The World Cafe Community

Hosting Conversations about Questions that Matter

There are people gathering here in the World Cafe community from literally all over the world, and it is so exciting!!! I really want to meet everyone, and I know I'm not alone. Would you please tell us a little about yourself here, just as an introduction, so we can start to learn about each other? Where do you live? How did you learn about the World Cafe? What are your interests and passions?

NOTE: The convention on this part of the site is that the responses are in chronological order, so you have to click forward to the last page to see the latest introduction.

Tags: community, introductions, stories

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All of it. Durdle Door is its name!
Dear Benjamin, Dear Amy, Dear Everyone who is bringing the world together in face-to-face conversations

So much to say! So many conversations fulfilled! So many yet to be created!
I am so excited at the possibility of finding many of you who share a commitment for bringing small conversation groups toether in one focused effective global conversation community. I keep reading in this communit y created by Amy, of other people’s shared interest in face-to-face World conversations.

This is Sami Sunchild. To introduce myself, I have been hosting Conversations between strangers from all over the world for many years. I have participated as guest in other cultures I was visiting, and I have been a host to uncounted Peaceful World Conversations here at the Red Vic Peace Center in San Francisco.

I’d like to form with all of you an international conversation “Club” open to all travelers and locals who are working on behalf of a better world.
Our “Club” can have any name. We have been using Peaceful World Convesations, but now it is time to have ONE Name, ONE FAMILY, of face-to-face conversations happening everywhere in the world.

For years we in San Francisco have had small table cards on our conversation tables – with great success. However, now I like to think of a “game board” which can be downloaded anywhere on the planet - a folding table card, pehaps a membership card, which can be downloaded by Conversation hosts anywhere in the world, which beomes a membership card to Conversations everywhere in the world? To place on their Conversation Tables? This sketch is just a rough first adaptation of table cards we have been using for years at our Peaceful World Conversations
The Google maps you have created Ben, and the World Café Community you have birthed, Amy, fill my heart with hope that one day in all of these places strangers will be meeting and listening to each other.

Details, details
Much experimenting suggests that a reglarly named day of the week (like Rotary Club Wednesdays) facilitates finding your conversation when you travel. Presently we use “Sunday mornings at nine”

Sccess at being based in hospitalty locations, b&b’s, hostels, cafes, etc also facilitates travelers and locals coming together and finding each other, as well as supporting social change host enterprises.
Your community and intercultural experiences, Ben, are what it is all about. I so look forward to learning your ideas – and sharing wih you how our ”breakfast conversations” your responses to this letter.
I can hardly wait for your response to this message. So many new friendships to grow like a garden all over the world.

Juanita, kudos and love. David, thanks for your inspiration-by-doing. I may have not been visible to you, but you are all my inspiration, and hope, for our beautiful world

In love and service
Sami Sunchild
Thank you dear Sami. We so admire what you have been doing over all these years!
Fond regards,
Juanita
I am very new to this, where is a summary of the principles and a to do list for a cafe? Ground rules etc?
Peaceful World Conversations "How-To Manual" for bringing the world together
Please click on the link below to learn about Peaceful World Conversations, becoming a conversation host, as well as downloading our manual.
http://www.redvic.com/worldconversations.html

Dear Clive and all World Cafe Community,
Thank you for your kind responses, we look forward to sharing ideas with you.
Hi Clive,
You can find of this in our book The World Cafe: Shaping our Futures though Conversations that Matter on Amazon. OR, go to our website under "Resources" and see Cafe To Go--which is a very short version of the principles and to do list-- or you can order the Resource Guide-- available through Pegasus Communications.

Warm regards,
Juanita
I have some very interesting possibilities to do this in London. Who may I meet to experience how it is done? Where are they in London?
Hi Clive!

There are 31 people living in London according to my search here - you could do an advanced search to see which of them are experienced hosts who might be able to help you produce the World Cafes you are interested in. One of them is my dear friend Chris Chopyak, one of the most skilled and experienced World Cafe hosts I know.

World Cafes are often hosted in collaboration with particular sponsors for specific purposes, so to some extent they are not something you can just "go see". But you can experience one for yourself, using the design principles and hosting guides you'll find in the World Cafe book and resources Juanita mentioned above.

If you would like to share your "interesting possibilities", I'd be happy to connect with you back-channel and talk.

Warm Wishes,

Amy
Not yet on the interesting possibilities! I need more of a feel about what this is about.

I must be honest that red flashing lights are going off in my head about some of the language here - like harvesting - that to me sounds very evangelical xian.

I have experience of people drawing the events of conferences like those shown here, for example I made a very clear statement at one about what is the Blake's New Jerusalem, the vision we were after, and even spoke to the artist about this in a break, having got very clear verbal and body language support for my comments, yet it was not recorded!
I am rereading Fromm to have or to be. I started off as a psychiatric social worker with therapeutic communities and therefore am very interested in these ideas. A major conversation might be about to have or to be.


To have or to be
http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=J...age&q=&f=false

Rereading this, and it is thought provoking.

A major issue is that the English speaking world has definitely moved to a "haveworld" and the mythology of this is in fact embedded in our main cultural myths.

Greater love has no man than...

1If I speak in the tongues[a] of men and of angels, but have not love

Compare p 17 of Fromm on above link.

To "have" love is an abstraction, an alienation. A falsehood.

It is not authentic.

"I love you" not "I have a great love for you".
Here's a little about me. I live in Victoria, MN and work as an Org. Development Consultant and Executive Coach. I work with teams, individuals and large systems. I am also a Lominger Associate, which means that I do my consulting/coaching practice using the LEADERSHIP ARCHITECT Suite of tools and I certify people in the use of them. I have a husband and an adopted son from Kazakhstan who just turned 6 years old. I am facilitating my first World Cafe in June at the 50 Year Anniversary Summit for Americans for the Arts. In a pre-conference workshop, a group of 150-200 arts educators from all over the US will explore how they can move the valuing of arts education to the prioritizing (as in decisions for funding by key constituency groups). The design team and I are right now in the process (like in 20 minutes from now) of finalizing the design of our set of questions for 6 Cafe Conversation rounds. I have loved working with the material so far and find this community to be totally exciting. Thanks. I'll be in touch with questions and thoughts as the emerge.

Jeanne Schulze

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