If you missed the training, don’t worry – we recorded the whole thing! You can find the whole training webinar recording by clicking here. For additional tips, we also encourage you to click here to read the chat transcript from the call, where there were a number of resources, links, and answers to questions shared.

With this new round of trained hosts, we’re excited to see the Conversation Café community continue to grow! We encourage everyone to check out the Conversation Café website, especially if you are looking for more resources. We recommend checking out the “Resources for Hosts” page here and printing out some of the CC how-to cards here to help you be as prepared as possible to host your first Café.

We also highly recommend that new Conversation Café hosts consider joining the CC updates and announcements list and the CC hosts email discussion list so that you can stay informed and connected to the broader CC network. Let’s all stay in touch!

If you missed this engaging discussion, don’t worry. You can still listen in on what the call was like by finding the recording at this link.

There is also a great next step that came out of this call that we want to make sure our members hear about. We had so much interest from folks wanting to learn to use the CC process that co-founder Susan Partnow offered to host a free Conversation Café Host Training to start the new year!

So NCDD and Susan will be hosting 90-minute CC training webinar on Tuesday, January 3rd at 12pm Eastern/9am Pacific with much appreciation to Susan for making this training available before she takes her sabbatical. We encourage everyone who would like to host Conversation Cafés or just wants to learn more about the process to register today take advantage of this opportunity to learn how to host Conversation Cafés!

This upcoming training call will be the perfect opportunity to get personalized support in hosting Conversation Cafés. Whether you’re considering using the process for the first time or want to brush up on it before hosting a new conversation, we encourage all of our NCDD members with an interest in the CC process to register now to participate in this CC host training!

The CC process is an accessible tool for hosting needed conversations on difficult issues in our communities, and we are excited to see more people getting trained to use it. We look forward to having many of you join us on January 3rd for the event!

In case you haven’t heard, the National Coalition for Dialogue & Deliberation (NCDD) has become the new steward of Conversation Café (CC). We are in the process of reconnecting with the CC network and figuring out how we can best support and grow this important community. The CC website has also undergone a revamp thanks to NCDD’s Andy Fluke, and we hope you like the new look!

NCDD’s Sandy Heierbacher and Keiva Hummel are spearheading this effort, so feel free to contact either of us if you have questions or want to help out!

We’ve created a new one-way announcement list to share news about Conversation Café happenings once in a while (no more than monthly). We encourage all of you to subscribe to that list if you have some interest in CC’s by sending a blank email to conversation-cafe-subscribe-request@lists.ncdd.org.

If you’re a Conversation Cafe host or promoter (or want to be), also consider joining the new Cafe-Community listserv – a discussion list we’ve modeled after the NCDD Discussion list to encourage CC leaders to network, share information, and discuss key issues facing the CC community. To join that list, send a blank email to cafe-community-subscribe-request@lists.ncdd.org.

Why does NCDD feels it’s important to support Conversation Café?
Back in March 2014, we had an amazing conversation with the D&D community on the NCDD blog about whether we should play this role, and though there were many eloquent arguments both for and against NCDD becoming the new stewards for the CC method, we decided in the end that it was important to help this elegantly simple approach survive and thrive – and we hope you can support our decision!

We think Conversation Café is a wonderful model for dialogue that can and should be widely adopted across the U.S. and the globe. Our vision for Conversation Café, in part, is that it be used to help communities address national and local crises that call for immediate dialogue.

We think CCs are nimble, accessible, and elegantly simple enough to be used very quickly by many people, and NCDD is particularly well equipped to help new CC groups use other forms of dialogue and deliberation when the time is right.

We also just want to see more people, in more places, engaging regularly in conversations that matter, and feel that Conversation Café is uniquely suited to helping make this happen.

In addition to subscribing to the announcement list or discussion list mentioned above, we strongly encourage any of you who have hosted CCs to take a minute and complete the quick form to tell us a little about your work and interests. Our main interest right now is to learn about what is currently (and has been) going on in the Conversation Café community, and this would help us a great deal!

With the update of the Conversation Café website comes new opportunities to engage the rest of the world using our great process.  Transferring the old site to a website based on an easy to edit blogging tool, we now have the tools to expand our offerings and more easily share stories and events with the public.
But that can’t be done without you!
As this website continues to evolve, we will be adding all sorts of ways for you to share your work, but in the meantime the staff behind this site would love to connect with the hosts that are on the ground encouraging these great conversations and get their input on what this website should be.
Contact us to start a conversation.  We welcome all your suggestions.

So what is our most important role as host? It is not to flawlessly facilitate a successful conversation. Rather, it is to hold the space—and be part of the space—of community/safety/love. We are stewards; we are providing a comfortable environment for people to explore deeply enough to find out what they really think and feel about the topic. Part of this safety is that WE are also open—disclosing our own thoughts and feelings. We are part of the process. We honor the folks who come to these conversations; we honor the risk they may be taking in talking with strangers about the often confusing and complex questions of our times.
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Hosting is simple—like breathing is simple. It can be as minimal as showing up, introducing the process and keeping time. Yet the practice of hosting can be very profound. It is a dynamic, honest, humble process of staying present to your own reality while drinking in the reality of everyone else at the table. It contributes to the reweaving of the web of community and builds the critical thinking, social engagement and conviviality that is the best of what human society has always been and the essence of what we intend to be in the future.

Inclusivity: Create an inviting climate in which everyone is inspired to speak and listen, and where diverse perspectives may emerge.
One host at least – everyone able to host at best: Ensure that at least one host is present at each Conversation Café gathering – ideally every table has a host.
Open access: Anyone may participate who follows the “rules” (Process, Agreements and Principles). Conversation Cafés are open to all, without charge.
During Conversation Cafés (between the opening and closing rounds) and when working with others to support and grow the initiative, we commit to:
What is said cannot be owned by anyone: Clarify that what is said in the Conversation Café must be considered to be in the public domain. No one at the table nor outside the conversation can claim exclusive ownership of the ideas that emerge.
Commercial-free [and agenda-free] zones: No one may attend primarily to promote or impose a particular agenda, point of view, outcome, solution or cause – or market a product, service or event.
No committees: There will be no political networking, committee formation or action groups.
Continuing to push our edges: Encourage people to become hosts in a wide variety of settings.
Empowering hosts: Provide clear information to all hosts and participants about the mechanics of hosting a Conversation Cafés and the open, inquisitive spirit of hosting.
Maintaining integrity and fidelity: Any event calling itself a Conversation Café must abide by the Conversation Café “Process and Agreements” and principles. Borrowing from or altering these is encouraged, but such adaptations should not be called Conversation Cafés.

The Circle—Sitting equally in the circle together, there is a sense of community gathering around a center. In this center is a space for the group’s thoughts, feelings, insights and threads of meaning to weave together in a new conversational tapestry of co-creation.

Introductions—When people introduce themselves very briefly with their name and why they are participating, it allows for an authenticity that is free of ego. There is no need for titles, labels, life roles, or other pseudo-identities to start the conversation in a heartfelt way.

Agreements—The agreements are read to provide guidelines, or boundaries, for a civil conversation and deeper listening. Everyone’s agreement to follow them establishes a common ground for participation. The host’s role is to support the group in following the agreements and create a safe space.

Process—Describing the process provides an overview of where the conversation is going, how it will be, and when it will be over. The actual dialogue is unknown but the ending time and structure are clear.

Talking Object—The talking object arouses curiosity and invites a kinesthetic experience. It can also stimulate deeper speaking and listening. While talking circles have probably been part of many ancient cultures, we must acknowledge that the inspiration for contemporary circles have come from our own Native Americans. While we use what we call a talking object, it is based on the talking stick that the Native Americans used. We do NOT call it a talking stick out of respect for the sacredness that the talking stick represents in their culture. Also, we are known to have a creative bent when it comes to selecting talking objects, e.g. tennis balls, timer cubes, stones, etc. We wish to share this in the spirit of the following quote by Elder William Commanda, Kitigan Zibi, Quebec: “If we cease sharing our knowledge and stories, we forget that which is taught to us (as spiritual, mindful, heart filled bodies; our Beings).”

Rounds—The two rounds give opportunities for everyone to participate without the pressure of having to speak since one can pass when the talking object is given to them. People get a sense of how others are relating to the topic without having to reveal a great deal about themselves. A group field of energy connecting each other can form in this process of the two rounds, emphasizing why both rounds are important.

Open Dialogue—In the open dialogue there is no goal of solution, agreement or action to be taken, simply an experience of human sharing and connectedness. The focus is on relating and not on a task. As the conversation is co-created, new meanings, interpretations, implications, understanding, and possibilities emerge. The questions can become more important than the answers.
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Final Round—The final round provides a time for reflection and an opportunity to express what was challenging, meaningful, or inspiring for each individual. It also evokes a genuine connection with the group as a whole.