Conversare – for good talk and enlivening connecting in diverse contexts

 

Conversare events in the Adelaide Central Market are well under way. With a couple of recent delays due to key people being on leave or ill.

And there is a forthcoming event at which the opening dinner of an international conference is to be conducted Conversare style.

For this kind of opportunity for ‘good talk and enlivening connecting’ is coming to be seen widely as ‘an exceptionally simple approach for the return to glory of community trust and connectivity’.

In the Market

This is for Adelaide based adventurous spirits looking for a social event in which all present participate in interesting and enjoyable conversation. And/or who wish to open up their  lives  by meeting new people and learning about how they see life.

Now happening in the Adelaide Central Market after trading hours on weekday nights. The Market is only open for business on Friday nights. See this little video.

These hosted gatherings of lively people enable all who come along to engage with each other in greater depth than usually happens in social events. They are held in a public place and anyone who wishes to participate, no matter what their background or age, is welcome to join in.

Their purpose is to provide the opportunity for people to experience the deep connecting which underpins a sense of thriving.

They are called Conversare from the Latin con versare – to turn or dance together.

What happens is that everyone converses over a fine meal, in pairs, with someone they have not met before, a stranger. Everybody does this, participates fully.

In an easily accessible place, in this case, with delectable and friendly ambience. Where all who show up are assured that they are one of the right people to relish convivial encounters over a delicious dinner in this colourful and comfortable space in the Market.

Bound to be enjoyable, enlivening and enlightening!

These events are for people who:

.   enjoy meeting new people and find this difficult to do.

.  recognise that talking in a situation of mutual trust can be an enriching experience.

.  are hungry for meaningful conversation.

.  are assured of being totally accepted for whoever they are.

.  feel lonely or socially isolated.

.  are in a transition phase of their life.

.  desire a break periodically from their digital connecting.

.  are new to a place, perhaps as a migrant or refugee.

.  are a student from another country who would like to meet local people.

.  like the idea of engaging with people of different ages.

.  recognize that it is an opportunity to express ‘the elusive, spontaneous, sincere and vulnerable’ bits of themselves.

And who appreciate that one way of doing this is to meet people from different walks of life, different first languages and whose stories they could not imagine.

Who knows what may come from this kind of experience? See Feedback for reports on this. Most likely, at least, are the surprising pleasures and transformative possibilities of connecting with strangers, people you don’t yet know.

At a conference

There is an annual gathering of people who facilitate the process Open Space Technology which is widely used to address complex issues constructively and effectively.  These  conferences, held in places all around our little planet,  are called Open Space on Open Space. The next is in Manila in the Philippines, from 9-12 November 2016.

Learning of the events happening here in Adelaide, the conveners invited me to host the dinner following the opening day Conversare style.

My opening introduction as the host will be videoed and uploaded to YouTube, all being well.

This will likely be the first time ever that all delegates at a conference will engage in this way – with a stranger – to be full participants. What could this portend for other conferences in the future?

A question

I wonder if the above two outlines of how Conversare is designed to foster ‘good talk and enlivening connecting’ – and these associated comments below – resonate with you, as a contribution to ‘way to go’ in diverse contexts, small and large?

“That feeling that we’re all searching for isn’t about material wealth, about the acquisition of things. It’s about being connected with other human beings. That is the essence of humanity.”
Bill Mosher, producer of public television’s “Visionaries”

“The intrinsic act of relating is not a moral duty or obligation to anonymous others. It is a joyful necessity for one to live as a human being.”
Rahnema, Majid

“Only Connect.”
EM Forster

Alan Stewart, PhD
Facilitator of Conversations that Matter and Participatory Fun
Senior Fulbright Scholar
Blog: conversare.net
Em: converare3@gmail.com

Book  ‘Time to converse – at the heart of human warmth’

 

 

“Whenever we treat each other well good things happen.”