometimes uses as sources unreliable spin-factories.
But more about these concepts will be in future articles.
With sources and examples, of course: I have to walk the talk 
Have a nice week!
Tags: AGB2009, AGB2009MAP, AGB2009SUMMARY