Flash back to about a month ago, I was at Harvard Macy 2015 January session, and my last project group meeting had just concluded. Everyone began to pack their stuff and got up. We the scholars had one more day to go, but we were aware that some of the facilitators would have to leave that evening and would not be able to stay for the last day.
We said it in many different variations, but "Keep in touch" was basically what everyone of us said to each other. Email seemed to be the best way - doing 6-way email shouldn't be that hard.
Then we proceeded to have the closing dinner, and I looked at all the people in the room and tried to think of a way that would keep everyone in the course connected. Emailing could be a way to do it, though it clearly would be limited to one-way communication most of the time. If only there was something that could allow real-time communication without bogging down the process.
And then it struck me - Twitter!
The morning after, I asked Liz for a chance to announce it, and she did not hesitate to comply. Despite the short notice, I was still lucky enough to find two other co-hosts - @lisanashdo & @nancyeadams.
"Thanks everyone, good night #hmichat" The last tweet appears on the live feed. I close my laptop, all fired up to get back to work on my project after getting all the encouraging words from my fellow Macy scholars.
That’s when I make promise to myself, "I'm going to return next year as faculty and push for twitter chat to happen at Macy 2016 so everyone can be a part of this awesome experience."
Atipong Pathanasethpong, MD, MS
