The ADRenaline: Energizing the online ADR discourse among students

 


From the left; Valentine Kasidhi, Miracle Mudeyi, and Teddy Odira



Introduction

With Dr. Wilfred Mutubwa as a chief editor, Teddy Odira, Miracle Mudeyi (2022 C.B. Madan student awardees), and Valentine Kasidhi as editors, this blog will be one of the best (if not the best) ADR blogs. Our goal is to ensure that the blog is locally and internationally acclaimed. The intended blog will be the go-to place for quality, quick-to-read, and exciting content on ADR.

The editors are a dedicated team of law students whose mission in this project is to provide nothing but the best ADR articles. This ADR blog post platform will offer opportunities to ADR practitioners, scholars, and students in the field to write short and reflective blog pieces and interact on various topics within the realm of ADR. It will also give a chance to CIArb partners to contribute and share their views on emerging issues in ADR. 

We chose "The Adrenaline" as the name of our blog since our main aim is to stir and inspire the online ADR discourse, especially among students. The primary function of the adrenaline hormone is to trigger the fight-or-flight response in our body, thus increasing metabolism. Similarly, the Adrenaline blog seeks to improve lively online discussions and debates in Alternative Dispute Resolution, especially among students and ADR practitioners.

Special thanks go to CIArb Kenya Branch for their unwavering support and innovation towards the initiation of this project. It is in their headquarters where the project was conceived and developed. Special gratitude goes to the Chairman of CIArb Kenya Branch, Dr. Willy Mutubwa, for his guidance and wisdom in creating the ADRenaline; the blog is a direct product of his vision towards growing ADR practice and knowledge among students. It is crucial to note that the ADRenaline blog does not replace the CIArb journal; the blog seeks to complement the Alternative Dispute Resolution Journal through short, exciting, educative, and informative articles. In other words, the ADRenaline blog seeks to liven the online discussion on the practice and evolution of alternative dispute resolution mechanisms in Kenya and the world. 
 

Objectives

Our main objective will be to provide quality, interactive, and easy-to-read blogs. The blog will be an academic forum for ADR practitioners and students where they will discuss emerging issues in the field of ADR.

Another objective of the blog is to act as a marketing tool for the activities of the CIArb-Kenya branch. The target audience can get up-to-date news on past, recent, and future CIArb events through the blog. The blog will also provide a link to the CIArb website.

 

Publication

We understand that the first few months will be crucial to the development of the blog. This is why we will organize a team of 10 good consistent writers that will write on premeditated topics (Editors will be part of this team.) We will schedule a physical meeting with these writers and maintain contact with them through a WhatsApp group. The pool of writers will definitely increase as the blog grows. The idea is to provide three to five ADR blogs every fortnight. These articles will also feature in the CIArb newsletter. Each contribution will be at most words. This will make these contributions easy to edit and, most importantly, read.

 The main aim of the editorial team is to ensure the publications are engaging, informative, and educative.

There are two questions that we asked ourselves;

i. What will happen when we get more than five quality articles in a fortnight?

ii. What happens in weeks that we will not get articles?

We will continue publishing three to five articles every fortnight. The remaining articles will be in our bank for the next publication day. On weeks that we receive fewer articles, the editors will be obliged to add their contributions as we advertise and encourage more people to contribute.

After we find our footing, we can start a podcast and an audio-visual section that will feature authors and ADR practitioners explaining their articles and the legal phenomena in the ADR field. This has been done by websites such as the Elephant and the Oxford Human Rights Hub.

 

Marketing

What is the use of a quality article that needs to be discovered? This department will be as important as any other. We will use a four-pronged approach to make the blog vibrant.

i. Enhancing the visibility of blog activities on social media, among other ubiquitous innovations.

ii. Adoption of the partnership value-add model in institutional interactions. This will include having our banners at ADR events. 

iii. Call for contributions in different institutions. This will include all Universities and relevant ADR institutions. This can be facilitated by requesting CIArb-Kenya International partners to contribute.

iv. Approaching renowned writers and asking them to partner with us.

 

Blog outline

Some of the key features should be the login and logout features. Those logged in will be part of our email list and receive emails every time we publish. However, this doesn't mean our blogs will not be public. The inspiration for the design will be drawn from Afronomics law, the Elephant, the Oxford Human Rights Hub, and Manchester United News Blog. Every blog post will have a relevant photo attached to it.

A passport-sized photo of the Authors, a short bio (not more than two sentences), and a date of publication should also be included in every blog post. Additionally, there should be a comment section where members can give their views after every post. Lastly, the blog should have working links to our social media platforms. These should include Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Facebook.  

 

Conclusion

Jocelyn K. Glei once said, "To make a great idea a reality, we must act, experiment, fail, adapt, and learn daily." However, taking action is crucial for the success of the ADRENALINE. It will be a learning experience every day, but we are confident that this team can make this dream a reality.


By Teddy Odira, Miracle Mudeyi, and Valentine Kasidhi

 

Location: Nairobi, Kenya

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