Action inquiry into the synergy and possible collaborations between the World Café and Theory U

Welcome, to this cozy corner of cyberspace, the virtual home of our action inquiry underway that is exploring the potential for synergy between the World Café and Theory U.

Your hosts include George Pór, Sheryl Erickson and Ria Baeck, who have initiated an action inquiry into prototyping a process by which multiple social technologies might discover and realize their potential synergies. Amy Lenzo of the World Café community has joined the team, bringing her talents as an online host and beautifier (visual design support).

This idea was born at The World Café Research Gathering held in collaboration with Fielding Institute, April 4-6, 2008, in Anaheim. California, where George proposed to convene a collaborative inquiry into the potential synergy and collaboration between Presencing and TWC practices, enhanced by web technologies. 

The current, work-in-progress prototype consists of three cycles of inquiry. Each cycle is introduced by a conference call and focused on the needs and aspirations of a different group, as follows:

Cycle 1 - thought leaders/originators of the two social technologies

Cycle 2 - practitioners experienced in using the two technologies, and academic researchers who want to get a better grasp of the practitioners’ challenges

Cycle 3 - persons in stewardship roles in the two organizations, who are inclined and poised to operationalize further inquiry and collaboration.

This experiment in prototyping is partially supported by seed funding from the Fetzer Institute extending over a period of 9 months.

Cycle 1

Cycle 1 was opened by a conference call, on May 28, 2008. The thought leaders who participated were:  Juanita Brown, Anne Dosher, Tom Hurley, and David Isaacs of The World Café Foundation and Otto Scharmer of Presencing Institute. The report from that call can be found here.

Cycle 2

The Cycle 2 conference calls took place on October 15 and 22, 2008. Participating practitioners:  Phil Cass, Chris Corrigan, Judith Flick, Greg Guiliano, Kathy Jourdain, Neil Olson, Maria Skordialos, Ravi Tangri and Sarah Whiteley. Researchers:  Katrina Rogers (Fielding Institute) and Fred Steier (U. of South Florida)
Practitioners had a chance to explore questions that matter to them as practitioners of both Presencing and the World Café. Similar to Cycle 1, a report of the conference call of Cycle 2 is prepared and will be made available yo you all, the first week of January, to stimulate further steps in potential collaboration and synergies between the World Café and Theory U.