2008 NCDD Conference – Austin
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Nearly 450 people came together for the 2008 National Conference on Dialogue & Deliberation in Austin, Texas October 3-5, 2008, and we had a wonderful time networking, learning and celebrating dialogue and deliberation!
Here are some quick links to more info on the event:
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More About NCDD Austin
NCDD conferences are not your typical keynote-centered conventions that leave you wandering the lobby. At NCDD events, we do our best to acknowledge and tap into every participant’s expertise and unique perspectives, and ask them to play an active role in shaping the future of this burgeoning field.
At NCDD Austin, we had the opportunity to help make progress on 5 major challenges facing our field identified by participants at previous NCDD conferences…
At NCDD Austin, participants experienced…
Highly participative plenary sessions that allowed participants to experience large-group dialogue and deliberation methods while enabling the community to explore issues relevant to the field. Our Reflective Panel, for example, featured figureheads in our field (David Campt, Bill Isaacs, Carolyn Lukensmeyer and Najeeba Syeed-Miller) engaging in dialogue with each other about our field’s greatest challenges and what needs to be done to address them.
In our D&D Marketplace, conference-goers visited with dozens of the most exciting tools, programs, and new innovations in the field, and met the people behind them.
They also got to choose from dozens of innovative workshops offered by leaders in dialogue and deliberation, addressing the issues, challenges and questions most relevant to their work. For instance, attendees learned how young veterans are using dialogue for healing and empowerment; learned how to attract more conservatives to dialogue events; and explored with change experts how D&D contributes to social change.
Our participants enjoyed experiencing how the arts can enhance dialogue and deliberation, by watching and interacting with our 5-person team of graphic recorders, listening to slam poetry performed by local young people, and taking part in a conference-wide experiment to compose a musical composition based on what we were learning and experiencing.
At NCDD Austin, we had the opportunity to help make progress on 5 major challenges facing our field identified by participants at previous NCDD conferences…
- How can we make the values and practices of D&D integral to our public and private systems (government, schools, organizations, etc.)?
- How can we frame this work in a more accessible and compelling way, so that people of all income levels, education levels and political perspectives are drawn to D&D?
- How can we demonstrate to powerholders that dialogue and deliberation really do work?
- How can we strengthen the link between D&D and community action and policy change?
- How can we address issues of oppression and bias both within the D&D community itself, and throughout society through the use of dialogue and deliberation?
At NCDD Austin, participants experienced…
Highly participative plenary sessions that allowed participants to experience large-group dialogue and deliberation methods while enabling the community to explore issues relevant to the field. Our Reflective Panel, for example, featured figureheads in our field (David Campt, Bill Isaacs, Carolyn Lukensmeyer and Najeeba Syeed-Miller) engaging in dialogue with each other about our field’s greatest challenges and what needs to be done to address them.
In our D&D Marketplace, conference-goers visited with dozens of the most exciting tools, programs, and new innovations in the field, and met the people behind them.
They also got to choose from dozens of innovative workshops offered by leaders in dialogue and deliberation, addressing the issues, challenges and questions most relevant to their work. For instance, attendees learned how young veterans are using dialogue for healing and empowerment; learned how to attract more conservatives to dialogue events; and explored with change experts how D&D contributes to social change.
Our participants enjoyed experiencing how the arts can enhance dialogue and deliberation, by watching and interacting with our 5-person team of graphic recorders, listening to slam poetry performed by local young people, and taking part in a conference-wide experiment to compose a musical composition based on what we were learning and experiencing.
Featured Speakers at NCDD Austin
Learn more about our featured speakers.
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David W. Campt, PhDDr. David Campt currently provides consultation about race relations and diversity issues with U.S. congressional representatives, the foundation community, and national community organizations. David is also a Senior Associate with AmericaSpeaks, serving leading roles in a number of AmericaSpeaks projects. To name a few, he was the co-facilitator and co-designer of Citizen Summits III and IV for the Mayor of Washington, D.C., and played a similar role in the multi-site Unified New Orleans Plan Community Congresses II and III. David is the co-author of the recently published book, The Little Book of Dialogue for Difficult Subjects.
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Jim FishkinJames S. Fishkin holds the Janet M. Peck Chair in International Communication at Stanford University, where he is Professor of Communication and Professor of Political Science. He is also Director of Stanford’s new Center for Deliberative Democracy and Chair of the Dept of Communication. Fishkin is best known for developing Deliberative Polling® – a practice of public consultation that employs random samples of the citizenry to explore how opinions would change if they were more informed. Professor Fishkin and his collaborators have conducted Deliberative Polls in the US, Britain, Australia, Denmark, Bulgaria, China, Greece and other countries.
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Bill IsaacsDr. William Isaacs is Founder and president of Dialogos, a consulting and leadership development firm based in Cambridge, MA and a Senior Lecturer at the Sloan School of Management. He is a leading authority on collective leadership, dialogue, and the design and implementation of organizational learning. He is also Chairman of the Board of the Dialogos Institute, a not-for-profit action research organization. His book, Dialogue and the Art of Thinking Together (Doubleday), has been translated into seven languages, including Swedish, Chinese, and German.
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Carolyn LukensmeyerDr. Carolyn J. Lukensmeyer, Founder and President of AmericaSpeaks, has made her mark as an innovator in deliberative democracy, public administration, and organizational development. Concerns about the deep partisan divide in Washington and the growing disconnection between citizens and government across the country led Carolyn to launch AmericaSpeaks in 1995. Her goal is to develop new democratic practices that will strengthen citizen voice in public decision-making. Under Carolyn’s leadership, AmericaSpeaks has earned a national reputation as a leader in the field of deliberative democracy and democratic renewal.
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Hans-Peter MeisterDr. Hans-Peter Meister is a German entrepreneur and a leader in change management. Following a career in business and politics, he founded IFOK, one of Germany’s leading political consulting firms, and Meister Consultants Group, a newly established American subsidiary based in Newburyport, MA. Deeply convinced that change can only be achieved successfully by involving those affected, Hans-Peter and his team innovated change management by approaching political, environmental and social challenges with the expertise of a think tank and the professionalism of a business consultancy.
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Najeeba Syeed-MillerNajeeba Syeed-Miller is currently the Executive Director of the Western Justice Center Foundation (www.westernjustice.org), a conflict resolution and dialogue based organization that works with communities, children and courts to increase the opportunity for peaceful conflict resolution and displace the power of violence in our society.
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And for those who want even more info…
- Check out the story of NCDD’s events here.
- Download the full 2008 conference guidebook to check out the schedule, lists of workshops, marketplace programs and descriptions of our plenaries
- Summary of evaluation results for NCDD Austin: www.ncdd.org/3472
- Schedule for NCDD Austin: www.ncdd.org/3344
- Workshops held at NCDD Austin: www.ncdd.org/3446
- Typical elements of NCDD’s national conferences: www.ncdd.org/3407