Conversare – a novel, interesting and fun way to dance

Are you tired of socialising in public places such as pubs or restaurants in which there is so much noise that you can’t hear yourself – or others – think? Looking for places in which there is real opportunity to have convivial conversation with people you may not have met before?

Among reasons for your having such feelings are that you yearn for rich conversation and don’t come across this in your everyday life. Perhaps you experience periods of loneliness and are unsure of what to do about this.

Conversare (to turn or to dance together) events in public places are designed to address such feelings in that their purpose is to provide a context for lively conversation in which everyone participates.

They are about connecting with others and learning about their lives – and coming to recognise commonalities of interests and backgrounds. They are not about a topic of mutual interest such as in Meetup gatherings, well and good as these are.

You don’t need to know anyone likely to be present. All that is asked of whoever shows up is to give of themselves through being curious and interested in the others, knowing that you are among ‘the right people.’

These gatherings differ from the more usual ‘happenings’ in public places in that there is a host who does the welcoming and provides ‘light touch’ guidelines for the procedures of the event. Those who enjoy the experience and who come along time and again also ensure that newcomers are made to feel readily accepted.

Do you recognise the opportunity this presents to:

. be among warm hearted people in a spirit of ‘We are here to enjoy the company and to treat each other with respect.’

. engage well with whoever is present by asking thoughtful questions and careful listening.

. have conversations in which you do have to be concerned if you come across as a ‘dull’ person and perhaps been seen as ‘shallow.’ These self perceptions are reportedly behind what appears as shyness. No matter how shy you call yourself here is a time to put that feeling aside and concentrate on exploring who the other people are.

. become more conscious of your ‘people’ skills, among which are listening in a way that empowers ‘the speaker’ and speaking in a way that empowers ‘the listener.’ If these concepts are unfamiliar to you participating in these gatherings will quickly give you a reminder and an experience of what they mean in practice.

. feel less lonely. We all have feelings of isolation periodically which is not surprising given our Western consumption driven way of living, over-reliance on the use of social media and its implications for the neglect of personal interaction. And also from the social isolation derived from ill conceived urban designs. Plus from living single and what this can mean as we grow older.

In earlier posts I have reported on the early development of Conversare while I was living in Hong Kong and then more recently in a pub in Adelaide and in the USA where I went travelling in May of this year.

Now there is a next step in the offing. This is to hold these events in a lovely restaurant in the heart of the CBD (Central Business District) of the city of Adelaide. This new offering is mainly for people who come into the city to work to have innovative, interesting and enjoyable encounters on mid week evenings from about 6 to 9 pm before going home to the suburbs.

How does this resonate with you, non Adelaidians too?  

Watch this space!

Alan Stewart
Adelaide

See my new e-book Time to converse – at the heart of human warmth