[Ailist] [D&D-UPDATES] an appeal to all members of the D&D community

[Sandy Heierbacher]

March 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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Hi, everybody!

In addition to sending you headlines from the News & Perspectives blog at
Thataway.org so you're up-to-date on what's happening in this rapidly
growing field, I wanted to send you a special appeal and remind you of
Conversation Week.


1. An Appeal to All Members of the Dialogue and Deliberation Community

If you are based in the U.S., I'd like to ask for your help with an
important project. The vast majority of members of congress are not aware of
the expertise and skill our community has to offer. They do not know how to
tap into the dialogue and deliberation community to serve the purposes of
good government - or even that there is such a community.  One project
spearheaded by NCDD members Kim and Barnett Pearce aims to begin to change
this.

If you're willing, we ask that you to contact your congressional
representative as soon as possible and try to schedule a meeting with them
during the first two weeks of April (when they're in their home districts)
in order to:

a.  Talk to them about what the dialogue and deliberation community has to
offer them; and
b.  Extend an invitation to them, on behalf of NCDD, to attend (and/or send
a representative to) a meeting on May 30, 2007 at De Anza College in
Cupertino, California, titled "Reclaiming Democracy: Changing Public
Conversations About Critical Issues."

This meeting will bring the vital work of the dialogue and deliberation
community to the attention of elected government officials, and engage them
in conversation about ways in which this community can help them do their
jobs better. While we'd like all 435 members of congress to attend our
meeting, we will count it a "success" if a few key members attend, a general
"buzz" throughout congress gets started about this topic, and the
conversation continues.

Go to www.congress.org and enter your zip code to easily get your congress
members' contact info. The staff person you contact in your congress
member's office will probably ask you to identify the issue that concerns
you (as a way of sorting through who should talk to you). You should be
prepared to describe how an interest in "process" can be used to support any
of the many issues that face us. They may ask you to send a short written
document before the meeting; we hope that you will customize such a document
based on your conversation with the staff person.

Attached to this message are two documents you can use in your meeting with
your congressional representative. One is a draft "talking points" paper
that you can use as you see fit. The other is a one-page flyer, including
date, place, and contact person (Kim Pearce, at her De Anza College email
address). This document is meant to be left with your representative.

If you cannot arrange a meeting with your congressperson, please consider
hand-delivering documents describing NCDD, the dialogue and deliberation
community, and the May 30th meeting to his or her office.  And we encourage
you to set up meetings with your state and local representatives as well.

Please let me know if you do attempt to set up meetings with your congress
members (email me directly at sandy at thataway.org) so we can send you an
updated version of the draft talking points document before the end of the
month. We'd also like to hear about your experience since this is a learning
process for us, and we plan to continue to encourage members of the D&D
community to meet with elected officials to help ensure they are aware of
what we have to offer.


2.  Don't Forget: Conversation Week is Right Around the Corner!

Conversation Week 2007 is planned for March 25-31 and will celebrate the
power of conversation and the fifth anniversary of Conversation Cafe.  I
encourage all of you to host a simple dialogue during Conversation Week -
even if it's just a get-together of a new friends or neighbors in your
living room.

Those of you who decide to set up meetings with your congress members may
want to host a dialogue during Conversation Week so you can have something
fresh to tell your representatives about (and perhaps have some pictures to
show them!).

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 the
organizers have extended a cordial invitation to the greater D&D community
to get involved as host and/or in promoting the opportunity to host.  They
see Conversation Week as a way to introduce people to the methods, models,
organizations, and people in the NCDD network.  Learn more at
www.ConversationWeek.org.


3. Headlines from the News & Perspectives Blog

Here are the headlines for the posts our bloggers have since last month's
update. Go to www.thataway.org to read the posts, and email me at
sandy at thataway.org with announcements for the blog.  Our website gets
thousands of visitors a day, and this update goes out to over 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!

- More NCDD 2006 Videos Online
- NCI Public Meeting Facilitator Certificate Training in Portland, OR This
June
- Online Resources for Participatory Budgeting
- Fulbright Scholar Program for US Faculty and Professionals
- Summer Institute on Peacebuilding Accepting Applications to April 15
- Facilitation 3-Day Retreat in Maine This March & May
- Call for Facilitators - New Orleans, Philadelphia and Chicago
- New Online Resource for Tracking Congress
- Registration Open for Taos Summer Workshop
- The Heart of the Matter
- Narrative Mediation Dinner, Conversation and Demonstration Coming Up in
April
- SCRC Hosting Orientation in Los Angeles on Resources to Address Racism
- Invitation to Participate in Online Dialogue & Democracy Conversation
- "Dotmocracy" Decision-Making Resource Available Online
- Graphic Facilitation Workshop Coming Up in CA
- Facilitation Academy Coming Up in April
- Registration Open for Shambhala Authentic Leadership Program
- 2007 Policy-Connect Research Grant Competition Now Open
- Reminder: Applications Due for Greater Expectations Institute
- CLP Announces Spring/Summer Events
- New Web Forum on Group Facilitation
- Sufi Peace-Making Training Coming Up in Boston
- Poll Finds Growing Support for Citizen Journalism
- News on Deliberative Polling in Europe
- "Film Series an Agent for Change"
- Initiatives of Change Conference Program Available Online
- NIF Moderator and Framing Training Coming Up in March
- Jewish-Arab Dialogue Film to Premiere Next Month


Good luck in all that you're doing!

Best,

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

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

--

NCDD brings together and supports people, organizations, and resources in
ways that expand the power of discussion to benefit society.  Dialogue and
deliberation help people bridge gaps, make better decisions, take collective
action, and become more active citizens.  Dialogues are powerful personal
experiences that often lead to careful deliberation and collaborative action
or policy recommendations.

To unsubscribe from this monthly update message on news and opportunities
for the dialogue & deliberation community, send a blank email to
NCDD-Updates-signoff-request at lists.thataway.org or email joy at thataway.org
and ask to be removed from the updates.