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!
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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 NCDD is looking for YOU, our network members, to be a part of a Photo Project we're working on for our 20th Anniversary! We posted on the blog earlier in October, but we're hoping to get some more submissions in this final week before we start putting the project together. Read below for the information on how to join us! Inspired by the photo project we did for our national conference in 2012, we are creating a video comprised of photos submitted by our members that include a statement of how you are recommitting to this work and/or this community as we celebrate 20 years together. This is an opportunity to capture our diversity and passion and put it on display! The video will be used in the anniversary event and on the website. We are asking for submissions from network members through Friday, November 11th. How to Get Involved
Take a picture of yourself holding a sign or next to one that expresses (briefly!) what you would like to recommit to. NCDD, as part of our 20th Anniversary Celebration, has launched new opportunities for individuals and organizations to help support this wonderful network and organization by becoming a Partnering Member. We're excited to announce our friends at the Interactivity Foundation have signed on as a Sustaining Partner, making a significant gift of support to NCDD to help usher us into the next generation of our work. Read on for their statement of support and how you can join them in becoming a partner! Join Interactivity Foundation and become a Partner!Partners provide much needed resources for NCDD, and NCDD gives our partners greater visibility in the NCDD network. Benefits include:
Supporting Partner – $2,500 and up annually Sustaining Partner – $5,000 and up annually Champion – $10,000 and up annually If you have any questions prior to signing on as a partner, please reach out to courtney@ncdd.org. As we announced last week, NCDD is organizing a 20th Anniversary Event on November 17th, celebrating this wonderful network and it's contributions since its founding in 2022. We are inviting our network members to participate in a project that will be featured as part of this event. Inspired by the photo project we did for our national conference in 2012, we are creating a video comprised of photos submitted by our members that include a statement of how you are recommitting to this work and/or this community as we celebrate 20 years together. We have such a broad range of backgrounds, approaches, and perspectives amongst our members, so this is an opportunity to capture this diversity and passion and put it on display! The video will be used in the anniversary event and on the website. How to Get Involved We are asking for submissions from network members through November 5th. Take a picture of yourself holding a sign or next to one that expresses (briefly!) what you would like to recommit yourself to. For example, your sign might say: " I recommit to helping students learn the practices of dialogue & deliberation," or " I recommit to helping my community engage with one another respectfully." We have created a template you are welcome to use - download that here. But, feel free to be creative about your sign — you can use paper, flip chart easels, iPads, or other tools. The photo should be bright and feature you clearly–we want to see all of your wonderful faces! The statement should be legible and in large enough text that it can be read from a distance. An example is included on the right. Don't forget to also include your first name, city and/or state, and country. It will be wonderful to see you all and where you are joining in from when we show the video during the event! To submit your photo, please upload it using this form, or email courtney@ncdd.org. NCDD is excited to announce our 20th Anniversary Celebration, happening via webinar and livestream on Thursday, November 17th at 4pm Eastern/1pm Pacific.
Please join us to Reconnect, Reflect, Renew, and Recommit to our community of practice and the vital work we do in communities and organizations to promote empowering opportunities for engagement. 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 As practitioners of dialogue, deliberation, and public engagement, it is important that we continue to improve our facilitation practice by learning new skills, understandings, and considerations for designing and facilitating conversations. In the below sessions at this year's Summer Learning Springboard, participants will learn how to be self-reflective and intuitive. Register today to widen your skillset. Silence in Dialogue: Capturing Possibilities in the Pause
Tuesday July 26 1:30-3:30 PM Eastern/10:30 AM-12:30 PM Pacific Hosts: Hoa Nguyen - Valdosta State University & Ashmi Desai - San Francisco State University In this session, we will focus on the role of silence, pause, solitude, and contemplation in dialogue. For instance, what purpose can silence serve in dialogue and what can silence communicate? What can we draw from silence? Participants are engaged in an interactive dialogue format that will encourage them to notice what is happening within the in-between spaces of pause and examine how Western-centric frames have defined and portrayed silence in conversations. Taming Trolls, Troublemakers, and Tyrants Wednesday July 27 12:00-2:00 PM Eastern/9:00-11:00 AM Pacific Host: Karin Tamerius - Smart Politics This session is about how to set boundaries in online and offline dialogue so you can keep a conversation going and make it productive even when others behave badly. Introduces a four-step, graded process that begins with humanization and ends with termination of dialogue only in cases of abusive behavior. Learn what motivates most bad behavior in dialogue and discover steps that will empower you to turn conversations around. Designed for non-facilitators, but will cover concepts useful to facilitators as well. Somatic Practices to Embody Facilitator Growth Wednesday July 27 3:00-4:30 PM Eastern/12:00-1:30 PM Pacific Hosts: Daniel Little - Co-founder, Round Sky Solutions & Rebecca Fisher-McGinty - Worker owner, Round Sky Solutions In facilitation, we tend to focus on structures and processes to guide us in collaboration and conversation. That is helpful! But, there’s an essential missing ingredient to facilitating and participating in these spaces: somatic practices. Our participatory spaces benefit from giving attention to what’s happening somatically (in your body) that builds the collective and the individual. In this session, participants will explore the facilitator’s personal development and capacities through somatic practices. Intro to Analyzing Power: Building Equitable Futures Together Thursday July 28 12:00-1:30 PM Eastern/9:00-10:30 AM Pacific Hosts: Nicole Hewitt-Cabral - Director of Public Engagement, Public Agenda & Dhara Shah - Senior Public Engagement Associate, Public Agenda This session will provide an overview on power analysis by asking people to interrogate their own power in the context of thinking about how we, as citizens and community members, can shift power towards historically dis-invested communities to build equitable futures together. Hearing, Seeing, and Understanding Tuesday July 26 3:00-5:00 PM Eastern/12:00-2:00 PM Pacific Host: Selena Kohel - Cottey College Indirect and direct. High context and low context. Affective and neutral. These are just some of the cultural norms that may hinder or facilitate dialogue where cultural diversity exists. Explore important cultural differences and similarities and how you might navigate these given different situations. Let’s think together about the work of dialogue and deliberation – how to we approach this work? How can we harness it for further good? Register for the NCDD Summer Learning Springboard & participate in the sessions below that feature discussions about the important implications of deliberative practices. A Little Less Talk and a Lot More Action?
Reframing Dialogue & Deliberation as Formational Practices Monday July 25 1:00-2:30 PM Eastern/10:00-11:30 AM Pacific Hosts: Brad Rourke - Program Officer, Kettering Foundation; Elizabeth Gish - Program Officer, Kettering Foundation Pastor, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ); Katya Lukianova - Program Officer, Kettering Foundation; Michael Nygren - President, Live Your Best Life, Inc. When we frame dialogue or deliberation as something other than action, we run the risk of missing the potential that D&D has to shape people, communities, and institutions. Taking part in deliberation and dialogue is an essential form of action that involves talking, listening, weighing, feeling, imagining, connecting, being seen and heard, and so on. When we take part in these practices, they shape who we are and have potential to shape the communities where we live. This 90 minute session engages participants in reframing the distinction between talk/action, suggests activities that can help explore this, and provides examples of the way that D&D has been a meaningful formational practice for individuals, communities, and institutions. Can Deliberation Contribute to New Democratic Revival Movement? Wednesday July 27 12:00-2:00 PM Eastern/9:00-11:00 AM Pacific Hosts: Daniel Kemmis - Citizens Uniting to Restore Our Democracy & Wendy Willis - Founder and Director, Oregon's Kitchen Table Executive Director, Deliberative Democracy Consortium Drawing on Daniel Kemmis' most recent book, Citizens Uniting to Restore Our Democracy, and Wendy Willis' recent thinking about how to bring grass-roots deliberation to constitutional reform, Kemmis and Willis will lead a highly interactive session on how practitioners and theorists of democratic deliberation might contribute to a 21st century movement of democratic renewal. Rather than thinking about deliberation as an end in itself, the session will examine how deliberative democrats might join forces with other democratic activists to address real barriers to reform and build a more just and functional democracy. Reframing Democracy Through the Wicked Problems Lens Tuesday July 26 1:00-2:30 PM Eastern/10:00-11:30 AM Pacific Host: Martin Carcasson - Director, Center for Public Deliberation at Colorado State University This workshop is focused on elevating our local conversations about shared problems by building local capacity to engage issues more collaboratively and productively through the use of deliberative engagement processes. Deliberative engagement involves interactive, often facilitated, small group discussions utilizing materials and processes designed to spark collaborative learning rather than merely the collection of individual opinions. An opening session will examine the concept of “wicked problems” as a framework to reframe difficult issues and review recent research on social psychology to help explain why traditional engagement processes are often counterproductive to sparking the high quality communication democracy requires. Learn a new method for dialogue and deliberation – the Summer Learning Springboard is an opportunity to learn new approaches you might not be familiar with! This year's program includes several sessions which highlight practices that may be new to you. Check them out below and be sure to register to join us. Learning the Empathy Circle Practice
Monday July 25 and repeat session Saturday July 30 1:00-3:00 PM Eastern/10:00 AM-12:00 PM Pacific Host: Edwin Rutsch, Center for Building a Culture of Empathy Participants will learn about the process of an Empathy Circle by experiencing it. An Empathy Circle is a structured dialogue process that effectively supports meaningful and constructive dialogue. The practice increases mutual understanding and connection by ensuring that each person feels fully heard to their satisfaction. Helping Communities Share Nothing But "Good News" Tuesday July 26 1:00-2:00 PM Eastern/10:00-11:00 AM Pacific Host: Eric Pories, Focus Intent Facilitation Services Learn how volunteers in West Virginia are bringing "Good News" to their community. At a Good News community engagement event, up to twenty speakers take turns sharing positive community news. Each speaker has a maximum of two minutes to share their “Good News” within a well-orchestrated agenda. Creating a Sense of Belonging Friday July 29 12:00-2:00 PM Eastern/9:00-11:00 AM Pacific Hosts: Mavis Tsai, Ph.D., Awareness, Courage & Love Global Project; U. of Washington & Susan Partnow, MA, Sr. Certified Facilitator, Compassionate Listening Feeling that we belong to a larger group that shares common struggles and aspirations is fundamental to our sense of happiness and well-being. Conversely—isolation, loneliness and feeling excluded undermines well-being. In this session, you will: 1) engage in a mindfulness exercise that explores how belonging starts with allowing in parts of yourself that are difficult for you to accept; 2) explore your experiences of inclusion and exclusion; 3) practice how to more deeply be with your own and another's heart. Convening and Facilitating Deliberative Discussions: How Can We Encourage and Safeguard Voting? Monday July 25 3:00-4:30 PM Eastern/12:00-1:30 PM Pacific Host: Betty Knighton, National Issues Forums & Kettering Foundation In this session, participants will explore the fundamental concepts and practices of deliberative dialogue within the context of convening and facilitating community and campus discussions on the critically important and timely issue of encouraging and safeguarding voting. Participants will receive a wide range of issue-specific and general materials to help them in their future efforts. NCDD Member, Lori Britt, was featured on Brand Story a podcast celebrating the stories of real people who are making an impact on brands, business, and the world around them. Each episode features guests from a variety of backgrounds who bring their own unique perspectives to the conversation. Brand Story is created and produced by Gravity Group and is hosted by Gravity Group President, Steve Gilman. Lori Britt is the President of the Board of Directors of NCDD along with a Professor of Communication and Co-Director of at James Madison University. As a long-time communication instructor, Lori has taught various courses on group and organizational communication with a focus on community dialogue and deliberation. She is also Co-Director of JMU’s Institute for Constructive Advocacy and Dialogue (ICAD). This episode discusses the importance of intentional conversations with the host, Steve Gilman. Britt's episode is titled Dialogue & Deliberation. From the episode description:
There’s a difference between communicating with someone and having an intentional conversation. Understanding the way you talk and how that impacts the way you think is important in helping to break down barriers and engage in civic conversations with others. It’s the heart of what Lori teaches and models for others — figuring out the why. It’s become even more important now to be able to engage with others of differing opinions without breaking down. Dialogue and deliberation are processes that can help us all understand our own way of thinking and identify the constraints we may not know exist. As Lori would say, it’s simple but complex work. In this episode, Lori challenges us to identify our personal schema and how our thinking has been conditioned. She identifies common challenges that are apparent in conversations and walks us through ways to expand our way of thinking. Whether you’re speaking to an individual or working as a group, her insights will prove valuable in helping shape your next conversation. |
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