**The L20 Manifesto: ** Don\'t just read it, write it! 

# L20 is a conversation.

# Don’t try to put the conversation in a box.

# Conversations do not occur in boxes.

# Conversations are organic. They go where they go. They grow where they grow.

# The further a conversation goes the better. The wider it grows the better.

# Go where the conversation goes or you will cease to be a part of it.

# No one controls the conversation.

# If you try to control the conversation, it will affect how others perceive you in spite of anything or everything else you are doing.

# If you try to control the conversation, you will lose credibility (at best).

# Credibility is the coin of the web 2.0 realm.

# If you try to control the conversation, you will ignite and draw peoples’ anger or ridicule or both (if you’re lucky).

# Your response to anger and ridicule can be a part of the conversation or separate from it, in which case it is simply prologue to your epitaph.

# If you try to control the conversation you will be ignored as irrelevant (at worst).

# Irrelevance is worse than death. People say nice things about the dead, but the irrelevant are seldom mentioned.

# Anyone can participate in the conversation.

# We add value by participating in the conversation.

# It is the quality of our participation, not the quantity, that determines how much value we bring to the conversation.

# We extract value by listening to the conversation.

# The best listeners extract the most value.

# The organization that listens best extracts the most value.

# Organizations can’t just listen... They must participate.

# ALL feedback is good.

# Conversations flourish when ALL feedback is seen as good.

# All feedback is useful.

# Conversations flourish when ALL feedback is seen as useful.

# The appropriate response to feedback is to say thank you.

# Find another way to say thank you.

# Repeat.

# Now offer a thoughtful response to feedback.

# Congratulations, we are now having a conversation. (end of original manifesto)

# Conversations flourish when participants use a human voice.

# Organizations need to learn to speak in a human voice.

# To speak in a human voice, organizations need to share the concerns of their communities.

# Corporations can play too, but had better understand the conversation.

# We can tell corporate speak and PR mumbo jumbo a mile away.

# Let's talk and learn from each other.

# Random, anonymous, ad hominem comments are not the same as feedback, and bring no value to a conversation.

(For backstory on the genesis of the L20 Manifesto, see: http://librarygarden.blogspot.com/2006/05/thoughts-on-ala-bootcamp-l20-manifesto.html