If you haven’t yet registered for the NCDD conference (Oct 17-19 in Reston, VA), now’s the time to do it! The late rate goes into effect next Wednesday, and registration will be $550 rather than $450.

It’s looking like we’ll reach our goal of 400 attendees (yay!), but we still a few spots open, and maybe one of them has your name on it.

But here’s an added incentive to register now.  You can enter the promo code “25percentoff” at registration to save over $110 on the regular registration rate. This code is only good for 15 uses, so use it asap at www.ncdd2014.eventbrite.com!

As those who have attended know, the National Conference on Dialogue & Deliberation is one of the very best places you can connect with top leaders and emerging leaders in public engagement and group process work, learn about the latest and greatest things that are happening in our field, AND have a lot of fun doing it.

Christine Whitney Sanchez had this to say about the last NCDD conference:

“Where else can you collide with social entrepreneurs, scientists, journalists, film-makers, business owners, academics, artists, students, engineers, actors, electeds, consultants, nonprofit leaders, public servants, graphic recorders, techies, videographers, philosophers, lawyers, executives and more who are also agents of transformation?”

NCDD conferences only happen every two years, so you don’t want to wait for the next one!

There are so many things to get excited about this year — here are just a few…

• The schedule is just amazing. On the first day of the conference, for instance, you’ll participate in a fun collaborative network mapping process that builds on the mapping project we’ve been doing over the past few months in conjunction with leading organizations in the field and 10 awesome graphic recorders.
• You’ll get to hear from some incredible leaders in D&D, including plenary speakers David Mathews (president of the Kettering Foundation) and Grande Lum, director of the Department of Justice’s Community Relations Service.
• Our gamification panelists include Josh Lerner, Executive Director of the Participatory Budgeting Project, among other greats. And our “short talks” presenters include field leaders like Carolyn Lukensmeyer, John Gastil, Tyrone Reitman, Sen. Les Ihara and Peggy Holman.
• The session selection will leave you wishing you could clone yourself. The workshops cover topics like collective impact, working effectively with public officials, restorative justice, a deliberation “boot camp,” slam poetry for justice, strategies for developing effective university-community partnerships for engagement, how to use visuals to engage communities, participatory budgeting, how technology like texting and engagement tools are advancing this work, facilitating with grace while under fire, how Oregon is creating a statewide infrastructure for civic engagement, lots of inspiring case studies, and so much more!
• We’ve got awesome field trips that are already filling up, a mentorship and scholarship program for young leaders, and lots of opportunities for networking.
• Our Emcees, John Gastil and Susanna Haas Lyons, are absolutely top notch.
• Our Showcase event during Friday’s evening reception will blow your mind, introducing you, at your own pace, to 25 incredibly useful online tools, resources, D&D methods, and other opportunities–and the leaders behind them.
• We’ll even have a media room, where our videographer will be making clips of you FOR YOU to put on your site (so think about what you might want to say about your great work) and our photographer will be taking professional headshots you can use to beef up your image (both free!). We think these perks will be a great benefit to both our attendees and our field.
• And we’ll be screening the not-yet-released film “Bring It To The Table” on Saturday night starting at 8:30 pm. Filmmaker Julie Winokur traveled across the country with a small star-spangled table, inviting people to sit down and share the roots of their political beliefs. You’ll have the chance to talk with Julie about her journey.
• Our attendees are high calibur, accomplished, and frankly, an exciting bunch of public engagement professionals, students, funders, scholars, technologists, public administrators, artists and activists. You can scan all 370+ who have registered so far at www.ncdd2014.eventbrite.com (click “show more” a couple times to see them all).

I could go on, but I think you have the idea. The NCDD conference is truly a must-attend event for people involved in dialogue, deliberation, and public engagement work. I think our team has put together quite the event for you, and we look forward to seeing all of you soon!

Members of our local planning team for NCDD 2014 have organized four amazing field trips for conference participants on Saturday evening. We left time in the schedule for you to enjoy what the DC area has to offer on Saturday starting at 4pm, and though you’re free to do whatever you’d like that night, you can’t go wrong with these four options.

There’s something for everybody in these four field trips:  music, history, performance, monuments, yummy food, and of course, lots of great discussion and networking!

Sign up today to secure your spot on the field trip of your choice.

Trekking through Generations of Democratic Participation in DC

Hosted by the Close Up Foundation

Join us for this stimulating and exciting tour of Washington DC as a place of historic struggles over citizen participation and current debates over changing neighborhoods. This tour will feature three rounds of discussion at iconic spots around town: At Lincoln Park, A Tale of Two Statues; over dinner in a neighborhood restaurant, a conversation about sustainability and/or gentrification; and after we eat, a discussion of the Three Faces of Democracy.

We’ll examine the history of our democracy through the protective lens at the Jefferson Memorial, the progressive lens at the FDR Memorial and the participatory lens at the MLK memorial (with a drive by or stop at the Lincoln Memorial if there is time).

We’re renting a 50-seat bus for this fun and professionally-run tour, which is presented by our friends at the Close Up Foundation. Close Up has years of experience giving high-quality educational tours in DC. Transportation is covered by the $15 fee, but you’ll need to cover the costs of your own dinner. For more info, contact Rachel Talbert at rtalbert@closeup.org.

Cost: $15

Stage Performance of Toast

by dog & pony dc

Enjoy an evening of participatory theater on Capitol Hill in DC! Presented by dog & pony dc, Toast is about “a secret society of inventors [that] invites the audience to collaboratively push the boundaries of our current technology and explore the awesome potential of group innovation.” dog & pony dc is a respected Washington, DC company that explores new ways for audiences to experience theatre. The troupe will also be playing a role during the conference, leading us through a lively exploration of our aspirations for D&D in Saturday afternoon’s plenary.

NCDD has purchased a block of 15 tickets for this performance, so sign up soon while we still have spots! The theatre is a block away from Barracks Row, a lovely neighborhood with tons of great eating options. Tickets are $15 per person, and you’ll cover your own transportation and dinner costs.

The performance is at 7:30pm at the Capitol Hill Arts Workshop (545 7th St. SE in DC). You’ll take the metro from Reston into the city. For more info, contact NCDD Board member Marla Crockett at marlacrockett@gmail.com.

Cost:  $15

Field Trip to Historic Morven Park

Hosted by Morven Park staff

Join us for a special evening at Morven Park focused on the theme “Rural to Suburban to Urban: The Role of D&D in Changing Neighborhood Environments.” Morven Park is a gorgeous historic site in Leesburg, Virginia that was home of former Virginia Governor Westmoreland Davis. It was once in the countryside, but today the park sits on the border between rural traditions and suburban sprawl. On this field trip, we will look at the implications of changing from a rural to urban setting now and a century ago.

A tour of the historic Davis mansion will be followed by wine and light refreshments from a local vineyard. Over drinks we’ll discuss the social changes that occur as an area moves from rural to suburban/urban and what role dialogue and deliberation can play in engaging the local community through these transitions.

You’ll also hear about Morven Park’s Center for Civic Impact, and discuss how educators are increasingly turning to non-traditional centers of learning, like historic sites, to promote civic learning and democratic engagement and help restore public faith in our democracy. We’re chartering a van to take the group to Morven Park. For more info, contact NCDD member Abby Pfisterer at apfisterer@morvenpark.org.

Cost: $25

U Street Food & Jazz Tour (Sorry – this field trip is already at capacity!)

Hosted by Natalie Hopkinson, author of Go-Go Live

Duke Ellington, Marvin Gaye, Chuck Brown—all are Washington, D.C. native musicians who have helped to shape the history of Washington’s U Street, once the heart of the all-black segregated entertainment district. The strip was devastated by the 1968 riots that followed Martin Luther King’s assassination, but in the past decade it has experienced a revival and is now home to a vibrant mix of people, music, and restaurants. Join author Natalie Hopkinson, Ph.D., fellow of the Interactivity Foundation’s Arts & Society initiative, and resident of Greater U Street, as she guides a 2-hour food and jazz tour. Come hungry, and fee free to check out some shows after the tour!

Natalie frequently publishes essays on culture and education in the Washington Post, The Root, the New York Times and Essence magazine and has authored two books, most recently Go-Go Live: The Musical Life and Death of a Chocolate City.

The cost is $40 per person, including food. Participation is limited to 15 people. You’ll take the metro from Reston into the city. Contact Natalie at hopkinson@interactivityfoundation.org if you have questions.

Cost: $40

We thought we’d create a space for attendees to jump-start their networking efforts before next month’s conference.

For the past 12 years, NCDD events have brought together more than 2,500 people in the dialogue and deliberation field―practitioners, scholars, public leaders, trainers, artists, activists, philanthropists, students and more―to learn, collaborate, and network. NCDD conferences are wonderful networking opportunities, with about 400 of the most active and influential people in public engagement coming together this year in the DC area.

Many friendships, professional relationships, and new partnerships have been hatched at NCDD conferences, and we suspect NCDD 2014 will be no different.

We chose the Hyatt Regency Reston, in part, because there are lots of cozy spaces for you to meet up during our three days together.  We’ll help you coordinate your meetings through a whiteboard and signage at various seating areas. But you can also start organizing meetings and dinners NOW!

Thursday night, the night before the conference begins, is a great time to hold 7pm dinner meetings or afternoon mini-trainings. You’re on your own for dinner on Friday night after 6pm (after the reception and showcase), so planning for 6:30 or 7pm that night would work as well. Saturday evening also offers some space for networking, whether you decide to participate in a field trip or not. And breakfast meetings would work on Saturday and Sunday morning.

Check out the conference schedule to determine what might work best for you and your colleagues. And look over the list of registrants at www.ncdd2014.eventbrite.com (scroll down; then click “show more” twice to see everybody).

There are lots of small meeting nooks in the hotel, as well as a nice restaurant, bar, and a Panera Bread. But for larger groups or for something outside of the conference space, check out the restaurant list and map for Reston Town Center. The Hyatt is marked as K on the map — so you can see there are tons of options right by the hotel.

So who do you want to meet up with? Use the comments to propose a breakfast for those interested in tech for engagement, or drinks on Thursday for folks from the West Coast. Perhaps you’d like to organize a dinner on Friday night for those who work in/with local government? Be creative, and make it happen!

We’ll keep pointing people to this post up until the conference.

Leading organizations in the dialogue and deliberation community are really coming out to support the 2014 National Conference on Dialogue & Deliberation. It is so heartwarming to see this support, and we are indebted to our sponsors and partners for NCDD 2014.

Our sponsors are in many ways a “who’s who” in public engagement, and we’re thrilled they want to publicly support this year’s NCDD conference. See the full list of sponsors below the image, or visit this page for full descriptions.

There is still time to join their ranks and sign on as a sponsor or partner of the conference! See this page for details.

The following organizations have signed on as All-Star Sponsors, Co-Sponsors, and Partners of NCDD 2014 — and we are so grateful for their generous support.

So far, our All-Star Sponsors (donated $3000) are the Democracy Fund, the Interactivity Foundation, Penn State’s McCourtney Institute for Democracy and Center for Democratic Deliberation (just heard the news this morning!) and the Public Conversations Project

Our Co-Sponsors ($2000) are the Center for Justice & Peacebuilding at Eastern Mennonite University, Everyday Democracy, the International Association of Facilitators, and the National Dialogue Network

And our Partners ($1000) are the Close Up Foundation, Healthy Democracy, the Institute for Civic Discourse and Democracy, the Institute for Local Government, the League of Extraordinary Trainers, Mid-Atlantic Facilitators Network (MAFN), PlaceSpeak, Public Agenda, and the William D. Ruckelshaus Center

Interested in joining their ranks and sponsoring the upcoming National Conference on Dialogue & Deliberation? We’d greatly appreciate your support — plus you get a lot of exposure and other benefits. Learn more about sponsor benefits and requirements here, or send me an email at sandy@ncdd.org to let me know you are interested in supporting this important convening through sponsorship!