Subject: Re: Decreasing traffic on the Transpartisan list
Date: Thu, Aug 14, 2014
Msg: 101090
Hi Jacob -
You've touched on an interesting point. Why has this dialogue gotten much quieter?
When my wife Martha facilitates group discussions, she likes to warm people up by going around the room and asking folks both to say their names and then tell the group stories about their names. That warms up the conversation; it also helps her remember peoples' names!
It occurs to me that we are strangers to one another, by and large. Perhaps Joan and Debilyn and Sandy and Mark could invite us to "go around the room," so to speak, and introduce ourselves. Perhaps three or four at a time, by their invitation, so that the process remains orderly. If this takes a few weeks, well, so be it.
If I were the one asking the question, I'd say that I'd love to hear "a little bit about your name, a little bit about your background, a little bit about the work you're doing, and a little bit about your fondest dream for America."
But there are lots of ways to go around a room and ask folks to introduce themselves. Our facilitators will no doubt have better ideas.
Best,
Steve Johnson
Steven Howard Johnson - Civic Futurist 410-562-0361 Book in Progress: Thoughtful Patriotism
On Aug 2, 2014, at 7:49 AM, Jacob Hess wrote:
> Happy August all! I'm getting pumped about the fall conference coming up - more than all the previous NCDD's I've attended. > > I have enjoyed many of the posts on this Transpartisan listserv and have been learning a lot. Mark and Debilyn's questions have really got me thinking - although I've mostly been "sitting with" my thoughts and trying to absorb what others are sharing. I'm preparing a few things I'd love your feedback on via the listserv prior to the conference - including a Red-Blue Dictionary draft that Joan Blades and I are working on (credit to Steve Bhaerman and Amanda Roman for the idea). > > For now, I'm curious why others think there's been a significant decrease in Transpartisan listserv traffic from the spring (81 posts in March, 56 in April, 89 in May) compared with the last couple of months (19 in June, 17 in July). I assume this is mostly summer vacationing, although I personally have had more time to read this summer (after getting a bit overwhelmed with the e-mail flow earlier this year). More e-mails are not necessarily either good or bad - but I thought I'd point out the pattern and ask what others thought. > > Also, I'm curious about the listserv moderators' impressions - e.g., whether the guidelines are being followed and aims being achieved? I had thought our listserv discussion was building up to the conference - with July focused on action ideas initially. But the questions seem to be evolving from the initial plan, right? In any case, I'd love to hear the listserv leaders' updated thoughts.... > --Jacob > > -- > Jacob Z. Hess, Ph.D. > Co-founder, All of Life > 801-712-1346, jzhess@gmail.com > > > To unsubscribe from the TRANSPARTISAN list, click the following link: > http://lists.thataway.org/scripts/wa-THATAWAY.exe?SUBED1=TRANSPARTISAN&A=1 >
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