Torch brings people together to learn from one another. The Torch Network in Zoom will extend this experience across clubs and communities, connecting local gatherings with distant guests and making selected conversations available to a wider audience.
C&R Interactive and Saratoga Torch Club have been exploring for the last year how Zoom and artificial intelligence can enrich Torch meetings and increase its contributions to the community. President Gerald Stulc’s presentation at June’s International Torch convention has sparked a discussion about developing a national Zoom network.
A New Space for Conversations
The idea begins with something familiar: people gathering to exchange ideas. Some might meet in a member’s living room, sharing refreshments before the program. Others could join through Zoom, bringing a question, a different perspective or knowledge from another part of the country.
A hybrid gathering could welcome a historian, scientist, author, artist or civic leader who would otherwise be unable to attend. It could also connect Torch members who rarely have an opportunity to meet. Local clubs would retain their own programs and traditions while gaining another way to participate.
The network would be a companion to Torch’s existing gatherings, with room for both informal fellowship and substantive discussion.
To Start: Proposing Two Conversations
Proposed for Wednesday, January 25 in the lead up to the
College Football National Championship
We propose in this conversation to bring together widely divergent perspectives from two top experts on college athletics:
Ronald A. Smith, Penn State University professor emeritus and author of a book to be published by Cornell University Press on the evolution of athletes’ rights
R. Scott Kretchmar, a leading voice in sport philosophy, known for shaping how scholars and practioners think about ethics, games, and play.
Drawing from they arguments they made in Debating the Pros and Cons of NIL in the fall issue of The Torch, we’ll explore how college sports should be governed in the public interest.
Proposed for February
In this proposed conversation, we’ll invite Torch member Eric Davis to revisit his 2020 Paxton Award-winning presentation, “The Rapid Adoption of Artificial Intelligence: How AI Is Changing Society and Culture.”
We’ll explore what he anticipated, what has surprised us, and what AI’s rapid advance means for work, inequality, politics, warfare and culture. Participants could read his article beforehand and bring their questions to the discussion.
From Conversation to Lasting Resource
A worthwhile discussion often contains more than anyone can absorb in a single sitting. Recording and publishing selected conversations would let members return to an idea, share it with a friend or contribute after the meeting.
The proposed process is straightforward:
Choose a worthwhile question and knowledgeable guests.
Share useful background before the conversation.
Welcome questions from both the room and Zoom.
Prepare an approved replay and a concise, fact-checked written account.
Publish through the relevant channel and invite further discussion.
Smartacus, our AI assistant, can help with research, preparation, transcription-based drafting and editing. People remain responsible for the questions, the accuracy of the work and the decision to publish.