Issue #3, October, 2007
 Greetings!,Welcome to this issue of World Caf� TableTalk!A wave of comments on the World Caf� Europe blog sent in from MBA students in Prague after having experienced a World Caf� remind me how deeply we all long for the sheer pleasure of conversation about questions that really matter. I particularly loved this comment: "Our academically selected topic "What might a great MBA experience look
like?" ends up described as a cup of tea, a growing flower, an orange or the fire
of a tea candle. Isn't it ridiculous? For us it was something amazing...".Speaking of amazing, we're pleased to announce there have been three new translations of the World Caf� book published this month - in Taiwan, Japan and Germany! Read more about these translations, reports on remarkable World Caf�s in India and Bali, important announcements and other international news in this issue.
But first, a special welcome to the 1,350+ new people who have subscribed to this newsletter since we started it just a few short months ago! We're so glad to have you with us, and look forward to hearing from you about your World Caf� experiences.
Thanks to all of you who sent in stories, photos and comments, and are adding your thoughts to conversations in the online community space. The World Caf� is all about listening to and sharing diverse perspectives ... and you are the only one that can add your unique voice to this conversation. Thanks for your contributions, which enrich us all!
Amy Lenzo, Editor and the World Caf� Community Foundation
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October 18th - 21:
Visual Language Conference in Sante Fe, New Mexico
October 31 - 24: Organizational Development Conference in Baltimore, Maryland
November 3:
Youth Dialogue Project World Caf�, San Francisco, California
November 5 - 7:
Pegasus Systems Thinking Conference in Seattle, Washington
December 3 - 6:
Methods for Strategic Collaboration workshop in Tucson, Arizona
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Details on all these events & more on the World Caf� website Calendar
Send us your dates!
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"Everything is connected... no one thing can change by itself."
~ Paul Hawken
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World Caf� Joins Hands with Bali Institute
Awakening Global Action in Ubud
This photograph, taken by World Caf� Steward Don Proffit, conveys the spirit of the country in the warm welcome that was given to attendees at the Awakening Global Action conference in Ubud, Bali this summer. For more photographs, click here. Don co-facilitated a two-day intensive conference-within-a-conference at the Ubud event with leaders from the US, Bali, Australia, and South Africa to explore vital questions about our global future. Read his story in the World Caf� StoryNet.
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What's New?
World Caf� Europe has just announced the date of the 2nd World Caf� Europe Gathering - to take place in Bilbao, Spain, June 5-7 2008. More details in this invitation. (See the website What's New page for more updates on what's happening with World Caf� Europe.)
The Boulevard Paulistrano and Global Mind Change World Caf�s in Sao Paulo, Brasil last June were groundbreaking events. Here's one of the wonderful photographs Juanita Brown brought back:
For more, see the Brasil "set" on the World Caf� gallery on Flickr.
Reminder: Uploading your images to Flickr and tagging them with "theworldcafe" is an easy way to share them.
There is a lot happening with the World Caf� network in Latin America, including the ability to subscribe to the Bolet�n World Caf�-Latino - just click the "join our Mailing List' link at the top of the left hand column and add the Bolet�n World Caf�-Latino to your existing subscription (you're already subscribed to TableTalk if you're receiving this).
Also, Ana Cristina Maldonado has been working with Palomilla colleagues in Mexico to create a Spanish page as the first step towards a full Spanish translation of the World Caf� website.
For More News...
Check in regularly with the 'What's New' page on the website for ongoing World Caf� news, and please send in your own updates so they can be shared with the network.
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Community Media Caf� in India
 Manish Jain shared this exciting story, told in a series of photos (be sure to read the text accompanying each image!), about a 5-day Community Media Gathering in
India where
over 35 artists, artisans and media
activists came together to share their concerns, experiences and skills in producing and sharing media. They went on to explore
how these creative artforms can strengthen inter-cultural dialogue
that nurtures their own and their communities' well-being.
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Translating the World Caf�
Three new translations of the World Caf� book were published this month! Translation teams in Japan, Taiwan, and Germany have been working for months towards this day, and the results are finally on the bookshelves, joining existing translations in Spanish, Portuguese and Turkish.
The covers for each of these new editions are all unique, as were the individual circumstances that supported the work and guided the translations into being, but the heart and care for the World Caf� and the desire to share it with people all around the world was the same in each.
Our thanks and congratulations to them all for such beautiful results!
Click here to read more about the stories behind each of the books and for links to order them.
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Conversations that Matter
Hot conversations in the World Caf� network
There's a great information-sharing conversation going on in " Tableless Caf�s?" on the online community space right now. Christine Whitney Sanchez posed a question about how to host a World Caf� when you don't have access to the usual 'props', and the suggestions began to pour in... If you have any tips to share, please add them! Or start a new topic and introduce a question of your own. It always amazes me to see what comes out of the collective mind when it is focused on something specific.
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World Caf� in the News
Media Citings
Cheryl Esposito welcomed Juanita Brown to her 9/21 show on Voice America for a conversation about how "conversational leadership" is shaping a successful world future for the 21st century and beyond.
Juanita was also featured in the 9/27/07 "Wise Talk" teleconference forum hosted by Sue Bethanis of Mariposa Leadership, Inc.. Listen to their conversation (scroll down the page until you see the audio files)Here is an article (in German) from Digest Online about a World Caf� in a public caf� in Duesseldorf facilitated by Birgit Gosejakob. Steve Pashley blogged about his experience hosting a World Caf� in the National Health Service in his UK blog " The Changing NHS".
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Visual Intelligence
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Community Tech Steward Amy Lenzo worked with graphic listener Susan Kelley to create this map of the World Caf� online communications constellation and how the pieces work together (stay tuned for more illustrations with further details on each element, including a visual guide to the website):
The Cybrary has a downloadable copy of this image and a Key to the Map in a Word document.
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Connectivity Tips
The
World Caf� has just been offered space in the 'Info International' grid on
virtual world Second Life! If you are interested in being part of the
team to build and host this project, please contact amy@theworldcafe.com!
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Great Resources
Graphic
Facilitation artist Roy Blumenthal has uploaded several of his
wonderful graphics, including a print-quality file of the "Welcome"
poster above, into the World Caf� Cybrary. Have a look (scroll down the page until you see the links)!
One of our colleagues from the Art of Hosting, Ravi Tangri, sent a link to some fantastic videos - The Art of Harvesting, Chaordic Design, Chaordic Stepping Stones, and the Art of Calling - on the ArtofHostingTV.net channel. Stay tuned as more videos are added.
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The World Cafe Community Foundation
Email: news@theworldcafe.com
Web: www.theworldcafe.com |
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