World cafe and workshop

[Joelle Lyons Everett]

Alan--

Just want you to know that we did adapt some of the ideas about conversation
cafe into the workshop we facilitated last week.

The topic was "Finding Balance:  Life and Work, Priorities and Distractions."
 After consulting with the director, we brought in small folding tables
enough to seat the group in small groups and topped them with butcher paper
and pens.  She contributed a pot of coffee and snacks, and some brought their
lunches to at 1:00 meeting.

We had contracted to give a workshop, so we spent some time at the beginning
sharing some of our learnings on the subject, and Paul led the group in a
brief exercise "Your Priorities are What You DO,"  looking at a 2-day time
log of how individuals had spent their time.  Then we had them choose a spot
for conversation, each table had a set of questions and explicit permission
to discuss any or all of the questions, or whatever question had meaning for
them at the moment.

The small groups had lively discussions, in groups that included people they
don't often talk with, and they loved it.  Some of the table covers came back
filled with pictures (I liked the "fat rabbit,"  our term for the things that
lure you away from what you think are your priorities).  The group reconvened
as a whole for a few minutes at the end, and shared both insights and the
pleasure they had experienced at being in deep conversation.

Our original design had small-group work in a more structured context--I
wanted you to know that you had influenced this.  I told the group how much
fun we had had talking in Australian coffee shops, and that we wanted to
recreate that atmosphere in the workshop.  It worked very well, and the
director (who proposed this workshop) was delighted.

Hope things are well with you.  We had a happy and chaotic
Thanksgiving--picked Paul's dad up from his assisted-care apartment for a
party at his house, twenty-four guests, all of them related in some way.
Even though the guest list had doubled in the last two days, we had plenty of
good food and good conversation.  It was fun to see my youngest son's new
girl friend deeply involved in conversation with my father-in-law, talking
about boat building.  Her first husband had been a boat builder before his
death, and my father-in-law worked as a commercial boat builder for many
years.

Love,

Joelle

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