Facilitator's Newsletter Summer 2004

Hello everyone,

While summer is in full swing, we thought we’d bring you up to speed on what’s happening on the Conversations About Conflict front. But first, we’re very happy to announce the birth of Lydia Helene Frampton to Carole and her husband, Peter on July 10th. Mom and baby are flourishing and a trip back home to Europe is in the works to show off the family!

New York, NY
Kathryn Keener and colleague Myrnia Bass-Hargrove, both of Volunteer Counseling Services of Rockland County, have joined the New York Conversation facilitator team. They facilitated a Conversation with 18 counselors from their center. We understand it was well received. One of the challenges they encountered was how to deal with some of the ideas in the Conversation, particularly that conflict is neither positive nor negative, when one or more persons in the audience have been a victim of abuse. We’ll discuss this during our next facilitator’s call in late September.

Kathy Vaughan, New York Coordinator for the Conversation, has been quite busy generating Conversations in the New York area. She facilitated a small Conversation among some staff at her workplace, The Center for Interpersonal Development. One newly trained mediator remarked that the Conversation prompted her to think about conflict in her personal life, unlike mediation trainings where you envision your role of mediating between two conflicting parties.

Kathy has also brought the Conversations to Parent Coordinator Groups in Region 7. Three Conversations have been held so far. One with twelve in attendance was facilitated by Kathryn, Myrnia and Jenny Pasaki. With support from Kathy, the three facilitators switched facilitating different sections of the Conversation - a different approach than we’ve suggested in the past for co-facilitating a Conversation. They found it to work well with the group. Anyone interested in further detail on their co-facilitating experience, please contact Kathy or one of the facilitators.

Another Parent Coordinator Group Conversation, attended by 6 parents and 3 coordinators, was facilitated by Kathy and William Hirschfeld. Another new challenge emerged - several of the parents only spoke Spanish. Fortunately, several of the coordinators were bi-lingual and our ace facilitator team quickly responded by adapting the Conversation and using well-matched diads.

A third Conversation with a Parent Coordinator Group had only four participants, one of whom was illiterate and another didn’t want to write. Kathy was again very astute in handling the situation and using aspects and themes of the Conversation which were most appropriate. Kathy also is approaching six other groups as venues for future Conversations. Hopefully her enthusiasm and success will motivate others, including some of you who are reading this newsletter, to stir up interest in Conversations. If you are planning a Conversation in New York, please contact Kathy Vaughan, at 718-815-4557 ext. 25 or kvaughan@nycid.org for any support you may need.

Los Almos, New Mexico
Mary Beth Stevens, a new Conversation facilitator, has scheduled and facilitated two Conversations. More details to come.

California
The well-received information session about the Conversation that Laurie McCann and Eleanor Funk presented at the Annual Joint Conference of the University and College Ombuds Association (OCOA) and The Ombudsman Association (TOA), and it’s follow-up blurb on their respective web sites continue to produce interest and requests for the guide, from many parts of the country including Kansas, North Carolina and New Mexico. Carole contacted many of those interested prior to her maternity leave.

Washington, D.C.
We’re still on the lookout for someone to identify additional venues and coordinate activities in the D.C. area. Marilyn Saunders, a consultant, and Cathy Deel, who works at the Federal Emergency Response Unit of Homeland Security, have both volunteered to facilitate Conversations as they are scheduled.

Other News

Brochure
A new brochure designed to provide Conversation participants and the general public with information about conflict resolution is attached. It can also be downloaded from the Search for Common Ground website at http://www.sfcg.org/resources/training/resources_conversation.html - Guide to Conflict Resolution. The brochure examines the costs of conflict, provides statistics, and exposes people to the tangible benefits of using this approach. The brochure can be distributed at Conversations or used at various trainings that conflict resolution practitioners hold. If anyone has further comments on the brochure, please send them to Nick Oatley at noatley@sfcg.org. Feel free to use the brochure as you think appropriate, but please let us know where you are using it and, if possible, the response people have to it.

Also…

We had our last monthly Facilitator Conference Call at the end of June and took a hiatus during the summer. In Carole’s absence, Kate is contacting coordinators in each area to get an update and provide support. We will schedule another call for the latter part of September. Please e-mail Karen at kzehr@sfcg.org if you’d like to participate or to comment on the best time for this call. These calls are a good opportunity to exchange lessons learned and ideas as well as keeping in touch as a community.

Reminder
Anyone who would like to discuss doing a presentation to a group or organization about what a Conversation is, please contact your area coordinator or Nick Oatley at noatley@sfcg.org. We have Laurie and Eleanor’s presentation agenda and copies of the overheads that they used could be provided.

We’re still looking for any feedback on the new Facilitator Guide format, so please let us know what you think!

Warm Regards,

Carole, Karen and Kate

Search for Common Ground
The Conversations About Conflict
1601 Connecticut Ave NW - Suite 200
Washington DC 20009 USA
Tel: 202 572 6289
Fax: 202 232 6718
info@cgpartnership.org

View Newsletter Archive