Friday, October 3rd, 4:00-5:30 pm

We’ve decided to try something new on the first day of this year’s conference, before the reception – a D&D Marketplace.  We’re really excited about this session, and the associated posters, because we think they provide a way for people to expose their work and their ideas to the majority of conference participants. Here’s how this high-energy session will work…

Conference planners will select people to present during the D&D Marketplace who are passionate about sharing tools, concepts, and success stories. These presenters will strike up conversations with participants who are strolling around the room, perusing the wares. No timers or buzzers are involved.

Presenters may choose to display “posters” during the Marketplace (more on this below), and they will be expected to provide handouts for participants and to be able to succinctly express what’s important for conference participants to know about their resource, method, research, case study, program, etc. and to elaborate and answer any questions people may have.

During the D&D Marketplace, most of the tables will be removed from the ballroom so people have room to move about.  Marketplace presenters will be stationed throughout the room, standing at a cafe-sized table where they can display information and handouts. We will provide every Marketplace presenter with a sign with their topic on it. For those Marketplace presenters who prepare posters, we will also provide tabletop easels if you need them.

During this 90-minute session, conference participants will stroll around the ballroom, looking over posters, picking up resources, and talking with Marketplace presenters – people who want to tell others about a particular tool, concept or case they’re excited about.

About the Posters…

D&D Marketplace presenters are invited to also prepare posters, which will be displayed at their Marketplace table and then moved to a prominent location in or near the main ballroom for the rest of the three-day conference. To display your poster, you can choose to do one of three things:

1. Purchase a tri-fold foam display board like the one here at Staples for $15 and prepare your poster in advance of the conference on the display board. You’ll need to bring the board or ship it to yourself at the hotel so it arrives no later than the morning of October 3rd. These display boards are 36″ tall by 48″ wide.
2. Prepare your poster on posterboard (standard size is 22”x 28”) and bring that with you to the conference. We will provide you with a tabletop easel, but make sure Logistics Coordinator Polly Riddims knows that you will need it ().
3. Prepare the elements of your poster (large titles, graphs, pictures, text, etc.) and bring them with you to the conference – or bring a rolled up completed poster. We will provide a tabletop easel and 22″ x 28″ posterboard for you to paste your elements onto, but you will need to let Polly know you will need those things ().

After the D&D Marketplace, your easel or display board will be placed on a table where you can (and should) also leave handouts, resources and business cards for people to pick up. You may choose to also stand at your poster during high-traffic times such as during breaks and answer questions about your poster.

Posters are a great way to introduce a large percentage of conference participants to your work or your idea. A workshop about a method, resource or program people aren’t familiar with may attract only a few people, while a poster on something new and innovative is likely to be seen by the majority of attendees. Posters are also a great way for those without strong English skills or much presenting experience to share their work in a more comfortable setting.

Your poster may consist of one large sheet of paper, or you can tack up multiple sheets of smaller paper. Your poster should take people through a process, program, concept or story. The type is large and wording is simple, and diagrams and pictures bring the poster to life. People should be able to quickly discern your message and determine whether they need to read more or move on. Although you will be able to walk people through the story/process/concept depicted on your poster during the marketplace and perhaps at other times as well, the poster should be able to clearly present the concept on its own. Your poster should NOT consist mainly of pasted-up pages of small type!

Up to three co-authors can be named for each poster, and up to three people may present the poster during the D&D Marketplace. Everyone presenting a poster must register for the conference.

Are you presenting in the Marketplace?  Here’s what you’ll need to prepare…

• A quick spiel or “elevator speech” about your case, program, tool, etc. that will get people interested in learning more. Practice it until it comes out naturally!  We suggest you prepare several spiels of different lengths (30 seconds, 1 minute, etc.).
• Handouts about your program, tool, case, event, etc. that include further details.  Include your contact information and web address on your handouts, or also provide a stack of your business cards.
• And if you are presenting a poster, you will need to prepare a visually interesting poster.  See specs and suggestions for posters above.

I strongly encourage all of you to watch/record Traces of the Trade next Tuesday (June 24th). It premieres on PBS next week, and I especially encourage anyone who’s joining us in Austin for the 2008 NCDD Conference to watch this film. We’ll have representatives from Traces at the conference — showing the film, working with Eastern Mennonite University’s Coming to the Table program on race dialogue-focused workshops, and helping us connect all we’re learning and experiencing related to race, bias and oppression at workshops and plenary sessions at the conference.

Those of you who attended NCDD 2004 in Denver may remember that our friends at Animating Democracy gave conference participants the opportunity to view the rough cut of the film, and played it again during the Open Space because so many people were talking about it that many who missed out demanded another opportunity to see it.

Supported by Animating Democracy, a program of Americans for the Arts supported by the Ford Foundation, the film follows director Katrina Browne and nine of her relatives as they retrace the voyage and industry of their ancestors—the largest slave-trading family in U.S. history—from the former mansion and wharf in Bristol, RI, to slave forts in Ghana, to former plantations in Cuba. Step by step, the family uncovers the vast extent of Northern complicity in slavery while also stumbling through the minefield of contemporary race relations. In this bicentennial year of the U.S. abolition of the slave trade, Traces of the Trade offers powerful new perspectives on the black/white divide.

Traces of the Trade will be a catalyst for heart-to-heart dialogue, education and action through screenings in communities and classrooms. There are many steps you can take, on your own or with others. For a full list of these types of opportunities, visit www.tracesofthetrade.org/get-involved.

Check your local listings to see when the film will debut in your area. You can also go to www.tracesofthetrade.org to learn more about this amazing film.

In their latest email offering, NCDD members Len and Libby Traubman share the story of University of Pennsylvania sophomore Sam Adelsberg and his work at his school to bring Jewish and Muslim students together…

My freshman year at Penn was marred by controversy between the Jewish and Muslim and Arab communities. Distrust and animosity stood in the way of a provocative dialogue as numerous incidents further exacerbated the already existant isolation between the communities. I could only speak for my own feelings, but I saw many who have since become dear friends as “the other.” A year later, it is not uncommon to see Muslims eating at Hillel or Jews attending MSA events.  What happened? An initiative sparked by some student leaders on both sides attempted to “bridge the gap” that we all saw. Are all barriers broken down? Hardly. Through joint musical performances, joint panels, cultural events and a trip together to help rebuild New Orleans together, student leaders from both communities began to see each other as friends and not as others. Though there were times when it got tense, many beautiful friendships formed. While there is a long way to go, this is an exciting first step as many of these students who participated have tremendous potential to take this even further in the coming years.

Along with Sam’s story, they highlight other examples through articles from UPenn’s student newspaper.

Breaking the Ice via Stereotypes by Alex Melamed
Interfaith organization PRISM debunks common religious slurs in first fall meeting.

Mending Their Ties Through Music by Nandanie Khilall
Jews, Arabs and Muslims seek fresh cultural dialogue.

Religion and Rebuilding down South by Lara Seligman
Jewish and Muslim students come together for spring break trip.

Two Unlikely Groups Join Forces To Host An Event by Lara Seligman
“We are not on the West Bank; we are in West Philadelphia.”

Fielding Graduate University’s fifth graduate level Certificate Program in Dialogue, Deliberation, and Public Engagement is being held this fall (August 15, 2008 through January 15, 2009). I have heard only great things about this program, and I recommend it highly to anyone who wants to earn some credentials in D&D but isn’t quite ready for a doctorate.

This distinctive program focuses on recent innovations in dialogue, deliberation, and public engagement featuring outstanding faculty who have played key roles in developing these approaches. It strives for the development of mastery in our practice of dialogue and deliberation.

Designed and delivered in collaboration with The International Institute for Sustained Dialogue, the Kettering Foundation, and the Public Dialogue Consortium, the program features an outstanding faculty of scholar-practitioners (Hal Saunders, Barnett Pearce, Phil Stewart, Keith Melville, Jan Elliott, John Dedrick, Linda Blong, Kath Fisher). It also features guests in phone dialogues who are widely recognized scholars and innovative practitioners. Previous featured guests have included Carolyn Lukensmeyer, Juanita Brown, Martha McCoy, Bob Stains, Shawn Spano, Frank Barrett, Joe Peters, Janette Hartz-Karp and Jim Fishkin.

Come join us and learn with others from different backgrounds and countries who share your energy and enthusiasm for this work. Learn in two face-to-face workshops, online, and on the phone with world renowned practitioners. To help make it easy for those attending the NCDD conference, the first face-to-face workshop will take place in Austin, Texas immediately after the conference.

Here’s what a few previous participants had to say:

• “The DDPE certificate program is exceptional.”
• “Altogether an outstanding experience.”
• “The Program was extremely valuable.”
• “This program has had, and continues to have, a huge impact on my thinking and the way I do my work.”

For a course outline and to check out other testimonials, see www.fielding.edu/hod/ce/dialog/index.html. You can also check on the website to see when the next informational conference call is being held.

Tuition is US $3490 if you register by the early bird deadline of July 15, 2008. NCDD members’ tuition is only US $3,140 (10% discount). Registrants enrolling after July 15 will be charged US $3,740 ($3,390 for NCDD members). Register at https://www.fielding.edu/forms/ce/ce_registration.htm.

Addendum Added 7/1/08…

Dialogue, Deliberation and Public Engagement
Certificate Program (DDPE)
August 15, 2008 – January 15, 2009
Developing Mastery in Dialogue, Deliberation and Public Engagement

Call for Sponsorship Applications—Deadline:  July 15, 2008

The Institute for Social Innovation at Fielding Graduate University announces $2,500 partial sponsorships for professionals who are interested in improving their practice and beginning a project in the area of dialogue, deliberation, and public engagement.  We are particularly interested in partially sponsoring participants who have the opportunity and interest in supporting dialogic, deliberative and engagement practices in their organizations or communities through projects which have the potential to build civic engagement capacity.

With support from the Kellogg Foundation, we are offering partial sponsorships for our 19 week certificate program which provide participants with the opportunity to develop towards mastery of dialogue and deliberation processes by working with a scholar-practitioner model of reflective practice. An exceptional faculty of scholar-practitioners, who do real world work in diverse contexts and cultures, will support your learning and provide coaching for a culminating capstone project.   This program uses blended learning: two face to face sessions, online, and phone and is available for academic graduate credit.  These sponsorships provide about half of the total cost of the program. (For DDPE info www.fielding.edu/hod/ce/dialog/index.html)

Applicants must have organizational support in the form of commitment to dialogue, deliberation and public engagement.  Applicants with financial support from their organization/community will be given preference.  Applicants can be from any sector of society: non-profit, government, or for-profit.

The review team is accepting applications until July 15, 2008.  If you are interested in submitting an application, please send the following by email to .

1. Two page description of how you intend to use this certificate in your work; a description of a potential project opportunity which would help to build civic engagement capacity using dialogue and deliberation in your organization or community.
2. An email letter of support from your organization with an indication of financial contribution.

For questions, please contact: Dr. Katrina Rogers, Fielding Graduate University at (805) 898-2924 or .

The city of Bilbao will be the scene of an international seminar “Innovation in the Move towards Peaceful Coexistence: New Methods for Conflict Management and Social Dialogue” that will be held between the 21st and 24th of July.

This course provides a framework for learning how to establish productive dialogue and to participate in conversations that promote change, inspire innovation, generate supportive and cooperative coordination and enable us to cope with difficult situations or conflicts, channelling them towards creative solutions. It also aims to help participants recognise and expand existing resources and opportunities for peaceful coexistence. The resources provided change the way in which we establish personal, interpersonal, social and political dialogue, and offer new opportunities for joint activities and the communal building of a new future.

It will be led by high representatives of the field such as Kenneth Gergen, Sallyann Roth, Dora Fried Schnitman, Nelson Molina Valencia, Jorge Sanhueza and others. It has been organised by Gizagune Foundation and the Elkargunea Network for Promoting Peaceful Coexistence in Local Government in collaboration with Fundación Interfas and The Taos Institute.

You can request more information at .

I received Donna Zajonc’s Politics of Hope e-newsletter this morning, and was captivated by Donna’s main article, which is about which parts of the brain are used (and most tellingly, NOT used) when partisans hear negative or contradictory information about the candidates they support. Definite implications for D&D practitioners. Here’s the article…

New brain research is giving us insight in to our political positions and may explain why we have become so politically polarized. Dr. Drew Westen, director of clinical psychology at Emory University, and his colleagues used a MRI brain scan to study a sample of Democrats and Republicans who were strongly committed to their individual candidate.

Democrats and Republicans were asked to evaluate negative information that had been published about their favorite candidate. During the evaluation, participants underwent MRI scans to see what parts of their brains were active. The purpose of the study was to research people who said they strongly identify with their political party (called “partisans”) and evaluate how they respond to contradictory information about their candidate. (more…)

Generated from our “About Us” text using the “word clouds” tool at Wordle (wordle.net)…

On May 20th, Andy and I drove over to Philadelphia to meet with Marv Weisbord and Sandra Janoff – co-founders of the Future Search Network and co-creators of the future search method. For those of you not familiar with it, future search is a great planning method that allows people to discover a set of shared values or themes (common ground) and build new dynamics such as inclusion and collaboration into their organization or community.

Future search is not trademarked and is not owned by anyone (I can’t tell you how much I respect that!) and all are encouraged to use the process and experiment with it. It is an open system process, which means it considers anyone a necessary participant who can affect, is affected by or has important information or experience related to the task at hand.

We had a great visit with Marv and Sandra (pictured), who are super-nice, intelligent, thoughtful people. We visited at Marv’s beautiful house and then had lunch nearby at an Indian restaurant. We learned about the origins of future search and the underlying philosophy of the process.

I left our meeting with a lot more respect for the future search process, and I recommend that everyone involved in change management become familiar with the process. If you want to learn more about future search, here are some things you can do…

• Go to the Future Search Network site
  
• Get trained in future search (they provide great discounts for paid NCDD members!)
• Buy Marv and Sandra’s most recent book, Don’t Just Do Something, Stand There! Ten Principles for Leading Meetings that Matter
• Check out the resources we have in the Learning Exchange on future search

An article about NCDD member Judith Mowry‘s Restorative Listening Project was featured on the front page of Friday’s New York Times. The article by William Yardley, entitled Racial Shift in a Progressive City Spurs Talks, covers how Judith’s Portland, Oregon dialogue project has opened people’s eyes to the pain and hardship caused by the city’s rampant gentrification. Her Restorative Listening Project uses uses dialogue, storytelling and restorative justice to engage the city in race dialogue.

We’ve already posted about the great multimedia coverage Judith got on the Oregonian website. I was impressed with that, but now I’m just floored! Congratulations, Judith!! (Click “more” to see the full article.) (more…)