Have you joined NCDD’s LinkedIn group yet?  The group has about 800 members, and it’s a great way to stay updated on what’s happening in the field and connect with new people who work in dialogue and deliberation.  We’ve had some rich discussions there as well, like the one on “Groundrules necessary to make the best of virtual meetings” initiated by Martin Pearson about a month ago. Martin wrote that he was starting to use Skype more for meetings, and asked group members if they […] (continue)

NCDD’s director, Sandy Heierbacher, is in Sydney, Australia taking part in a meeting with other leaders in the deliberative democracy community and is seeking input from all of NCDD on the project proposals being introduced… Hello from Sydney, everyone! Our group of top practitioners, academics and network leaders in deliberative democracy is inviting YOUR input on which of  the proposals that have been emerging here should go forwarded for seed funding. I’d love to see lots of NCDDers voting on these proposals at http://bit.ly/eMz5nC . Don’t wait, […] (continue)

NCDD is a proud sponsor of The Citizens’ Toolbox: What’s In Yours? — a conference aimed at connecting students with those engaged in a broad and varied set of experiments and projects in Dialogue and Deliberation and other tenets of civic and democratic life. Join us March 16-19 at Miami University of Ohio in Oxford, Ohio, as we all ask what’s in our own toolboxes, and open those up for each other to explore and engage. Join us in this opportunity to share and gain […] (continue)

The National Coalition for Dialogue & Deliberation gained 74 great new members in the last few months: 67 individual members and 7 organizations.  Please welcome the following new members to the network!  If you’d like to connect with any of them, search for them in the NCDD members network to find their contact info and bio. Our newest organizational members: Mediation@MIT (Contact: Ruthy Rosenberg) USARiseUp, Inc. (Contact: Janice Ellis and Christopher Ellis) Democrasoft (Contact: Will Schneider) City of Beaverton Dispute Resolution Center (Contacts: Sandy Riccardi) […] (continue)

Happy 2011, everyone!  I hope this is a productive and prosperous year for all of you. I wanted to point out a couple of things on the NCDD site that I’m excited about, and that have the potential to help us spread the word about the critical work you’re all doing in this field. We have over 2,500 resources listed in the revamped NCDD Resource Center at www.ncdd.org/rc (which uses the new web design and logo we’re switching over to). There, you’ll find more resources […] (continue)

I’m heading down to DC for a small meeting of civic leaders at the Department of Education run by the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U).  We’ll be helping advice the U.S. Department of Education on how to increase higher education’s leadership in promoting civic learning and democratic engagement.  Very exciting! If this topic interests you, be sure to look over the articles in the recent Journal for Public Deliberation issue on deliberative democracy and higher ed posted at http://services.bepress.com/jpd/vol6/iss1/ — especially Nancy Thomas’ […] (continue)

Have you seen NCDD’s new Resource Guide on Public Engagement?  If you’ve attended our regional events this fall, you have.  Those of you gathering together in Portland this weekend (see you there!) will get a copy. Others can download the doc from www.ncdd.org/rc/item/4471.  We’re planning on raising funds for the next round of printing by charging small amounts ($5 each; $3 each if you want more than 20?) for the printed copies we have leftover from the events.  Everybody seems to want them, which is […] (continue)

Register now for a top-notch 4-day Appreciative Inquiry Summits Workshop held in Chapel Hill, North Carolina next month (November 8-11).  Dues-paying NCDD members get a 20% discount on registration! (Call 303.972.5155 for instructions on how to register with the discount – which saves you over $300). Join Appreciative Inquiry pioneer Diana Whitney and master practitioners Barbara Lewis and Ralph Weickel as you learn to design and conduct an Appreciative Inquiry Summit. Summits accelerate organizational creativity and change by enabling groups of 50 to 3,000 people […] (continue)

If you’re based in Colorado, please plan to join us at the networking luncheon and dialogue we’re holding in Denver on Friday, October 22nd at The Wellshire Inn.  We will meet at 10:30am at the Wellshire, and enjoy lunch and group discussions until 3:30pm. After 3:30, you are welcome to stick around for additional networking and an early happy hour! The planning team is putting together a great program, with impressive leaders in public engagement playing various roles: Peggy Kerns, Director of the Center for […] (continue)

I hope those of you in Northern California are planning to join us for the NCDD regional event on Friday, October 29th at De Anza College in Cupertino! Please register for “Making Tough Decisions Together” soon so we know you’re coming. This is quite the community effort, with numerous local organizations sponsoring (listed below) and the following regional leaders involved in guiding the planning process and leading learning sessions at the event: Dave Knapp, City Manager of Cupertino, CA Ed Everett, City Manager of Redwood […] (continue)