{"id":2,"date":"2013-10-15T01:59:22","date_gmt":"2013-10-15T08:59:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/etec522makerspaces2013\/?page_id=2"},"modified":"2013-11-09T15:21:09","modified_gmt":"2013-11-09T22:21:09","slug":"sample-page","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/etec522makerspaces2013\/samples-of-makerspaces\/sample-page\/","title":{"rendered":"War Rooms"},"content":{"rendered":"

A new type of makerspace<\/h3>\n

War rooms are a different example of a makerspace. War rooms can be used in both corporate and educational settings.<\/p>\n

What are war rooms and why use them?\"\"<\/a><\/span><\/h3>\n

According to Wikipedia, a war room is any place that is used to provide centralized command for some purpose. Historically the term war room has been associated with military operations however the term can also be used in political, business and educational scenarios. In a political sense, the term “war room” is also often used to refer to teams of communications people who monitor and listen to the media and the public, respond to inquiries, and synthesize opinions to determine the best course of action.<\/p>\n

A war room approach is well suited to industries and educational settings where coordinating teams and resources is critical. More recently war rooms are growing in popularity for defining business strategies, driving business initiatives, trouble-shooting solutions to critical issues and fast-tracking team activities to meet highly compressed schedules.<\/p>\n

What do war rooms have to do with education?<\/span><\/h3>\n

War rooms are highly relevant to educational settings and can be used in a number of ways. Here are a few specific examples:<\/p>\n

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  • In corporate training war rooms can be an effective means to brainstorm software courseware development issues as these collaborative spaces frequently include a courseware developer, a subject matter expert (instructor or developer), the IT project manager, and sometimes even a participant from the sales arm of the organization.<\/li>\n
  • War rooms are a highly effective way for groups to brainstorm certification exam questions.<\/li>\n
  • Post-secondary departments can utilize war rooms to debate and finalize class curriculums.<\/li>\n
  • War room approaches can be used to sequester educational colleagues in order to provide intense program capstone experiences.The Graduate Liberal Studies Program at Simon Fraser University offers such an opportunity with their annual Bowen Island Weekend Retreat Capstone where graduate students present final projects and reflect together on their collective and personal experiences over the course of their program.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    What does a successful corporate war room look like?<\/span><\/h3>\n

    One of the best ways to envision a corporate war room is to peek at an example.<\/p>\n

    Matrix Group<\/span><\/h4>\n

    The Matrix Group International is an Arlington, Virginia-based full-service web solution provider. They offer design and development, integration and as well as hosting solutions.<\/p>\n

    According to their Website:
    \n\u201cMatrix Group International is a leading interactive agency in the Washington, D.C. area serving associations and non-profits. Using state of the art Web technologies, we help clients promote their organizations to different audiences, raise awareness of their issues, manage complex databases of people and knowledge, increase sales of products and services, and streamline internal business processes.\u201d<\/p>\n

    Matrix Group works with over 130 organizations nationally.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Take a few minutes and watch this short video where a Matrix project team discusses their experience using war rooms.<\/p>\n