​The workshops are a core part of the National Conference on Dialogue and Deliberation. We have two blocks of concurrent sessions daily, and this year will have over 60 sessions in total. The overall schedule can be found at ncdd.org/2023schedule.html.

Below is an alphabetical listing of the first round of sessions. More sessions will continue to be added, and in the coming days the schedule of workshops (dates, times, locations) will be shown on the conference workshop page at: www.ncdd.org/2023workshops.html.

​NCDD is excited to announce that we’ll once again be holding our popular “Dialogue & Deliberation Showcase” during the 2023 National Conference on Dialogue & Deliberation, and we are looking for presenters! 

NCDD2023 - The 9th National Conference on Dialogue & Deliberation is being held from October 13-15th in Atlanta, Georgia. This signature event for the dialogue, deliberation, and public engagement community, will provide a three-day highly interactive conference bringing together the movers and shakers in our community to talk, learn, and collaborate. Learn more about the conference at: www.ncdd.org/ncdd2023.html.

Applications for the D&D Showcase can be submitted via this Google Form and will be accepted on a rolling basis until capacity has been reached. All submissions are due by Monday, August 7th, at which point final decisions will be completed shortly after. Learn more about the Showcase details and requirements in the blog post below. Find the informational PDF available for download at the bottom of this post. 

About the D&D Showcase

The D&D Showcase is a lively reception and networking event that provides an opportunity for select individuals and organizations in our field to showcase some of the leading ideas, tools, projects, and initiatives in dialogue & deliberation with conference participants all in one space.

We know that these ideas, tools, and initiatives are all designed to help us overcome some of the challenges facing public engagement. This year, we want to organize those presenting around the challenges their work helps those in the field to overcome.

The Showcase is a fun way for conference-goers to meet some of the movers-and-shakers in D&D and hear about the projects, programs, and tools that are making waves in our work. We hope this new approach to addressing challenges will ensure people connect with the ideas and people that can help them in their own work.

How the Showcase Works

First, showcase presenters will identify the challenge/s their work or tool helps address. We have suggested several below. If one listed here does not fit, name a new challenge.

• Increasing participation, reaching broad demographics, creating broad opportunities for access
• Improving democracy and renewing civic practices
• Bridging divides and differences
• Engaging students and youth
• Conflict resolution and reconciliation
• Community empowerment
• Supporting diversity and equity 

Then presenters will be grouped by challenges and areas will be identified by signage. Showcase presenters display simple “posters” or displays about their work, tools, or projects and bring handouts and business cards to share with participants who are interested in learning more or following up. Showcase presenters will be ready to succinctly express what’s important for conference participants to know about their resource, method, research, program, etc. and to elaborate and answer any questions people may have.

During the 90-minute Showcase event, conference participants will stroll around the reception, chatting with presenters, checking out their displays, and picking up handouts. We’ll also have finger foods and beverages available as well as a cash bar, adding to the social atmosphere of the session.

The conference planning team is hard at work planning NCDD 2023, and one of our upcoming steps includes selecting people and organizations who are passionate about sharing tools and programs we know will interest our attendees as presenters during the Showcase.  If you are interested in having your tool, project, idea, or work being featured in the Showcase, please submit an application by Monday, August 7th, via the Google Form linked here. Make sure to have information ready, such as: what it is you would like to showcase and identify the challenge/s this work or tool helps to address:
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• Increasing participation, reaching broad demographics, creating broad opportunities for access
• Improving democracy and renewing civic practices
• Bridging divides and differences
• Engaging students and youth
• Conflict resolution and reconciliation
• Community empowerment
• Supporting diversity and equity 
• Another challenge (please name it)

Offer a brief description of how your work or tool addresses this challenge, and provide any links to where more information can be found, and offer any questions you have.

Please note that these slots are very competitive, and we will be favoring Showcase presentations that are able to clearly articulate how they can help address some of the challenges of the field. So if your work, project, or tool focuses on helping to better bring the work of the dialogue, deliberation, and public engagement into greater visibility and widespread practice – we definitely want to hear from you!

If you are selected as a D&D Showcase presenter, you’ll be expected to:

• Register for NCDD 2023 and attend the conference.
• Prepare a quick spiel or “elevator speech” about your Showcase topic that will get people interested in learning more. Practice it until it comes out naturally. We suggest you prepare several introductions of different lengths (30 seconds, 1 minute, etc.) so you can adjust quickly to different circumstances during the Showcase.
• Prepare a simple, visually interesting poster or display and bring it with you to the conference.
• Bring handouts about your program, method, online tool, publication, etc. that include further details.
• Have any laptop-dependent pieces of your Showcase presentation finished, functional, and ready to share (you’ll need to bring your own computer). 
• Show up for the Showcase session about 20 minutes early so we have time to make sure everyone is set up and has everything they need.

We are looking forward to having another informative and inspirational D&D Showcase this year, so we hope you’ll consider applying to be a presenter or urging your colleagues who are doing ground-breaking and critical work in the field to do so. We can’t wait to see all of the cutting-edge projects showcased in October! Learn more at: www.ncdd.org/showcase.html.

HUGE THANK YOU to the early sponsors for NCDD2023! These leading organizations in the dialogue and deliberation community are generously supporting the 2023 National Conference on Dialogue & Deliberation.  We are so grateful for their commitment to the conference and this community.  We couldn’t do it without them!

Our Platinum Producers are the Democracy Fund and the Interactivity Foundation.
Our Sustaining Sponsor is the Institute for Constructive Advocacy and Dialogue at James Madison University.
And our Conference Friends are National Civic League and Public Agenda.

Want to join their ranks? Our sponsors are integral to the success of our events, and receive a generous list of benefits for their support. Learn more about sponsorship here. ​

The Democracy Fund
The Democracy Fund is a bipartisan foundation established by eBay founder and philanthropist Pierre Omidyar to help ensure that the American people come first in our democracy. Today, technologies and innovations offer new opportunities for public engagement in a more vibrant democracy — even as serious challenges including hyper-partisanship, money in politics, and struggling media threaten the health of our political system. The Democracy Fund invests in organizations working to ensure that our political system is able to withstand new challenges and deliver on its promise to the American people.
www.democracyfund.org

The Interactivity Foundation
​​The Interactivity Foundation believes in the importance and power of civic discussion. More specifically, we believe that the capacity of our country’s citizens to engage collaboratively in meaningful civil conversations about public matters is a necessary and vital component of our democracy. The Interactivity Foundation’s mission is to strengthen our democracy through the use of a small-group discussion process to explore diverse perspectives and generate an expanding set of divergent possibilities. We often abbreviate the name of the Foundation as “IF” to convey our focus on possibilities and that we are always exploring “what if …?”
www.interactivityfoundation.org
​

​The Institute for Constructive Advocacy and Dialogue at James Madison University
The Institute for Constructive Advocacy and Dialogue at JMU serves to advance the practice of designing and facilitating conversations that help communities talk and think together. ICAD believes that encouraging people to engage in problem-solving in their communities strengthens the promise of democracy. We educate and train students, faculty, staff and community members to be able to facilitate campus and community conversations, conversations that ask tough questions and that encourage people to come together to gain an understanding of each other as they seek to address challenges and envision possibilities. We also advance research about dialogue, deliberation, and collaboration, and partner with national organizations interested in ensuring these processes are inclusive, accessible, and benefit from collective wisdom.
www.jmu.edu/icad
​

​National Civic League
The mission of the National Civic League is to advance civic engagement to create equitable, thriving communities. We achieve this by inspiring, supporting and recognizing inclusive approaches to community decision-making. Founded in 1894 by a group of civic leaders that included Theodore Roosevelt and Louis Brandeis, the National Civic League is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization. Today, more than ever, the work of the National Civic League is critical to helping create vibrant and healthy communities and a strong democracy.
www.nationalcivicleague.org

Public Agenda
​Public Agenda is a national, nonpartisan, nonprofit research and public engagement organization headquartered in New York City. We strive to strengthen democracy and expand opportunity for all Americans. Public Agenda began to take shape in 1975 when social scientist and public opinion research pioneer Daniel Yankelovich and public official and statesman Cyrus Vance decided to do something about a fundamental problem they thought was endangering our democracy: the growing disconnect between governing elites and the general public.​ Through nonpartisan research and engagement, Public Agenda provides people with the insights and support they need to arrive at workable solutions on critical issues, regardless of their differences. 
www.publicagenda.org

NCDD’s 2023 National Conference on Dialogue & Deliberation is coming up October 13-15 in Atlanta, Georgia. NCDD conferences bring together hundreds of the most active, thoughtful, and influential people involved in public engagement and group process work across the U.S. and Canada.

Today we’re announcing our call for proposals for our concurrent sessions at NCDD 2023. We’re interested in finding creative ways to highlight the best of what’s happening in public engagement, group process, community problem-solving, civic tech, and arts-based dialogue — and we know you have lots of ideas!

Check out the Application for Session Leaders now to see what we ask for, and start cooking up those great proposals we’ve come to expect from our network! If you’re looking for ideas and inspiration, look over the fabulous sessions offered at the 2018 and 2016 NCDD conferences.

Please note that the deadline for proposals is Friday, April 14th.

If your work involves dialogue and deliberation, or you want to get involved with this work, you’ll love this conference. Imagine spending three days with some of the most amazing leaders in this field, forming new relationships and reconnecting with old colleagues and friends, hearing about innovative new approaches to the challenges you’re facing, and exploring together how we can shape the future of this important movement, all while using innovative group techniques there’s really nothing like it. 

Here is some guidance for those thinking about presenting sessions at NCDD 2023…

Our theme for the 2023 conference is Our Return: Reconnect, Reflect, Renew, Recommit.

It will be nearly five years since our last in-person national conference, and we want to focus on the opportunities that coming together in person will allow us - the opportunities to reconnect, reflect, renew, and recommit to our work. Join us as we: 

• Reconnect with one another, sharing our experiences, practices, learning, and passions
• Reflect on our community, celebrate our history, and examine opportunities for growth
• Renew our purpose in bringing communities together in conversations that matter
• Recommit to these practices, this community, and our collective next steps

​
​NCDD 2023 will be a return to our roots - gathering together to make connections, expand our learning, explore new possibilities, and chart a course for our community of practice.

We encourage session proposals which will help attendees network, reflect on our work and practices, learn new skills, and/or explore new efforts, projects, and collaborations. Sessions which are interactive in nature, including sessions which get participants involved in experiencing a process, discussing challenges with one another, or working together to advance our community of practice are encouraged. 

Some advice for potential session leaders:

1. Identify great co-presenters.  Most workshops at NCDD conferences are collaborative efforts involving multiple presenters from different organizations and universities. Have you thought about who you can co-present with? Now’s the time to contact them to see if they’d like to offer a session with you! (Use the NCDD Main Discussion list and the comments below to put out feelers for potential co-presenters if you’d like. NCDD has also created a Collaborative Document to help facilitate connections.)
2. Look over past workshop descriptions. Peruse the list of workshops from NCDD Denver to get a sense of the kinds of sessions the planning team selects. Sessions focused on innovative solutions to common challenges, ways to take this work to scale or to new audiences, and deep dives into great projects (and thoughtful explorations of failed projects!) are especially welcome.
3. Be innovative with your session.  NCDD attendees are usually not too impressed with traditional panels or long speeches. Get them engaging with you and each other! Think about how you can get them out of their seats and moving around the room. And think about what you’d like to learn from them (not just what they can learn from you). 
4. Share your stories.  NCDDers prefer hearing your stories to getting a run-down of your organization or methodology.  People are interested in learning about what you did, what you learned, and how they may be able to learn from your experience.
5. Share the latest.  What’s the latest research? What are the latest innovations in the field? What new challenges are you facing? What are your latest accomplishments?
6. Create a working session. What is the next innovation we can create together? What tools or resources can we build to help more communities? Challenge participants to work together to build the next best steps for our field and our communities. 

Not quite ready to draw up a proposal yet? Use the comment field, Collaborative Doc, (and/or the NCDD Main Discussion listserv) to float your ideas by other NCDDers and members of the planning team. We may be able to match you up with potential co-presenters who can address the same challenge or issue you’re interested in focusing on.

Deadline for submissions

To have your session proposal considered, we need you to submit the session application by the end of the day on Friday, April 14th. Members of the conference planning team will review the proposals and plan to respond by email to the first contact listed in your proposal by May 15th.

Don’t forget that the super early bird tickets are NOW AVAILABLE! Get yours at this great low rate before it goes up!

Registration has officially launched for #NCDD2023 - the 9th National Conference on Dialogue & Deliberation, happening October 13-15 in Atlanta, Georgia! Early bird registration is $480 and is available until May 31! Regular registration will be $580, and our rate for full-time students is just $300. Over 3,000 people, from dozens of countries, have attended our biennial national and regional events, and we're expecting 500 this year - Register at www.tinyurl.com/NCDD2023reg. Learn more details about the conference in the post below.

We invite you to shape the conference by letting us know what you would like to see via this short survey.  Excited to see you in October!

NCDD is happy to announce the recent addition of three new members to the NCDD Board of Directors. Hollie Cost, Brad Rourke, and Sagacity Walker joined the board in January and will work with their fellow board members and staff over the next several years to guide and support the organization. 

We also want to give a sincere thank you to our outgoing Board members, Simone Talma Flowers and Betty Knighton, who worked tirelessly over the last six years to help NCDD through transitions and developments and helped offer their enthusiasm, vision, and sage wisdom to our staff. We can't thank them enough for all of the hard work they put in over the years. Thankfully, they will remain active members of the NCDD network.

We could not be more excited to welcome our newest members to the board!  We encourage you to join us in thanking them for taking on these new roles and to learn a bit more about them below.

The New Members of the NCDD Board of Directors

Sagacity Walker
Matthew Sagacity Walker is a program designer and facilitator focusing on community engagement and youth development. Sagacity is currently the Program Manager at Everyday Democracy where he designs community trainings and provides coaching on group facilitation and community organizing. Sagacity is also a Senior Associate with The Creative Discourse Group; a collective focused on racial equity and supporting organizations build more equitable practices. A graduate of University of Hartford, he worked as a Field Researcher for the university’s Center for Social Research where he co-designed program evaluations and long-term studies. As a group facilitator, he has collaborated with various Connecticut based organizations and institutions. Sagacity facilitated community organizing trainings in several states; Ohio, Delaware, Iowa, and Maine to name a few. He has also facilitated community dialogues on various issues, particularly education, policing, and racial equity. With a background in management, youth programming, education, program evaluation, and small group facilitation, Matthew Sagacity Walker continues to work on local and national initiatives in hopes to contribute to more equitable, just, and informed communities. ​

The National Coalition for Dialogue & Deliberation (NCDD) staff and Board of Directors send you our wishes for a safe and happy holiday season and our sincerest thanks for your continued participation and support. 

2022 was an exciting year for NCDD, as we celebrate 20 years as a network of innovators, working to help communities across the world discuss, decide, and take action together. It has been a time for reflection and for planning, but also for action. In 2022 we held our second Summer Learning Springboard, bringing people across the world together for skill building and learning exchange sessions. We hosted numerous webinars featuring network members and their work. We worked with other networks to help bring the skills of dialogue and deliberation to their members, including the American Library Association and the Association for Science and Technology Centers (a new NCDD Member Organization in 2022).

Most importantly, we began planning for big things in 2023. First and foremost, we begun planning the return of our signature event, the National Conference on Dialogue & Deliberation, which will be held October 13-15, 2023 in Atlanta, Georgia. Along with this event, we plan to increase of member and network engagement, including more regular webinars, new content on the blog and resource center, and rolling out our new member directory. We'll also host conversations about what comes next for the field, in anticipation of our conference, where we always look to identify new innovations and avenues. 

Two weeks ago, NCDD celebrated 20 years of connecting people who care about the way we talk with one another with an exciting and lively event. Thank you to everyone who joined us for this hybrid event, and to the many of our network members who shared remarks for the event and/or contributed a photo for our 20th Anniversary photo project!

If you were not able to join us live, we have now uploaded the video of the event here. Please check it out, as it captures much of this amazing network over the last 20 years, and talks about what we can continue to work on together. Plus, you can check out the announcement we made about our next national conference!

Those who joined NCDD for our 20th Anniversary Celebration last week were the first to hear our big announcement - the National Conference on Dialogue and Deliberation is back! After a hiatus due to COVID, we are so thrilled to reconvene our signature event in 2023.

​And, we shared another important opportunity that you'll want to read on to learn more about. 

About the Conference
NCDD 2023 will be held October 13-15, 2023 at the Crowne Plaza Atlanta Perimeter. A beautiful location perfect for the highly interactive conference, we are so thrilled to bring our event to the Southeast US for the first time! This will be a wonderful opportunity to connect with practitioners in the region, as well as showcase some of the wonderful work being done in the Atlanta area. 

If you haven't attended an NCDD conference before but want to learn more, check out this link.

Opportunity - Join or renew in 2022 to get the very best rate!
At our anniversary event we made another big announcement. We will be offering the lowest rate on conference registration to NCDD members whose dues are in good standing in 2022. That means if you have been thinking about joining or are behind on renewing your membership, now is the time to do it!

NCDD members all received discounted registration for our conference, but this is a special opportunity we're offering for an even deeper discount if you join or renew by December 31st. This helps support NCDD as we start what will be a very busy year, and gives you the very best deal on the conference!

Stay updated on the conference at our new event page: NCDD 2023

We can't wait to gather together with you all in 2023!

This Thursday, November 17th at 4pm Eastern/1pm Pacific, NCDD is hosting a 20th Anniversary Celebration. Don't miss it - register to receive the webinar information! 

Please join us to Reflect, Recommit, Renew, and Reconnect to our community of practice and the vital work we do in communities and organizations to promote empowering opportunities for engagement.​

This event will feature speakers from different areas of the network and look back at 20 years of community. We'll also be making a special announcement that you won't want to miss!

We are inviting you to gather with us to celebrate our 20 years of collaborative impact and to recommit to being a vital member of the NCDD community of practice, both gaining from and giving to this community. And we are asking you to renew your support of NCDD and the possibilities we create together. 

Register to join us today: bit.ly/NCDD20th