2/14/07 - D&D news and opportunities

[Sandy]

February 2007 Update from T H A T A W A Y. O R G - Home of the National Coalition for Dialogue & Deliberation
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Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!

In addition to sending you headlines from the News & Perspectives blog at www.Thataway.org so you're up-to-date on what's happening in this rapidly-growing field, I wanted to bring your attention to two upcoming, groundbreaking events that NCDD is involved in.

Here are the details...


1. Get involved in the first-ever Conversation Week!

Planned for March 25-31, Conversation Week 2007 will celebrate the power of conversation and the fifth anniversary of Conversation Cafe. By March 5, the planners hope to have over 200 registered hosts who are willing to coordinate a small group discussion in their local community at a convenient time that week. All hosts will receive training in Conversation Cafe, OrangeBands, and various other resources to make their discussion a success.

Conversation Week is being organized by The OrangeBand Initiative, Conversation Cafe, droppingknowledge, and The Co-Intelligence Institute. The goal is broader than only promoting the Conversation Cafe method, and we extend a cordial invitation to the greater NCDD community to get involved as hosts and/or in promoting the opportunity to host. The planners hope this will be a way to introduce many new people to the methods, models, organizations, and people in the NCDD network.

Go to www.ConversationWeek.org to learn more or to sign up to host a conversation, or email Kai Degner at if you have questions.


2. Hope to see you at Nexus for Change - March 22-23

Held at Bowling Green State University in Ohio in March, Nexus for Change promises to be an unprecedented conference bringing together practitioners, researchers, leaders, activists, and educators to advance participative change methods.

The focus of the gathering will be on leveraging the power of over 60 approaches being used to transform whole organizations and communities as they tackle 21st century challenges - the 60+ methods featured in the just-published second edition of The Change Handbook. These approaches are broadly referred to as large-group methods/interventions, whole system change, or large-scale change. What makes them unique are two foundation
assumptions: high involvement and a systemic approach to improvement.

At this conference, we will be working side-by-side to:

- Address critical needs at local and global levels,
- Expand the reach of the methods around the world,
- Design significant field research projects,
- Invent new tools, techniques, and applications,
- Incorporate technology to leverage existing methods,
- Connect with others to form joint ventures,
- Innovate educational programs and courses,
- Craft a common language, and
- Articulate a platform for this body of work.

The NEXUS is an opportunity for us to transcend our individual contributions and achieve something bigger than we ever thought possible. Register today and be part of shaping the future with...

Billie Alban, Emily & Dick Axelrod, Jean Bartunek, Peter Block, Juanita Brown, Barbara Bunker, Tom Devane, Susan Dupre, Merrelyn Emery, David Gershon, Peggy Holman, Cheryl Honey, David Isaacs, Jake Jacobs, Jim Rough, Sylvia James, Sandra Janoff, Stewart Levine, Harrison Owen, Gabriel Shirley, Nancy White, Marvin Weisbord, Diana Whitney, and many many more (including me!).

Go to www.nexusforchange.org to learn more or to register.


3. Headlines from the News & Perspectives Blog

Our group bloggers have added 54 posts since the last update was sent out on January 9th. Go to www.thataway.org to read the posts, and email me at with announcements for the blog. Our website gets thousands of visitors a day, and this update goes out to 10,000 people involved in public engagement, conflict resolution, and organization development - so this is a great way to let people know what you're up to!

- NCDD?’s 2006 Conference on YouTube
- Patty Dineen Proposes Nationwide Effort to Discuss Iraq
- San Francisco Foundation Invites Nominations for Community Leadership Awards
- NVC Retreat Coming Up in CA
- New Website on the Virtual Agora Project
- Save the Date: 2007 Personal Democracy Forum Conference Coming Up in May
- Initiatives of Change Seeking Director of Development
- PCRC Seeking Public Participation Specialist
- WJCF Seeking Mentors for Peer Mediation Invitational
- IWG Receives Grant to Study Public Consultation
- Registration and Sponsorship Open for the 2007 International AI Conference
- SCRC Training Guide for Facilitators Available Online
- Online Workshop on Reporting Deliberation Results Coming Up March 14
- News from AmericaSpeaks
- Appreciative Inquiry Foundations Workshop Coming Up March 12-16
- International Conflict Resolution Conference Coming Up in Russia
- Digital Dialogues Report Available Online
- Muslim Peacebuilding and Dialogue Conference Calls for Papers
- News from the Public Conversations Project
- Harvard Humanism Gala Embraces Dialogue Theme
- Become a Host for Conversation Week Today!
- Climate Change Teach-In with Architecture 2030
- 3rd Annual Raising the Civic Canopy Event
- Red, White & Green Climate Change Grants Available for Youth Projects
- Civic Change Award to Recognize Community-Wide Efforts to Reduce Dropout Rates
- Colin Higgins Foundation Invites Nominations for Youth Courage Awards
- Announcing the Second Edition of the Change Handbook
- Participative Change Conference Coming Up in March
- WJCF Seeking Director of Community Engagement Programs
- Appreciative Inquiry Conference Coming Up in Vancouver, Feb. 15-16
- Facilitation Course Coming Up in Dallas Feb 5-8, 2007
- Chavez Allocates $5 Billion to ?“Communal Councils?”
- Experiments in Democracy on Open Source Radio Show
- New Thesis on Participatory Budgeting Available Online
- Call for Papers on Young People, Technology and Political Engagement
- Globalisation for the Common Good Calls For Papers
- Seeking Social Investors for Wise Democracy Conference in April
- 2007 Lineup of Dynamic Facilitation Seminars Announced
- RFP - Big New York Contract
- Update on Community Congress Activities in New Orleans
- Reminder: Marshall Rosenberg NVC Retreat Coming Up Feb 2-4
- First-Ever ?“Conversation Week?” to Launch in March
- Special Offer for NCDD Members
- Get Free Review Copies of Conflict Style Inventory
- 2007 International Appreciative Inquiry Conference Calls for Workshop Proposals
- Early Registration Available for SoL Forum on Business Innovation for Sustainabiilty
- New Discussion Guide About Energy Consumption Available Online
- Rebuilding New Orleans: Call for Skilled Facilitators on Jan. 20
- PeaceWeb/NCPCR Reaches Closure
- Gleitsman Foundation Invites Nominations for 2008 Citizen Activist Award
- Gloria Rubio-Cortés to Lead National Civic League
- IAF?’s 2007 Conference Coming Up in Portland
- Hofstra U. to Launch New Civic Engagement Center
- Conflict Resolution Forum Coming Up in San Francisco Feb 1-4

Note: If you'd like these announcements to come to your email inbox (don't worry - you'll get no more than one message a day), sign up for our Feedburner RSS-to-email service by entering your email address into our left sidebar box titled "Receive Blog Posts Via Email" at www.thataway.org.

Best,

Sandy Heierbacher
Director, National Coalition for Dialogue & Deliberation (NCDD)

Web: www.thataway.org
Email: sandy @ www.thataway.org