World Cafe Community

"Groups" in TWC Online Community

One of the most wonderful opportunities in the new World Cafe online community space is the capacity we have to gather together in Groups and explore the precise elements of the World Cafe that we're passionate about and/or connect with others in your geographic location. It's not surprising that an international network like ours with so much to talk about have really maximized this opportunity.

After two months of being "live", there are already 23 groups, in 6 languages: English, Spanish, Portuguese, German, Russian, and Indonesian. I will tell you a little about just two or three of them here, but I can't possibly do justice to the many dynamic groups that have formed and I invite you to explore them for yourself. If you don't find the group you are looking for, talk to me about how to host it yourself.

One of the very first groups to form in this community was Cafe Latino, hosted by Maria de los Angeles as a place to welcome the very special people who host World Cafes in Latin America. All in Spanish, it's extremely active, seeming almost to overflow with the exuberance and warmth of those who have often been described as the "heart" of the World Cafe.

Another group started more recently by Christine Whitney Sanchez is on Methods for Strategic Collaboration. The conversation here is focused and stimulating, going to the heart of what's core to the work we do, no matter what form we use.

For those of us fascinated by graphic recording, there is the vibrant Art of Harvesting group, where a "knowing" beyond words is nevertheless conveyed through conversations about deep listening and reflection.

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If you have not yet joined us in the new online community, we invite you to do it now! Go to www.theworldcafecommunity.org and sign up today.

Interview with Carlos Mota

In the first of a monthly series highlighting stewardship of the World Café network, steward Nicole Anne Boyer from the resourcing team interviewed Latin American regional and global steward of the World Café, Carlos Mota, who lives in Mexico City. Here is an excerpt from their conversation:

NAB: What does being a steward mean to you personally?
CM: First of all, being a Steward is a tremendous privilege and responsibility, because it’s of course a voluntary position where you are trying to look for the best of all worlds for this practice of dialogue. It’s like being an ambassador, to create the conditions for it to grow and expand and be embraced by many people in different parts of the world. It’s a thrill, actually. But this brings with it a strong sense of commitment to make sure the spirit of TWC is intact, that we are loyal and faithful to the intention of creating a web of conversations, that we prevent TWC from becoming a fad—a tool to be used for any purpose, and to avoid the temptation of using TWC just for sparking the same kind the results that created the problems we see in the world today. So being a Steward is a two-way function: first, to expand its potential; second, to be cautious and careful and to have very clear what TWC is not for. It’s important to be clear on its purpose, and what we don’t want to create because it’s so easy at this time to find another “flavor of the month”. TWC is a very popular tool partly because there is a tremendous sense of anxiety and dependence on tools, techniques and formulae to solve problems, and that is not necessarily what we want for the future.

Read on for Nicole's whole interview with this wonderful friend and exlemplary steward of the World Café ...

Latin Palomilla 2008 SlideShow

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Latin Palomilla Abril, 2008 (en Espangole)

Cultura del Diálogo, Evolución, Fuego y Conciencia

Una fotografía de la experiencia de la palomilla latina en abril del 2008
Fernanda Ibarra

Howard Bloom dice 'No hay nada, absolutamente nada individual acerca del universo' y al decirlo evoca nuestra esencia social, la forma en la cual nos estrechamos de lo individual a lo colectivo desde los protones que en su anhelo por un electrón formaron un círculo que produjo algo jamás imaginado; el átomo. Llevamos 14 mil millones de años de sorpresas, mucho a pasado desde el átomo, los procesos vivos continuaron su trayectoria, la evolución continuó descubriendo como organizar grupos cooperativos cada vez más complejos. Todos podemos reconocer lo que significa capacidad de experiencia, sensación y estimulación del ambiente, correspondencia, atracción y repulsión que son cualidades esenciales que propician la organización, la cooperación entre las unidades mas simples (quarks, moléculas) hasta las mas complejas (los seres humanos) que conforman nuestro universo. Su manifestación en los seres humanos fue movernos de clanes a tribus a pueblos a naciones-estado y de ahí hacia la posibilidad de expansión a una escala global ¿o será universal?

Audio Files

CARLOS MOTA
Co-Fundador de Worldcafé e impulsor/catalizador de Worldcafé México
Nos comparte su experiencia y aprendizaje del evento de la palomilla latina. Habla de los momento difíciles donde entramos colectivamente en el fuego.

PAT MUNRO
Fundadora del Worldcafé Europa
Pat nos habla sobre el atractor para participar en el evento de la palomilla mexicana. Pat nos comparte su experiencia y las similitudes con la fundación del Worldcafé en Europa

JUANITA BROWN
Fundadora Worldcafé
Juanita responde a la pregunta de ¿Cuál es la contribución única de Latinoamerica al WorldCafé mundial? y expande con sus observaciones del rol de los jóvenes latinamericanos como soporte para el Worldcafé como movimiento global.

CARLOS MORAN
Miembro de la Academia mexicana de ingenieria y miembro de Worldcafé México
Nos habla de la importancia de la cultura de diálogo en México y del proyecto de apoyo para el Sistema Educativo.

GUADALUPE MARTINEZ
Universidad de Monterrey, postgrado de negocios y miembro de Worldcafé México
Nos habla de la importancia de la cultura de diálogo y del proyecto para el congreso 28 de la Universidad de Monterrey con tema 'Inteligencia colectiva transcultural, el reto del liderazgo'

MARTIN H ESPINO
Consultor en competitividad
Nos habla de la importancia de la cultura del diálogo en México y del proyecto para influir en las cámaras de diputados.

EDUARDO ALFONSO
Miembro de la comunidad brasileña de Worldcafé
Nos habla de la importancia de la cultura del diálogo en Latinamerica y del proyecto de organizar un encuentro latino del Worldcafé en Brasil para ampliar la cultura de diálogo.

Latin Palomilla April, 2008 (in English)

Dialogue Culture, Evolution, Fire and Consciousness
A photograph of the experiencie of the latin palomilla, april 2008
by Fernanda Ibarra

Howard Bloom says 'There is nothing, absolutely nothing individual about the universe ' and as he says so he evokes our social essence, the form in which we stretch from the individual to the collective. From the protons which in their desire for an electron formed a circle that produced something never imagined; the atom. We have 14 billion years of surprises, much has happened since the atom, living processes continued their journey, evolution continued to discover how to organize cooperative groups every time more complex. We can all recognize what it means to have the capacity for experience, sensing, environment stimulation, correspondence, attraction and repulsion which are essential qualities which contribute to the organization, to the cooperation in between simple unities (quarks and molecules) up to the most complex (human beings) that conform our universe. Its manifestation in society was our capacity to move from the clan to tribes to villages to nation-states and from there to the possibility of expansion in a global scale, or is it universal?