FW: [US Plexus] In response to TCP (Jan 8, 2004)

Wed Jan 14 08:22:54 PST 2004

Oops, this was Part 1 of the Circles exchange I just posted!  Anne

------ Forwarded Message
From: "Henri Lipmanowicz" <henri.lipmanowicz at verizon.net>
Date: Tue, 13 Jan 2004 23:49:35 -0500
To: "Anne Stadler" <annestad at nwlink.com>, "Peggy Holman"
<peggy at opencirclecompany.com>
Cc: "Alan Stewart" <alan.stewart at senet.com.au>
Subject: FW: [US Plexus] In response to TCP (Jan 8, 2004)

Anne, Read what's below and appreciate the small world we live in. Alan who,
I now find out, is a friend of yours is also a member of Plexus. It was fun
to read about you in a response to a Plexus Thursday Complexity Post. I
thought it would be nice to close the circle.

How are you Alan; I am a lucky guy who has discovered your friends from
Seattle thanks to Peggy and an accidentally well timed Plexus conference in
Seattle that gave me the opportunity to accept Peggy's invitation to attend
a Spirited Work gathering last summer. Wow! I am out of breath after such a
long sentence!

Henri

-----Original Message-----
From: Listadmin at plexusinstitute.org [mailto:Listadmin at plexusinstitute.org]
On Behalf Of Darren Stanley
Sent: Monday, January 12, 2004 1:38 PM
To: usplexus at plexusinstitute.org
Subject: [US Plexus] In response to TCP (Jan 8, 2004)

Hello All,

This past weekend, Alan Stewart (from Adelaide, Australia) sent us this
e-mail in response to last week's TCP on sub/urban living.  We thought that
we would share a part of it - partially edited for purposes of sharing with
others on this listerv.  This e-mail comes as part of an exchange with The
World Cafe listserv.

Alan's note is about "What else can a shopping mall be?" and is concerned
about changing suburban life for the better.  Shopping malls can, evidently,
become interesting "watering holes" or "gathering places" for intersting
conversation in the suburbs!

Thanks for sharing this, Alan!

Enjoy.

-----Original Message-----
From: "Alan Stewart"
To: "World Cafe" <theworldcafe at communityfrontiers.com
<mailto:theworldcafe at communityfrontiers.com> >
Subject: Re: Pioneering enterprise for a community meeting place
Date: Monday, 5 January 2004 10:57 AM

G'day Edna and All

The article on 'Coffee Houses: The Internet of the Enlightenment' you
referred us to was most enjoyable and enlightening! You have prompted me to
relate a story of a remarkable current initiative in a similar vein.

World Cafer's world wide may be interested to know of this pioneering
venture. It is by private enterprise to create a space which could become a
hub of suburban community life. And that it may well have foundered had it
not been for strong support and collaboration from the people for whom it
was designed. 

This is Third Place Books and its associated Third Place Commons, in
Seattle. These are the brainchild of Ron Sher, who acted on his perceived
need for a space in which people could congregate in a relaxed atmosphere,
participate in community events - and talk to strangers!

See: www.thirdplacebooks.com <http://www.thirdplacebooks.com/>  and
"Community Builder: In Ron Sher's 'third places,' people come first"
 http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/pacificnw/2003/1109/cover.html
<http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/pacificnw/2003/1109/cover.html>

Ron was inspired to do this by the writing of Ray Oldenburg in his seminal
book 'The Great Good Place: Cafes, Coffee Shops, Bookstores, Bars, Hair
Salons, and Other Hangouts at the Heart of a Community.' In this Ray
outlined beautifully just what are Third Places and why they are at the core
of civic life - and  important features of a democratic society.
http://user.gru.net/domz/third.htm <http://user.gru.net/domz/third.htm>

There is also a followup publication entitled: 'Celebrating the Third Place:
Inspiring Stories about the "Great Good Places" at the Heart of Our
Communities.'

http://www.spiritualityhealth.com/newsh/items/bookreview/item_3882.html
<http://www.spiritualityhealth.com/newsh/items/bookreview/item_3882.html>

I happened to be present at the opening of Third Place Books and note that
it is now a venue for weekly Conversation Cafes, an offshoot of the World
Café. http://www.conversationcafe.org <http://www.conversationcafe.org/>

Some five years ago my wife Carmen and I were in Seattle staying with
friends Anne and Dave Stadler. When taking a walk from their home to a
nearby shopping center we came across the about-to-be-opened enterprise of
Ron and his colleagues, in what had been an underperforming supermarket. (We
attended the launch a few days later).

Here are a couple of brief excerpts from what Anne has written on the
history of 'Friends of Third Place Commons':

"In November 1998, Third Place Books opened in the of Lake Forest Park mall.
Our friends, Alan and Carmen Stewart, were visiting us from Australia.  They
came back from a trip to the just-getting-organized place with wildly
enthusiastic reports about our wonderful community place in the mall.

"Oh yeah?  No way!  That mall has never been a wonderful community place,"
was our skeptical response.

"No really!   I met the owner and he described his vision for the place. He
wants to create a community living room next to the bookstore.  There's a
stage, and lots of tables and chairs.  There's even a big chess board on the
floor", Alan assured us..

Next day, our Australian friends dragged us down to the mall for coffee. The
change was amazing!  The whole upper level had been opened up.  There was a
day-light atrium.  And the Honey Bear Bakery--our favorite Seattle bakery--
to which we'd been going for years--was one of the five cafes serving food,
along with Kittos--one of our favorite Japanese restaurants on Broadway.  We
were enchanted by the idea of a "third place".  A public gathering
place...Intuitively it felt "right". We wondered: could Third Place help
create the "community" we were looking for?" ...

Anne also wrote, on the birth of 'Friends of Third Place Commons':

"One day in February 2000, I was in the Honey Bear line to order my lunch,
eavesdropping as usual.  Next to me a tall slender man with expressive
bright eyes  was talking animatedly to our City Manager.  They were
discussing the fact that business wasn't going well.  I listened as they
commiserated, then I began to realize they must be talking about Third Place
Books.  So, I introduced myself.

"I'm Anne Stadler, a long-time resident of Lake Forest Park.   Are you
involved in Third Place Books?"

"I'm Ron Sher, the owner," said the tall man.

So I launched into a paen of praise for his vision, and explained how
crucial Third Place was to the evolution of community here.

"Well, I wish it were as financially successful as it is socially! It's a
big space and we're not making it financially. I don't know how long I can
keep it open" [while continuing to provide free music and other
entertainment] he replied.

We parted to sit down to our separate lunch dates.  Part way through my
lunch meeting, I had an  idea:  Why not have the community that love Third
Place be involved in supporting and running the Commons?  I excused myself
for a minute, and went across the Commons to interrupt Ron's meeting with my
question.  His eyes lit up and he said "Yes!  That's an interesting idea.
What would that look like?"

A few minutes later he came over to my table and asked "What do you have in
mind?"

(I was later to learn that he greeted almost every idea which was consistent
with his vision with the same sort of enthusiasm.  That spirit of "yes!"
started in our first exchange and has animated Third Place Commons ever
since.)

At that moment, I had nothing in mind, just the question.   But by the end
of the meal, we'd had several more exchanges, and we had committed to a date
for Ron to meet with a small group of local leaders I'd get together to see
if there were any interest in the community for exploring with Ron how we
could keep Third Place Commons open for the community." .....

This has happened, with a great deal of creativity, enthusiasm and hard work
by people around Seattle.

See: http://www.thirdplacecommons.org <http://www.thirdplacecommons.org/>
and http://www.thirdplacecommons.org/about/index.html
<http://www.thirdplacecommons.org/about/index.html>

How's that for a story?

I wish you well for the New Year - and lots of luck.

Alan
Adelaide

------ End of Forwarded Message

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