NCDD2023 Session Proposal Deadline Extended

We have had great proposals submitted already since we announced the call for proposals for the upcoming 2023 National Conference on Dialogue & Deliberation happening October 13-15 in Atlanta, Georgia!

Since this is the first time we are convening again in person since the pandemic, we know how important this opportunity is for our network and wider community of practice. For this reason and in spirit of the conference theme - ​Our Return: Reconnect, Reflect, Renew, Recommit - we have decided to extend the deadline for the call for proposals to allow more time for the network to connect with others and craft their session proposals.

The new deadline for the NCDD2023 Call for Proposal is Friday, April 28th.

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. 

We also strongly encourage using the Collaborative Document 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.

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! 
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. 
   
   

Learn more about the conference and what past conferences have been like at the NCDD2023 Call for Proposals main site. Once you are ready to submit, head on over to the Application for Session Leaders to submit your session proposals. And in case you missed it, we shared a post on the NCDD blog last week with several important reminders not mentioned in this post (check it out here).

We are thrilled to see what session proposals are submitted and we can't wait to see you in person at the conference!