Getting Started
Welcome to Project ICONS! There are three important steps to the simulation
process in which you will be participating. Once you have received your country-team
assignment from your instructor, you are ready to begin.
Phase 1: Research Preparation
The first phase of the exercise involves familiarizing yourself with the policies and
perspectives of the nation you will represent in the simulation. The first thing to do is
to read the simulation scenario, which is available by clicking on Current
Simulations. (Your instructor can tell you which particular ICONS simulation you will
be participating in.) The scenario document lists the countries that will be participating
in your simulation and outlines the main issues to be negotiated. You will then want to
begin your independent research. The ICONS Research Library
provides a number of useful links to help you learn about your assigned country and the
issues that you will be negotiating in the simulation. Under Participant
Resources, you will find several links of particular interest at this phase of the
simulation exercise: information on how to best use the Web for your research purposes, a
description of the ICONSnet software that you will use to communicate
with other teams during the negotiations, and a sample "position paper" outline.
In consultation with your course instructor, your team should be working to prepare a
similar policy statement as the byproduct of this research preparation phase.
Phase 2: On-line Negotiations
The next step in the ICONS process begins when the negotiation simulation actually
commences. On the first scheduled day of the simulation, you will want to send
"opening messages" to the other countries participating in your exercise. To do
this, you will need to click on Simulation Community (under Current
Simulations) and enter your country-team name and your team password — this you
will need to get from your instructor. For security purposes, it is a good idea for you
and your teammates to change your password at the start of the exercise, but make sure
that everyone on your teams knows what you have changed it to. If you need help using the ICONSnet
software to send and receive messages, search archives, etc., click on the ICONSnet
help button.
Diplomatic Exchanges: During the simulation, each country-team is expected to
exchange messages on the simulation issues on a daily basis. These may be statements
of policy, proposals to address the international problems being negotiated, or responses
to the other teams' messages. Keeping up with reading and sending messages is
crucial to the success of the negotiations! In your communications, please stay in
role at all times — do not reveal your individual or institutional identity. If you
have questions, complaints, etc. — send a message to SIMCON (simulation coordinator)
inside your ICONSnet community.
Real-Time Conferences: In addition, on-line conferences will be scheduled for
each of the issue-areas upon which your negotiations will focus. The dates and times of
these conferences will be sent to each team by SIMCON, as well as posted on the ICONS web
site under Current Simulations. Conference times are calculated
in Greenwich Mean Time. To figure out your institution’s relationship to GMT, click
on "Greenwich Mean Time Information" from the Participant Resources
section. Make sure that multiple representatives from your team actively prepare for and
represent your nation’s perspectives at each conference.
Phase 3: Debriefing
When the negotiations are finished, your instructor will have the opportunity to enter
into the third and final phase of the simulation process with you: the debriefing. At this
point, you should reflect on what you learned from these simulated international
negotiations. What were your frustrations? Your accomplishments? What role did technology
play in the process? What team dynamics did you observe? To what extent did the simulation
experience complement your theoretical study in the class? At this point, the negotiation
archives for your exercise will be opened up, allowing you to see all messages sent during
the negotiations, even those that were not sent to your team!
We at Project ICONS welcome your participation and hope that you will learn from your
brief experience as international negotiators! |
