The New England Association for Conflict Resolution has asked me to lead a conversation with attendees at the April annual dinner.
We’ll be discussing the relevance of professional and volunteer conflict resolvers in people’s lives and how we do (and don’t) address that relevance in the ways we talk about our work, our services, our value.
If you’re in New England, I hope you’ll plan to attend and be part of this important conversation. We’re planning a robust, mind-stretching, and energizing exploration of the topic. More information is coming, but for now, here’s the official hold-the-date announcement from NE-ACR:
SAVE THE DATE, PLEASE
NE-ACR’s Annual Meeting is Thursday, April 12The time: 5:30–8:30 pm April 12, 2012
The place: 219 Washington Street, Wellesley Hills, MA
The topic: How can we describe our work in understandable — and relevant — terms?Most of us know that few people really understand what conflict resolution is all about and how it might help them. Isn’t it time we changed the conversation?
NE-ACR is pleased to announce that Tammy Lenski, longtime practitioner, teacher, and innovator, will be at the chapter’s annual meeting to help us talk about labels, language, and relevance.
Come enjoy old friends, new faces, food for eating and food for thought.
PLEASE JOIN US!
Registration details coming soon.
Not a member of NE-ACR but want to know when registration opens? Leave a comment on this post and I’ll make sure you know.
I am interested in hearing the details for the NEA-CR dinner in April.
I will make sure you receive the details when they’re available, Diane!
This is a vital subject for me as I endeavour to build a business in conflict resolution. I’m sorry I won’t be able to attend. I’d love to hear about the insights – yours and others – that come out of this gathering.
I’m currently experimenting with a thought exercise in which I ask people about their experience of conflict and what resources would have helped it go better. I’m finding people are at a loss to imagine any help. As one person said to me today: “I don’t know what it is I don’t know”.
Karen, I write about a similar thought experiment in my book. I found when I started doing a very similar exercise with people about 10 years ago that initially they didn’t really know. So I asked them to get back into the experience of the conflict — in the moment it felt most frustrating for them, to really feel it again. Then I asked them my question again…and many had very clear and compelling answers. Maybe you’ve already tried this, but if not, give it a go and see what happens….maybe it’ll yield results for you, too.
Thanks for this tip – I’ll try it. I wonder, though, if people will find it something of a tall order – I’m finding people really don’t want to think about (or feel!) conflict. I suspect this may be one of the barriers to people seeing how I can help – they’d rather skate over the experience of it so don’t believe they want anyone to help them dig down into it.
I’m also sensing that some people are more open than others to exploring their experience of conflict (and revealing it to someone else). I wonder whether to follow this sense and talk mainly to people who seem receptive, or whether, in order to build a viable business, I need to find ways to open up the issue for a wider range of people.