Category Archives: upcoming events

IAP2 2013 North America Conference: September 22-24 in Salt Lake City, UT

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This post was submitted by Tim Bonnemann of Intellitics, Inc., an organizational member of NCDD.

For anyone still undecided about attending what’s shaping up to be another great IAP2 conference, here are a few quick links to help win you over:

Any questions, please contact info@iap2usa.org. Hope to see you there!

New Training: Integrating Collab Tech for Public Participation

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This post was submitted by Jason Gershowitz of Kearns & West, and NCDD organizational members, via out Add-to-Blog form.

KearnsAndWest_logoKearns & West is pleased to announce Integrating Collaborative Technologies into Public Participation: a one-day training on September 22 in collaboration with the International Association for Public Participation’s 2013 North America Conference in Salt Lake City, UT.

Participants will learn approaches for integrating collaborative technologies into public participation initiatives. Technologies will be applied in a hands-on format to varying levels of public engagement: Inform, Consult, Involve,
Collaborate, and Empower.

Register for the Training for $325 at http://tinyurl.com/CTTraining

For more info about Kearns & West’s Collaborative Technology services and training opportunities contact Jason Gershowitz, Collaborative Technology Associate at Kearns & West, at 202.448.8781 or jgershowitz@kearnswest.com.

Leading Engagement: Involving People in the Decisions that Affect Them

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This post was submitted by NCDD supporting member Tuesday Ryan Heart of Confluence Unlimited via the Add-to-Blog form.

Join us in Chicago, Sept 30-Oct 2 for an Art of Hosting on developing strategy and methods for designing and hosting meaningful engagement. The tools and know how for meaningful and productive engagement are now available in the fields of dialogue, social media and design. The combination of these disciplines and tools enable us to genuinely integrate those who are most affected in the design and delivery of services, systems, strategies, products, plans, infrastructure and more.

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Learn how other communities ignite civic engagement and create meaningful stakeholder and public dialogue on tough issues. Find more effective ways to engage people in shaping the future that affects them.

Come if you want to …..

  • Practice using and hosting a set of simple, yet powerful conversational process for thinking together, such as Circle, Appreciative Inquiry, World Cafe, Open Space and Pro-action Cafe.
  • Explore how to build relationships of trust and reconsider the meaning and uses of power
  • Enhance your design and facilitation skills
  • Move beyond ‘planning a meeting’ to developing multi-step engagement processes, including diverse methods to effectively capture and use community input.
  • Hear and share success stories and put learning to work on real life concerns.

For more information, visit http://tinyurl.com/k573u78. For inquiries, contact Lina Cramer, Wisdom Exchange, at 847-530-6779 or lina.c.cramer@gmail.com.

You can learn more about the Art of Hosting at www.artofhosting.org.

Submissions welcome for the National Collegiate Dialogue on Race Relations

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This post was submitted by Janice Ellis of USAonRace.com, an NCDD organizational member. Please send all articles, position statements, well-framed questions, papers, or video lectures to Janice at jellis@usaonrace.com.

On Monday, September 16, 2013, USAonRace.com will continue the National Collegiate Dialogue on Race Relations (NCDRR). This will be our fourth consecutive year of hosting the dialogue on race relations, which is very much needed. There are racially- motivated incidents occurring on a daily basis across America and around the world.

NCDRR provides an excellent opportunity for students and professors to actively participate in a healthy and meaningful exchange of ideas about this important issue that continues to pose major challenges in contemporary society.

I am inviting fellow NCDD members to submit a paper, position statement, or a previously published article for use as a discussion topic in the “Conversation Of The Week,” or “Issue Of The Week.”

The submissions can be in the form of a well-framed position statement, research paper or article, thought-provoking question, or video lecture.

Suggested areas for submissions for the 2013 session include:

  • President Barack Obama – What has been the impact on race relations?
  • Education – achievement gap/disparities, opportunities, trends across racial/ethnic groups
  • Sociology – stereotypes and social norms, intergenerational issues regarding perceptions about race and ethnicity
  • Work Place – how race plays in job placement, career growth, wealth accumulation, etc.
  • Community – physical, cultural, traditional lines of demarcation, housing, home ownership
  • Family Values – the ever changing roles, and traditions, as well as the short-term/long-term impact
  • Politics – the potential influence of the ‘Changing Face of America”; by 2050, America will be a nation of minorities. What are the implications?

We will be most pleased to receive your submissions. You can visit the National Collegiate Dialogue at
www.usaonrace.com/department/national-collegiate-dialogue to review previous submissions.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me directly at jellis@usaonrace.com or call me at 877-931-2201.

Design dialogue, facilitate on your feet: Public Conversations’ Fall 2013 Trainings

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Facilitate your meetings through the rough spots. Engage conflict constructively in your community or organization. Gain the skills and tools you need with one of the Public Conversations Project’s upcoming trainings.

Discounts for early bird registrants, NCDD members, and folks who bring a friend. Continuing Education credits available through NBCC and MAMFT.

Facilitating with Purpose and Poise—Even When Things Get Hot
October 8-9, 2013, Watertown, MA

Anyone who leads meetings can be thrown off balance when difficult moments arise. The difficulty might be an unexpected tense moment among group members, or it may come in the form of a challenge to your legitimacy. In either case, you can learn to prevent an intense “deer in the headlight” moment and instead act calmly and intentionally.

Whether you’re a civic or religious leader, trainer, committee chair, organizer, manager, or facilitator of any kind, you will benefit from a conceptual framework for thinking on your feet and the opportunity to apply that framework as you practice “staying grounded.” This highly interactive training provides both. Learn more and register.

Regular Fee: $300
Bring-a-friend discount (20% off each): $240
Early Bird Special (ends September 1): $250
NCDD dues-paying members & NAFCM members (15% off): $255

Please register by September 22.

The Power of Dialogue: Constructive Conversations on Divisive Issues
November 7-9, 2013, Watertown, MA

Do you work with groups challenged by deep differences? Do you need new ways to help them engage? Develop your dialogue design and facilitation skills with The Power of Dialogue. Our signature training offers a deep exploration of Reflective Structured Dialogue, an intentional communication process for reducing threat and fostering mutual understanding across lines of deep difference. Through immersion in an intensive case simulation, participants will learn about the dynamics of polarization and conflict, and explore modes of communication that increase understanding, re-humanize opponents and shift relationships. Learn more and register.

Regular fee: $450-700 (sliding scale)
Bring-a-friend discount (20% off each): $360
Early Bird Special (ends September 29): $375
NCDD dues-paying members & NAFCM members (15% off): $382

Please register by October 20.

Questions? Contact Amy at 617-923-1216 x27 or training@publicconversations.org. We hope to see you there!

Posted by Chloe Kanas of the Public Conversations Project via the Add-to-Blog form at www.ncdd.org/submit.

Announcing the Successful Communities Contest & Conference Call

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CM_logo-200pxWe are pleased (and somewhat saddened) to announce the last conference call in the three-part capacity building series being hosted by our partners at CommunityMatters and the Citizens’ Institute on Rural Design. This final call, titled “Secrets of Successful Communities”, is coming up on Thursday, August 22nd from 3-4pm EST and will feature CIRD’s own Ed McMahon:

Last year Barbara Walters asked four billionaires for their Top 20 Secrets of Success. The #2 secret? “Always be True to Yourself.” It turns out that applies to communities, too. Join national thought leader Ed McMahon of the Urban Land Institute for an inspirational conversation: Ed will share this and other secrets of successful communities that he has gleaned over the course of decades working in towns across the country.

We encourage all NCDD members to register here to participate in the call.

This call is all the more exciting because it is the feature of the first CommunityMatters Listening Party! Participants are being encouraged to organize groups to listen in on the conference call and use CM’s discussion guide to facilitate conversations about how to use the knowledge gained from the conference call in their own communities.

Listening party organizers will also be entered to win  the first Successful Communities Contest! The contest will award four $500 prizes to listening party groups that submit a plan for taking action that comes out of the call. More details on the contest are available here.

You can find out more details about the call, listening parties, and how to enter the contest at the CommunityMatters page here: www.communitymatters.org/event/secrets-successful-communities. Good luck in the contest, and we’ll look forward to “seeing” you all on the call!

Reminder: Info call on DDPE certificate program tmw at 6pm Central

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The next info call for the DDPE certificate program is taking place tomorrow at 6pm Central (that’s 7pm Eastern or 4pm Pacific).

DDPE-logoYou can sign up for the call here if you’re interested in learning more about the program.

The award winning Dialogue, Deliberation, and Public Engagement Certificate Program, which is now run by Kansas State University, is a transformative professional development program focused on making wise choices for engagement.

NCDD is a ‘Collaborator’ of the program, and NCDD supporting members enjoy a 10% discount on program fees.

This year’s cycle begins September 23rd. Learn more about the course offerings and costs here. NCDD strongly encourages our members to enroll. It’s a great way to deepen your practice and gain some credentials in this work. The program’s faculty is an amazing group of leaders: Keith Melville, Hal Saunders, John Dedrick, Phil Stewart, Linda Blong, Jan Elliot, and Lyn Carson. Making connections with this group of superstars is worth the cost of enrollment!

To learn more, go to www.dce.k-state.edu/conf/dialogue/.

Announcing NCDD Coffee Hour: Thursdays @ 12pm EST

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Join us this Thursday for NCDD’s first “Coffee Hour.”  These informal one-hour calls will give NCDD members an opportunity to connect with each other, bring up challenges they’re facing in their work, and who knows what else… we’ll see!  This is the start of an 8-week experiment to see if regular open-topic conference calls are useful to our members.

I believe that if we open up some informal space on a weekly basis for us to connect with each other, we’ll be pleasantly surprised by what happens.  As interest grows from week to week, we can improve the design.

CoffeeHour-mug-logoWhen: Each Thursday at 12pm EST
Dial-in number: (605) 715-4920
Access code: 616033

What to bring:
1. Bring your own topic related to dialogue/deliberation such as new insights you’ve gained or challenges that you’re facing where you would like the input from others on the call.
2. Mug of coffee or tea :)

Timeline:
5 min - Small talk as we wait for everyone to join the call.
5 min- Very brief intros (Name, organization, and location in one sentence.  The question/topic that you’d like to discuss on the call in one sentence, if any.)
50 min- Free form discussion.  I’ll provide very light facilitation to periodically bring up the questions that the group raised at the beginning of the call.  If there are late-comers, I’ll ask them to introduce themselves when the conversation comes to a natural break.

Notes:
1. The minimalist design is intentional (i.e. no pre-set agenda, minimal planning, easily facilitated by other community members in the future) so that this can be self-organizing and sustainable community infrastructure for the long haul.
2. You are welcome to add your name to the list of participants on the collaborative notes page so others have an idea of who will attend.

Let’s have some fun!

E. Coast Forums on Lessons Learned from Hurricane Sandy

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NIF-logoFor those of you working on the East Coast or in community preparedness, we recommend you check out a recent post from the National Issues Forums Institute on a series of public forums being hosted by WHYY and the Penn Project for Civic Engagement.  The goal of the forums is to engage local communities in discussion on the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy and what individuals, communities, and governments can do to be better prepared next time. With two forums already having been hosted, the next forums are slated for August 27th along the Jersey Shore.

The project description, dates, and locations for the forums can be found at WHYY’s website here.  You can read NIFI’s coverage of the project and find links to the audio commentary below, or you find the original post here.

Engaging the Public to Talk about the Jersey Shore after Hurricane Sandy – Listen to Audio Commentary by Chris Satullo at WHYY

Listen to “Restoring the shore is about emotions as well as engineering”
Listen to “Ready for next time? Rethinking the Jersey Shore after Sandy”
Project description with dates and locations

This summer in Philadelphia, WHYY/Newsworks is sponsoring a series of public forums titled Ready for Next Time? Rethinking the Shore after Sandy. Five public forums are being held during July and August 2013 in a variety of locations around Philadelphia. Forums are free to attend but registration is requested.

Chris Satullo, executive director of news and civic dialogue at WHYY, Inc. describes the public forums project in a number of brief audio, print, and photo pieces including:

Restoring the shore is about emotions as well as engineering (An audio file posted July 21, 2013):

Restoring the Shore is not just about flood maps, building codes and economic multipliers…

But as this nostalgia inspires, can it also blind and distort? Might we throw good money after bad, ignoring the storm’s clear evidence about where unwise risk lies?  In striving to hang onto what we love most about the Shore, might we strew too much treasure right in the path of the next storm.

Because there will be a next storm.

These questions sit at the heart of WHYY’s community forum series called: Ready for Next Time? Rethinking the Shore After Sandy…

Rethinking the shore forum zeroes in on better planning leadership (a slide show and article posted July 16, 2013)

It was a night for expressing hopes, and the skepticism that undermines them.

About 60 people gathered at WHYY Monday night for the first event in our summer-long civic dialogue project: “Ready for Next Time? Rethinking the Shore After Sandy.”

The group divided into four smaller breakout sessions, each led by a moderator from the Penn Project for Civic Engagement and using an issue guide we prepared. Folks talked through the long-term choices facing New Jersey as it responds to the challenges left behind by the storms known as Irene and Sandy….

Ready for next time? Rethinking the Jersey Shore after Sandy (listen to an audio file/read this piece posted June 24, 2013, describes the project and lists dates and locations of forums)

For the last year, a horde of Jersey Shore property owners have been muttering an F-word under their breath.

An F-acronymn, actually. As in FEMA – short for Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Post-Sandy, people down the Shore have had many complaints about FEMA – confusing rules, late-arriving checks and, above all, those flood maps.

FEMA issued revised maps last week, which sharply reduced the size of the highest-risk flood zones and let many homeowners sleep easier.

So perhaps this is a moment to invite some calmer discussion about how to respond long-term to the lessons of Sandy – and Irene before her…

For more information about this project, contact Chris Satullo at csatullo@whyy.org, or NCDD supporting member Harris Sokoloff at harriss@gse.upenn.edu.

CommunityMatters Call + $500 = Be There

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The next CommunityMatters conference call on Thursday, August 22nd will feature Ed McMahon, Senior Fellow at the Urban Land Institute, and his “Secrets of Successful Communities.”

CommunityMatters is encouraging anyone – individuals, local organizations or community groups – to organize “listening parties” for people to come together, listen and discuss how Ed’s call relates to their city or town. As a bonus, the Orton Family Foundation is offering four (4) $500 awards to groups that hold parties and decide to take action as a result.

Learn more at www.communitymatters.org/communitymatters-listening-parties.

CommunityMatters helps cities and towns steward change by fostering “civic infrastructure” – the systems and structures that give people the power and the tools to solve their community’s problems and shape its future.  NCDD is a CommunityMatters Partner, along with the Deliberative Democracy Consortium, Grassroots Grantmakers, New America Foundation, Orton Family Foundation, Project for Public Spaces, and Strong Towns.

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