Thursday's Reading: I'm not purposefully a gatekeeper.

But it is inevitable that as a new member of the new media, that I will act as one. Why? Because I have to decide what I trust, what interests me, and what I think will be useful to this topic. It is impractical to expect me to speak about every Web site, book, resource I stumble upon that is relevant to the topic of intercultural and international business and communication.

Some people who love Polka music may be very upset that there aren't any Polka radio stations in most markets. But is this really because the media wants to keep Polka music from the public, or because they realise only a small segment of the population will want to hear this type of music?

The same thing happens with the Internet. While most topics can be discovered, some have a wealth of information and other topics have very little coverage. This is because more people are interested in certain topics than others. And those people, usually without even realising, are gatekeepers to the knowledge that can readily be found in cyberspace.

Although not everything can be found on this site, and it is highly supporting sales of the series of books known as "Kiss, Bow, or Shake Hands", www.getcustoms.com is a great resource that serves as a starting point to very specific differences of hand gestures, and simple things that we do without realising that may be offensive elsewhere. The book has been a best seller and is trusted by many, many people who conduct business in other cultures. It has served me well, so I think this site is a wonderful resource for my topic of choice. Even if only some of the information is available here, only some of the information is available anywhere.

Wednesday's Reading: Shameless Promotion/Popularity

At the bottom of this page you'll find a number of news sites or blogs that address topics to the one I address on this page. I really tried to pick some that I think address my topic of international and intercultural business and learning differences to avoid problems or embarrassment.



I did this on purpose, because I've found in the past, that with the exemption of technology blogs most author's blogrolls have no thought behind "what do my readers probably want to be directed to" as much as, "I know the guy/girl that writes this other blog and I think they are cool/funny/smart." That's great, but it's more helpful on social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace than on blogs where readers are more likely seeking information.



This repeated challenge I've found with blogrolls is one reason why I often ignore them. Of course, I do have the list of colleagues who blog, but seeing as how we all are studying the same topic, it's still on topic in my opinion.



Speaking of topics, I think today's AWESOME site endorsement, should go to a site recommended by my peer in response to a different post: www.sideroad.com/cross_cultural_communication/index.htm. This site is plethora of links to the many different aspects of cross cultural business, and it goes well beyond etiquette and customs. I think it is an excellent place to start building a foundation of understanding, and is reputable as well. Thanks for the recommendation!



This site on the other hand, http://www.intercultural-training.co.uk/ is a bit less reliable. It offers some advice, but the site is set up more as an advertising site than a place that offers information. It reminds me of sites that offer "weight loss" advice but are really only in the business of selling herbal supplements.

Monday reading; differences in opinion.

Sometimes going on the Internet can be like walking into a library that has 1000's of floors, no card catalog and no distinguishing guidance between the "fiction" and "nonfiction" sections. While the Internet has allowed everyone to have access to information that the traditional mass media may have filtered in the past, it also causes problems with determining what is trustworthy. Especially when it comes to travel. I mean who do you trust? Who really KNOWS what the cultural differences are, and who is going on stereotypes and biases? For example, after a week with a friend in Paris, I felt that the hospitality and warmth the people had so graciously offered had bucked the stereotypes that they were rude. My friend, on the other hand, shockingly revealed on the last day that she didn't like the French and that theory was based on her husband's experience without her a year before and the advice he offered before the trip. So you have to take into account that many people are going to go to the tried and true mass media sites. Including me, but I'll compare what I find there to personalised opinions on a number of more personalised, if less factual sometimes, to what the mass media tells me.

Here's a great site I find helpful when traveling in Europe to understand both positive and negative aspects of different cultures. This guy has his own TV show, his own travel books, and most importantly to me - he spends half of every year there:
www.ricksteves.com

This site is a resource for people traveling to different cultures, but I don't find it overwhelmingly helpful because they often require payment. It seems more of a site that I might question sheerly because of the cost, and the gatekeeping of the info:
www.interculturalu.com