Yesterday, 50 NCDDers joined us for our July 2014 Confab call on “Event Closings” featuring four all-star practitioners: Lisa Heft, Adrian Segar, Tim Merry and Susanna Haas Lyons. On this Confab, we tackled a very practical challenge that many of you face, and that NCDD itself faces every time we plan a national conference: how to plan and execute effective closings at participatory events. All four of our featured guests have extensive experience closing large-scale events using approaches such as Open Space, World Cafe, Conferences That Work, Art of Hosting and 21st Century Town Meetings. NCDD’s director, Sandy Heierbacher, reflected on some of the […] (continue)

NCDD is proud to announce that The League of Extraordinary Trainers has signed on as a Partner of the 6th National Conference on Dialogue & Deliberation… The League of Extraordinary Trainers are seven highly seasoned practitioners who have designed and presented some of the most powerful and recognized training in public participation, collaboration, consensus, high stakes communication, and facilitation in the world today. The League (known initially as the US Trainers’ Consortium) are practice leaders, developers and founders of the International Association for Public Participation (IAP2) and […] (continue)

NCDD is proud to announce that the National Dialogue Network is joining us as a Co-Sponsor of the 6th National Conference on Dialogue & Deliberation… One of the great pleasures of working with people in our community is watching their ideas take root and grow.  It’s even more gratifying to see ideas presented at our events take on a life of their own.  The National Dialogue Network got its start at our Seattle conference and was eventually chosen by our members as one of the winners of the NCDD’s 2012 Catalyst Awards. […] (continue)

We’re excited to announce that we’ll once again be holding our popular “D&D Showcase” at this year’s National Conference on Dialogue & Deliberation. The Showcase is a high-energy networking activity that provides a way for about 25 people in our field to introduce their work and their ideas to the majority of conference participants. The Showcase takes place during the reception on the first night of the conference (Friday, October 17th, from 4:30 to 6:00 pm). It’s a fun way for conference-goers to meet some of […] (continue)

NCDD is proud to announce that the Public Conversations Project is stepping up as an All-Star Sponsor of the 6th National Conference on Dialogue & Deliberation… Since 1989, the Public Conversation Project has worked in the U.S. and around the world facilitating dialogues on a wide range of contentious issues including abortion, forest management, homosexuality and faith, biodiversity, the use of animals in research, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and many others. In a world bristling with tension, controversy, polarization, and war, PCP aims to reduce rancor in public squares and […] (continue)

NCDD is proud to announce that the Interactivity Foundation is stepping up as an All-Star Sponsor of the 6th National Conference on Dialogue & Deliberation… The Interactivity Foundation (or IF) works to engage citizens in the exploration and development of possibilities for public policy through small group discussions.  With projects impacting policy discussions as close to home as Madison, Wisconsin and as far afield as Hungary, Kazakhstan and the far east, the Interactivity Foundation works on several levels of public discussions within three main focal areas: Their Project Discussions are longer-term projects with […] (continue)

Join us on Tuesday, July 29th from 2-3pm Eastern (11-12 Pacific) for NCDD’s next “Confab Call.” Register today to secure your spot! This will be a different kind of Confab. We’ll be tackling a very practical challenge that many dialogue and deliberation practitioners face, and that NCDD itself faces every time we plan an NCDD conference. The confab will dig into challenges and strategies for planning and managing effective closings at participatory events. We have four great practitioners who will serve as conversation starters: Lisa Heft, Adrian Segar, Tim Merry and Susanna […] (continue)

As you may have read by now, the theme for the NCDD 2014 Conference is Democracy for the Next Generation. We chose this theme for many reasons. We wanted to bring more attention to the exciting and innovative ways that next generation technology is changing our field, to think about new ways to embed our work into old processes of governance, and to invite people to join us in envisioning what it would look like for dialogue, deliberation, and public engagement to take an evolutionary leap forward as a […] (continue)

Hi everybody! Andy here with a fun little milestone for NCDD’s 2014 conference. We are now at 99 regular registrations for this fall’s event. Which means you, yes you, can be registrant number 100! Not only can you take advantage of the soon-to-expire early bird registration rate, but you also receive the bragging rights that only come with being #100. Please feel free to have a tshirt made and wear it to the conference. 🙂 So register today and claim this auspicious moment as your […] (continue)

In response to a whole bunch of requests for “more time,” we’re giving everyone one more week to get their workshop proposals in for the 2014 National Conference on Dialogue & Deliberation. Session proposals are now due by the end of the day next Monday, June 23rd. Submit your best ideas for creative, lively, valuable sessions at www.ncdd.org/ncdd2014/session-app and keep in mind the conference theme and the following tips for presenters… Our theme for the 2014 conference, Democracy for the Next Generation, invites us to build on all the […] (continue)