Texans! Attend the National Conference on Dialogue and Deliberation!!!

Posted September 6th, 2008 by Sancho23

NOTE: This is taken from a recent email notice from the Co-Intelligence Institute, and is regarding an upcoming workshop in which the multitude of dialogue techniques will be examined and brought together. Having Conversations That Matter is what our country needs, and is a sure way for the Revolution to get it's message to a much larger audience than we presently do. . .

Dear friends,

If you have personal or professional experience with conversations that matter, I personally invite you to a full-day (9-5) co-creative working session in Austin, Texas, October 2 at which we will all pool our experience to clarify the underlying dynamics that make powerful conversations work.

This is inspired by the hyper-abundance of process know-how that exists all around us. There are many methodologies -- from Appreciative Inquiry to Dynamic Facilitation, from Consensus Process to Open Space Technology, from Citizen Deliberative Councils to Future Search Conferences, and more -- that have proven power in many circumstances. Each of them has advocates and critics. Each has strengths based on certain assumptions and wisdom.

We want to move together to a place beyond particular methodologies. We want to look back on them from the outside and -- reflecting on our experience convening, facilitating, and/or participating in conversations that worked -- and those that didn't -- to search for deeper understandings of the underlying dynamics at play in such conversations.

Peggy Holman, my co-convenor of this session, realized something important while compiling her landmark 2008 edition of THE CHANGE HANDBOOK, which describes 61 different whole-system conversational processes: We have an overwhelming variety of methodologies and yet only a fragmented sense of universal principles that can guide us in choosing, using, and creatively moving beyond methodologies.

Peggy and I are doing some homework on this, but that's only the beginning. On October 2nd, we'll not only share what we've found, but will transform our session into the first ever participatory effort to co-create a "pattern language" for conversational practice.

What is a pattern language?

Architect/designer Christopher Alexander created the idea of "pattern languages." A pattern (in Alexander's work) is a design element or approach that can help you create really good, workable, life-affirming outcomes. Architects, computer programmers, and academics of all sorts have since been designing pattern languages to clarify best-practice approaches in their particular fields.

In our case here, our pattern language will provide answers to the question: "What do we need to pay attention to if we wish to nurture powerful conversations?" This will include considerations about participants, framing, environment, facilitation, and more. Each of our answers (patterns) will be stated in general terms that allow conversation planners to satisfy it in many different ways.

Examples of patterns (design elements) that support powerful conversations might include:

* Participants feeling truly heard
* A shared interest, concern, situation, or intention
* Participants able to see the whole of what's happening
* A microcosm/cross-section of the whole system or community participating
* A disinterested third party facilitating or 'holding the space"

Notice that there are many ways to satisfy -- and many methodologies that embody -- each one of these "patterns." That is a mark of a good pattern.

For each pattern we develop in our session with you and/or people like you,
* we will explain what problem or undesirable dynamic it addresses,
* we will clarify how it manifests in conversations, and
* we will provide guidance to methodologies and references that deal with that pattern. AND, MOST IMPORTANTLY,
* we will say which other patterns contribute to, are a part of, or are supported by each pattern.

It is this last step that makes this collection of patterns into a pattern LANGUAGE. We expect after our 6-8 hours of work with you (if you choose to participate) to end up with dozens (if not hundreds) of very significant design factors identified, described, and interrelated, which we can then spread to the entire community of practitioners, post on the web, continue to develop (perhaps in a participatory wiki), etc.

THIS WILL BE AN OPEN SOURCE PRODUCT OF THE NATIONAL COALITION FOR DIALOGUE AND DELIBERATION (NCDD). No one will own it. It will be freely available to all to advance the practice of powerful conversations. And you have a chance to co-create this remarkable resource.

If there is sufficient interest -- say, from a dozen or more people -- we MAY be able to set up a participatory website to get a head start on this co-creative activity before October.

In any case, I urge you to sign up for the NCDD conference and join us in Austin in October. The conference, itself, promises to be a remarkable experience, and we plan to make our all-day pre-conference workshop a highlight.

Below I've given you more information about pattern languages, the NCDD conference, and Peggy's and my session.

Blessings on the Journey!

Coheartedly,
Tom

PS: It is not too late to make a donation to our work at

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MORE ON OUR OCTOBER SESSION

The Underlying Dynamics of Conversations that Matter

We live in interesting times. The 21st century is rife with crises and opportunities that have implications for generations to come. How we converse — and the role that conversation plays in our societies — will be key factors in evolving into a sustainable, vibrant world that works for all people and life. What do we, as conversational practitioners, need to understand to contribute to such a future? What are we learning about the dynamics of interactivity and conversation, that can make them more generative and powerful?

Join two of the most well-known thought leaders in our field in an exploration of the underlying dynamics of interactivity and conversation and to weave them together into a “pattern language” — a coherent map of the elements needed for conversation to uplift and transform our lives, organizations, communities, and societies. The session leaders have done work understanding interactivity in an evolutionary context to meet the challenges of our times, and this session will be a collaborative continuation of that work with you.

Registration for this one-day workshop is only $95.
Learning Objectives:

1. Deeper understanding of the underlying dynamics of conversation, its role and significance
2. A new big-picture way to look at our work, which transcends individual practices and methods
3. An experience in co-creative co-sensing into the heart of something important to all of us

Facilitators:

Peggy Holman convenes and hosts conversations that matter, inviting people and systems to gather around the issues most important to them. By growing their capacity to step into mystery using generative processes that call forth the best of who they are and can be, Peggy has been honored to witness organizations and communities unleash the energy and wisdom to move dreams to action. The vastly expanded second edition of her book, The Change Handbook (Berrett-Koehler, 2007), co-edited with Tom Devane and Steven Cady, has been warmly received as an aid to people wishing to increase resilience, agility, collaboration, and aliveness in their organizations and communities. Over the last seven years, Peggy has worked with journalists in redefining journalism for the 21st century. Her current inquiry is into how, as an evolutionary act, we take to scale the gifts that the art and practice of process bring to shifting our collective capacity for living well together.

Tom Atlee is Founder and President of The Co-Intelligence Institute. Awed by the evolutionary challenges and opportunities we face as a civilization, Tom researches and promotes dialogue, deliberation, and other resources for collective intelligence and conscious evolution. After 12+ years exploring what processes and institutions could create a wise democracy, he is now investigating with Peggy Holman how to apply evolutionary understandings to social transformation, and convening strategic conversations of evolutionary agents. He founded The Co-Intelligence Institute in 1996 and wrote The Tao of Democracy in 2003. He lives in Eugene, OR, in a consensus-based co-op household with his partner Karen Mercer and eight other very interesting people.

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MORE ON THE OCTOBER NCDD CONFERENCE

Now is the time to register for NCDD's 4th National Conference on Dialogue & Deliberation in Austin, Texas, October 3-5, 2008. Watch our 5-minute video at http://www.thataway.org/8... to see why you should join us in Austin! Details at http://www.thataway.org/e....

National Conference on Dialogue and Deliberation:
Creating Cultures of Collaboration

October 3-5, 2008
Austin, Texas

http://www.NCDD.org/event...

If you are dedicated to helping people work together to solve problems through honest talk, quality thinking, and collaborative action, the National Conference on Dialogue and Deliberation (NCDD) is one event you won’t want to miss!

This biennial event brings together hundreds of people - facilitators, mediators, trainers, activists, consultants, public leaders, educators, organizational development professionals and others – who believe that better communication is key to addressing the critical issues facing organizations, communities, and society.

At NCDD, you will experience cutting-edge approaches to group process, community building and communication methods. National experts in dialogue and deliberation will share their latest thinking and you will be exposed to numerous practical tools and methodologies that you can use immediately.

This is not your usual “talking heads” conference. Sessions are highly participatory and geared to all levels of expertise. NCDD is a unique opportunity to share resources and strategies, increase your visibility and effectiveness, explore the challenges you face and build lasting relationships. You will leave feeling more motivated, supported and prepared to do this vital work.

The conference will include:

* Dozens of workshops offering best practices and the latest innovations in group processes that elevate the quality of discourse around conflict, improve communication and collaboration, and promote thoughtful problem solving around organizational and societal issues
* Interaction with many of the leading figures in the dialogue and deliberation field – featured speakers include Bill Isaacs, Frances Moore Lappé, Jim Fishkin, Carolyn Lukensmeyer, and David Campt.
* Highly participative plenary sessions that will explore the rich terrain of inter-religious, inter-generational and inter-partisan communication.
* Unique experiences with large-group dialogue and deliberation methods, as well as creative expression through visual and performing arts.

In addition to the three-day conference, there are a number of high-quality pre-conference workshops on October 2nd and a two-day post-conference workshop on using dialogue techniques for the rebuilding of communities recovering from disaster.

NCDD is very reasonably priced and many attendees have commented that these are the “best conferences they’ve ever attended!”

Join us in Austin for the one-of-a-kind
National Conference on Dialogue and Deliberation, Oct. 3 - 5, 2008.

For information on registration rates or details about the conference schedule, visit
http://www.ncdd.org/event...

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