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Reports from Conversation Week!

Press Coverage

In Seattle KIRO radio came to the new Crossroads Mall Conversation Cafe on Wednesday, March 12 to record conversation. People hearing that story later showed up at the also new Elliott Bay Books Conversation Cafe on Saturday afternoon, the last day of Conversation Week. The Seattle Post Intelligencer was also checking out the cafes for an article.

From Marianne, The Raven Cafe: Yesterday The Missoulian ran an article “Missoula café hosts conversations as part of national trend” complete with a sidebar containing the listening agreements. Unfortunately, they have not yet archived the piece online, so I cannot pass it on to you at this time. A week ago, the weekly Independent also ran a story.

From Leah, Cafe au Lait: We are going to be in the local neighborhood paper Wednesday...the reporter was at the Cafe on Sunday.

Plans, Reports and Stories from Conversation Week

From John Hartman, Louisville KY: We are planning another Conversation Week in honor of Earth Day. We're calling it Earth Day Week - Conversation Week. A week for the Earth is 1/52 of what the Earth deserves of our attention. However, during this week we will be dedicating each cafe to topics regarding our planet. We will be concentrating on local issues. We will be holding another host training session for those folks who want to help host a Conversation Cafe on EDW - CW and for those who may want to start out with their own CC. The date for the host training is Thursday, April 3 from 7 to 8 p.m. at the Heine Brothers' Coffee at the Douglas Loop location. Please RSVP John if you plan to attend this training, [email protected]

From Chad, Owensboro, KY: I recently have begun some Conversation Cafes in my hometown community of Owensboro, KY. We are about an hour and forty-five mintues west of Louisville, KY. We will be participating in Conversation Week this Wednesday at noon. We will also be using the three questions posed on the site, related to "Thinking", "Feeling", and "Doing".

From James Thomas, Grant’s Brewery Pub, Yakima, WA: Last night’s cafe went great. We had 8 participants. Everyone enjoyed themselves and are impressed with the format. Our topic of conversation was “what do you think the problems and future of downtown Yakima are.”

From Lyz Rykert, Toronto: This week we had 5 people show – two new people and three regulars – and the topic we chose was exploring the role of the artist in bearing witness to war. It was inspired by the article on Tuesday about Sacha Trudeau slipping into Baghdad to capture the war as it unfolds on film. The discussion moved from cynicism about the “Trudeau Boys” and exploiting their famous father to powerful insights about how artists can help us to see things in meaningful ways for the very first time. One new participant recounted a story from the time when he was 15 or 16 – he was watching a film made of A Farewell to Arms with his parents who were holocaust survivors and though he had been raised on “war movies” they idealized the hero and the romanticism of war – where this film helped him to see, for the first time, what his parents had actually experienced. It was clearly a moving experience. Other insights and ideas included the notion of independence and hence painting a real picture of what is happening – untainted by propaganda – the role of artists in memorializing as well as bearing witness and the role they play in assisting us to heal from war. There was difference in the group – one person remarking at how conservative he felt he was being – even surprising himself and another remarking – we all have our own wars everyday – why do we focus so much on the current tensions? Another was very positive – balancing out the pessimism and believing solutions will be found. The time zipped by.

As a host it proved to be a topic that got us talking about the war stuff without hitting it dead on and allowing people to speak to how artists had touched them personally in their interpretations of war (or war memorials like the Vietnam memorial). It was topical and yet personal – a nice combo.

Hosts in the News

From Trish Rosas, Rincon Cafe in Tucson: Jack Challem, host of Caffe Diva's Conversation Café, will appear on Arizona Illustrated tonight (Thursday, March 13, 6:30 p.m., Channel 6) to talk about his latest book, The Inflammation Syndrome. Jack will give a talk and be available for book signing at 2 p.m., Sunday, March 16, Reader's Oasis Bookstore (3400 E. Speedway, #114--at the east end of the shopping strip where Wild Oats is located), and he will sign books at 2 pm, Saturday, March 22, at Barnes & Noble Foothills store.

More News?

Please contact us with your stories and experiences of Conversation Week.