I applaud Giuseppe Leone's work, developing Virtual Mediation Lab, in Hawaii. It is a great resource for mediators (of all kinds, as applied to all settings) and I have been keeping an eye on it for quite awhile. Recently, they started publishing their data and it's pretty impressive! As a long time "distance mediator," I have used iChat (alas, it is no more!) and more recently, Skype, for distance mediation and co-parenting. I preferred iChat because it could be encrypted and that always puts a smile on my cautious little face! However, since iChat has gone the way of the dodo bird, Skype is the platform of choice for precisely the reasons Mr. Leone describes: it is easy to use and it is inexpensive. I understand people's reluctance to use these tools. It is always weird to be able to see yourself and hear yourself on video- but I guess I have gotten used to it- and really find it amazingly useful, even if the parties do not live far away from me or from each other. Sometimes, people cannot compose themselves well if they are both sitting together in my office. In those cases, I will have one party with me in the office and the other "virtually present" on the computer, via Skype. Thank you, Mr. Leone, for this wonderful resource, Virtual Mediation Lab! Ciao... :)
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