NCDD has been working closely with the Kettering Foundation recently, including playing a role in this past week’s Public Voice 2013, and we wanted to share more of what Kettering has been up to over the past few months… A Public Voice 2013: Framing the Public Deliberation on Budget Issues On June 5, Washington policymakers and representatives from the deliberative democracy network will meet at the National Press Club for a working meeting. Do Partisan Elites Polarize the Public? KF research associate David McIvor recently ... (continue)

We had another great NCDD “Confab Call” last week and as always, if you couldn’t join us we welcome you to listen to the audio recording. Our latest Confab featured NCDD members Jacob Hess and Phil Neisser, co-authers of “You’re Not as Crazy as I Thought, But You’re Still Wrong,” leading a discussion on red-blue dialogue. We had over 100 participants, 75 of which dropped in on the call’s collaborative doc, which this time was hosted on Hackpad.com and focused on several thoughtful questions and next ... (continue)

Last Wednesday, NCDD hosted its April 2013 Confab Call with featured guest Brad Rourke.  We focused on Brad’s recent Issue Advisory How Can We Stop Mass Shootings in Our Communities? (pdf) prepared for the National Issues Forums Institute in response to the mass shooting in Newtown, CT last December. It was a well-attended Confab, with more than 150 sign-ups and a healthy conversation during the call and on the collaborative document we created to allow participants to ask questions and introduce themselves. If you missed the ... (continue)

Jon Denn of A Greater Publishing (an NCDD organizational member since October 2011) is looking to build a team of NCDD members for a Catalyst Awards proposal that supports his website aGREATER.US. Please read over this post by Jon and let him know if and how you’d like to be involved, or share whatever questions you may have with him. You can add a comment here on the blog, or help develop the proposal at CivicEvolution at www.ncdd.civicevolution.org/proposal/10113.  See all the proposals that are being developed at http://ncdd.civicevolution.org. From Jon Denn… ... (continue)

New NCDD member Evelyn Messinger of Digital Citizen is looking to build a team of NCDD members for her Catalyst Awards proposal. Please read over this post by Evelyn and let her know if and how you’d like to be involved!  You can add a comment here on the blog, or help develop the proposal at CivicEvolution at www.ncdd.civicevolution.org/proposal/10113.  See all the proposals that are being developed at http://ncdd.civicevolution.org. Digital Citizen: A Multi-Media Project to Unite Us We at Digital Citizen have proposed a project for ... (continue)

Since 2011, the Kettering Foundation and the National Issues Forums have focused on the national debt, encouraging dozens of forums across the country to tackle this important issue.  Kettering has just released a report, No Easy Way Out: Citizens Talk About Tackling the Debt, written by Jean Johnson, senior fellow and special adviser for Public Agenda, highlighting the results of these forums.  From the report’s description… “This new report by Jean Johnson about recent citizen deliberations on the debt suggest the seeds of consensus on how to tackle ... (continue)

One of the local heroes of our conference in Seattle this year, longtime NCDD member and NCDD2012 All-Star Sponsor John Spady, worked tirelessly during the event to record as much content as he could, and has recently shared the audio recordings he collected on SoundCloud.com. Since many of these items were recorded from the audience, the sound quality does vary, but there’s some great stuff here, with over 20 recordings capturing both workshops and plenary sessions.  I strongly urge you to spend some time with them, ... (continue)

Melissa Sparlin of NCDD organization member and NCDD 2012 Seattle partner, The League of Extraordinary Trainers, reached out to us this week about their programs’ early 2013 training events.  They’ll be offering two, the multi-day IAP2 Certificate Program and John Godec’s two-day EOP2 – Moving from Rage to Reason training.  Also, dues-paying NCDD members can qualify for an additional discount!  More information from their announcement… If you work in communications, public relations, public affairs, planning, public outreach and understanding, community development, advocacy, or lobbying, this training will ... (continue)

The National Issues Forums Institite (nifi.org) has recently released several new issue guides of note.  “Sustaining Ourselves: How Can We Best Meet the Needs of Today and Tomorrow?” looks at the impact our lives have on the future of this country; “Right From the Start” examines the developement of children in their first four years; and “Bullying: How Should Schools Address this Growing Problem?” & “Bullying: What is it? How do we prevent it?”  continues the work of NIFI and its partners in this critical area. If you are interested in ... (continue)

We received the following announcement today from the National Issues Forums Institute‘s Patty Dineen for a fantastic webinar being held this Friday.  Since this is a little last minute, I’m just going to share the whole announcement… SHAPING OUR FUTURE:  WHAT IS HIGHER EDUCATION’S ROLE? Join Us For A Moderator Preparation Webinar on Friday, October 26, 2012 at 2pm This coming year, more than 60 campuses and communities will host shaping our future forums. Here’s your chance to find out how to participate. This free webinar ... (continue)