Issue #1, April, 2007
 Greetings!,Welcome to TableTalk, the first issue of the World Café's new newsletter!After
eleven years of steady growth, the World Café is undergoing a wonderful
tranformation - from the 'hub and spokes' model that has served
us so well to this point, to a truly self-determining global network of
World Café practitioners and friends.
With this first issue of TableTalk, we're launching a whole
constellation of ways to keep us all connected to what's happening in
this emerging network. We now have a new website with an extensive resource section, an events calendar and searchable global directory, an easier-to-use online community space, and a collaborative blog on Conversation as a Co-Evolutionary Force.
(The contents of the global directory are entirely user-generated, so please go in and add your details so others can find you!)Valuing diverse perspectives is a primary principle of the World Café, so you already know how important it is that your voice is heard. Please, share your vision for this network and let us know what you would like to see covered in these pages.Amy Lenzo, Editor and the World Café Community Foundation
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May 3-5: World Café in Dresden, Germany
May 5-6: Celebrate the Earth Conference in Sedona, Arizona
June 15-16: Peace through Dialogue Café in NYC
June 24-30: Shambhala's Summer Leadership Program w/World Cafés
July 31-August 7: World Café Bali
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Details for all these events & more on the World Café website Calendar |
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"The
idea of contribution is especially instructive because it lies in the
area that unites the "I" and the "we." We contribute because we are
part of something larger than our own lives and efforts, but the form
of our contribution is based on our own uniqueness and our
individuality."- Carol Ochs, Women and Spirituality, taken from The World Café: Shaping Our Futures Through Conversations That Matter.
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Dresden Opens its Heart
to the World Café
The historic European gathering that's attracting
World Café and other dialogue practitioners
from around the globe
 What might be possible if, just for one day, people throughout
a city engaged in conversations about the questions that matter
most to them?
And what if they were joined by others from nearby cities and
countries-indeed, by people from around the world-who
would take the possibilities that emerged in those conversations
back to their own communities?
That's precisely what is happening in Dresden, Germany
on May 3, the first day of a three-day gathering that truly models
the "World as Café" at a local and regional
level. Twenty-five World Café hosts from across Europe
are working with leaders throughout Dresden to co-create nine
different World Cafés that will engage over a thousand
people in exploring new ways of living and working together-and
in experiencing the transformative power of conversation as a
co-evolutionary force. Continue reading...
Register for the Dresden event Now!
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What's New?
Celebrating Ken Homer's Next Steps
We're happy to share the news that a long-time friend and colleague is taking a creative leap into the next phase of his life and work. After ten years as an integral member of the Mill Valley team helping nurture the development of the World Café, Ken Homer is moving forward to pursue new challenges and opportunities
(you can read his 'fare-well' letter to us here).
Ken began working with Juanita, David, and the World Café in 1997. Since that time, he has served as website developer and webmaster, researcher, writing partner, weaver of community connections, and World Café host. Willing to help in whatever capacity was needed, he has also provided technical support for the Mill Valley team and meeting logistics for many of the World Cafés that have played a key role in dissemination of the process.
We are deeply appreciative of Ken's caring and commitment and excited about the new directions he will be pursuing. We look forward to continuing our collaboration with him as a valued member of the extended World Café community.
The Mill Valley Team
For More News...
Beyond the exciting event happening next month in Dresden, which is profiled in this issue, there is lots going on in regional 'hubs' all over the world. Check in with the 'What's New' page on the website for more details, and please send in your own news so it can be shared with the whole network.
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The World Café in the News
Media Citings
Informal Learning guru Jay Cross reports in his blog on a GiGi meeting he attended on The World Café and the internet. Check out the great photographs!
The Half Moon Bay Review wrote an article on the series of regular World Cafés that Nancy Margulies is hosting in her community. The Café question they'll be working in this next session is "What could this community be if it met your needs perfectly?"
Keep your eyes peeled and send any media citings to: news@theworldcafe.com
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Conversations that Matter
There are many exciting conversations happening throughout the global World Café network; on the blog, in the online community, and in face-to-face in Cafés all over the world. For example ...
The World Café is being used to support conversations about climate change and global warming in many different contexts. We'll report on these as news is available. One rapidly spreading initiative uses the World Café in conjunction with David Gershon's The Low Carbon Diet, and an earlier pilot workshop spawned some lively conversations in the online community space.
Contribute your own thoughts
A very topical conversation is happening right now in the online community space about the World Café's role in exploring feelings stirred up by the recent tragedy at Virginia Tech.
Contribute your own thoughts
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Visual Intelligence
Graphic Recording is a vital part of the World Café process! Each issue of TableTalk will feature our collective visual intelligence via a graphic that capures some important World Café concept or information.
This from Mariah Howard:
Factoid: At least 315 new people have subscribed to the World Café newsletter in the three weeks the sign-up box has been displayed and more are added every day.
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Connectivity Tips
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World Café Tags: For those of you uploading images from your cafés to Flickr, tagging your blog posts for Technorati, or tagging articles or websites of interest to to share with others in the World Café network via Del.icio.us - these are the global tags we're using:
"theworldcafe" (for everything)
"cafegraphics" (for images of your World Café graphic recordings)
"tablecloths" (for images of graphics from World Café tablecloths) Look for a gallery of Tabletop Graphics soon (shout out to Jerry Michalski for the idea)! Here's a sneak preview:
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The World Cafe Community Foundation
Email: news@theworldcafe.com
Web: www.theworldcafe.com |
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