In preparation for last May’s Mediation Pedagogy Conference at Harvard Law School, NP@PON produced a video of an actual landlord-tenant small claims mediation – from start to finish, including side-bar conversations. It is rare that actual (as opposed to staged or acted) mediations are available for instructional purposes. The mediator in this case is Charles Doran, Executive Director of Mediation Works, Inc. (MWI) in Massachusetts. Conference participants watched the 25-minute version of the video. Then, several well-known mediation instructors from the fields of law, international relations, and public policy demonstrated how they would use the video to draw lessons for their students.
Three versions of the live mediation are available for purchase. The edited 25-minute version used at the conference is available to download for $100 or on DVD for $150. The full 90-minute version can be purchased for download for $200 or on DVD for $250. The Program on Negotiation Clearinghouse also offers mediation instructors an opportunity to create a custom-made version of the video to meet their teaching needs. To order the custom-edited video, contact the PON Clearinghouse (chouse@law.harvard.edu). You will be provided with an on-line look at the full-length (unedited) video and an “edit decision list” spreadsheet asking you to choose the exact sections that you want to include in your version of the mediation video. You can then download your edited video file or request it as a DVD (turn around time is about one week). Reelife Productions‘ award winning editor, Tom Adams, will answer any technical or logistical questions you may have along the way. The price for the custom-edited version of the live mediation video is $150 plus the cost of editing. The final price depends on the extent of the editing that needs to occur.
This article originally appeared in the Winter 2010 issue of “Teaching Negotiation”, a bi-annual e-newsletter from NP@PON, available here.