NCDD’s Events
NCDD runs highly participatory events which bring together practitioners, scholars, public leaders, trainers, artists, activists and students from across this critically important field. A total of over 2,000 people, from 20 countries, have attended our four national conferences (2002, 2004, 2006 and 2008) and 5 regional events (Austin, Boston, Portland, Denver, and the San Francisco Bay Area, all in fall 2010).
In addition to running our own national and regional events, NCDD inspired our members in Canada to form the Canadian Community for Dialogue & Deliberation, which holds biennial Canadian conferences. In order to help advance the rapidly-growing dialogue and deliberation community, we also regularly lend our support to events and projects run by NCDD member organizations.
2010 NCDD Regional Events
Adjusting to our members’ call for more opportunities for regional networking and collaboration (as well as their tight budgets!), NCDD held successful regional events in Denver (October 22), the San Francisco Bay Area (October 29), Boston (October 29), Austin (November 5) and Portland (November 13) rather than holding a 2010 national conference. A total of over 700 people attended our regional events! Learn more here.
Reviews so far have been great, with people saying things like “the people and conversations here have been amazing!” (Boston), “it reenergizes me to get together with people passionate about this work” (Denver), and “I was totally impressed with the commitment and capabilities of these NCDD professionals and government administrators” (Bay Area).
We also plan to hold a follow-up event in Washington DC in early 2011, focusing on lessons learned at the fall events and next steps for NCDD.
The following All-Star Sponsors joined with NCDD to support all of the regional events: Active Voice, AmericaSpeaks, the Citizens in Charge Foundation, Democrasoft, Everyday Democracy, the National Conference of State Legislatures, Public Agenda, PMLINK 360, the Public Conversations Project, the University of Mass. Boston’s Office of Public Collaboration (MODR), and the U.S. Trainers’ Consortium (USTC). Each event also has its own regional sponsors and partners.
2008 National Conference on Dialogue & Deliberation
The 2008 NCDD conference brought together nearly 450 people in Austin, Texas October 3-5, 2008. You can still…
- learn more about the Austin conference or flip through the conference guidebook
- read about the 5 challenges we focused on at the conference
- watch videos from the conference (including the gorgeous photo journal played during the closing session)
- learn about the amazing people and the wonderful supporters who made the conference possible
- view photos from the conference (including lots of images of the graphic recordings created at the conference)
2006 National Conference on Dialogue & Deliberation
The third NCDD conference brought together 375 people in downtown San Francisco, California in August 2006. Download the 2006 conference guidebook to see descriptions of all the plenary sessions and workshops that were held during the conference, details about the speakers, presenters and artists who joined us for the weekend and a complete listing of everyone who made the conference possible.
You can also visit the main 2006 NCDD Conference page to learn more than you’d ever care to know about our third conference. There, you’ll find links to over 550 photos taken by conference participants, videos captured at the conference, and more.
2004 National Conference on Dialogue & Deliberation
Our second NCDD conference took place in Denver, Colorado October 23-25, 2004, followed by trainings on Tuesday, October 26th. The conference took place on the campus of Regis University, with support from the Regis-based Institute on the Common Good.
Over 300 people came together for NCDD 2004. Read the 2004 Conference Report for details on what transpired, what was accomplished, and what’s next. You can also download the 2004 Conference Guidebook, which includes a complete schedule of events, lists all the conference sessions, workshops and post-conference trainings, along with information about the location and arts programming at the conference. You are also welcome to look over the results of the online needs assessment we conducted before the 2004 conference, and the summary of the highly-rated Playback Theatre session at the conference.
2002 National Conference on Dialogue & Deliberation
The first-ever National Conference on Dialogue & Deliberation took place in Alexandria, Virginia October 4-6, 2002, with pre-conference activities on Thursday, October 3rd. The conference was held at the Radisson Alexandria, just south of Washington, DC.
The 28-page 2002 Conference Report includes a letter from the conference director outlining what worked and what could be improved, a list of who made the conference happen, a listing of all workshops offered at the conference, a description of the three plenary sessions and their outcomes, descriptions of the 12 “next steps groups” that formed at the conference, and a detailed look at whether we met our initial goals. In addition to the conference report, you are welcome to look over the results of evaluations on the 2002 conference and the results of the online needs assessment we conducted to find out what people might want out of a national conference on D&D.
Get Involved with Our Events!
If you’re interested in attending, exhibiting, co-sponsoring, or just staying informed as we plan future events, email NCDD’s Office Manager, Joy Garman at and let her know. Our events are planned collaboratively by people with all levels of experience in dialogue & deliberation, and the planning teams are open to your suggestions and ideas. Email NCDD director Sandy Heierbacher at with any ideas you may have. We look forward to hearing from you!
Follow these links to learn more about our conferences…
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