Index

A good place to start

Below you  will find a list of all pages on this website along with descriptions to guide you to the page you need.  If you would like to read project reports visit our Projects section.  For news stories please visit our Blog.

  • About
    What is a Conversation Café? It is a one-and-a-half hour hosted conversation, held in a public setting like a café, where anyone is welcome to join. Everything else about CC is just about that simple too!
  • Contact Us
    We welcome your participation and would love to hear from you!
  • Document Listing
    A compilation of all Conversation Café documents available on this site.
  • Donate
    We would appreciate your help to continue the growth and expansion of this process and its network.
  • Find a Conversation Café!
    Although they got their start in the American Northwest, Conversation Cafés take place all over the world. Here you will find a collection of active cafés.
  • For Hosts
    Whether you are just starting out or a café hosting veteran, these resources are conversation ready!
  • History
    From a coffee shop in Seattle to over 70 cities across the globe, and now entering a new phase with an exciting future ahead.
  • How to Host a Conversation Cafe
    This collection of videos hosted by Conversation Café founders, Vicki Robins and Susan Partnow, provide an overview of the essence of our dialogue process. Watching these videos will provide you with an in-depth understanding of the Conversation Café method.
  • Materials for Hosting a Café
    We hope these ready-to-print free materials will be helpful for hosting Conversation Cafés!
  • Materials for Hosting a Café in Other Languages
    A few of the Conversation Café ready-to-print free materials are available in languages other than English.
  • Principles for Conversation Cafés
    Conversation Cafés were designed as a gift to the world. The hope was that this method and conversations using the CC method would spread “with integrity and fidelity”—stay both true to form, yet give hosts the maximum freedom to adapt it to their situation.
  • Promoting Your Café
    Your enthusiasm and direct invitation will attract people. People are curious—they want to hear what others think, as long as it isn’t a harangue They will feel honored when you tell them you want to hear what is on their mind. People blossom when others listen with respect. As a Conversation Café host you are giving your guests a BIG GIFT.
  • Quick How-To
    Choosing to host a conversation provides a powerful way to make a difference in our world, to build community, and to enhance collective intelligence. Plus it offers you a stimulating opportunity for learning and growth.
  • Tell Us About Your Work/Interest in Conversation Café!
  • The Complete Hosting Manual
    Hosting is simple—like breathing is simple. It can be as minimal as showing up, introducing the process and keeping time. Yet the practice of hosting can be very profound. It is a dynamic, honest, humble process of staying present to your own reality while drinking in the reality of everyone else at the table.
  • Working with Host Sites
    Originally the Conversation Café was designed to be in the “public square”—in a café, restaurant or community room—to reverse the taboo against “talking to strangers.” The method was designed so that friends, neighbors and strangers could meet in a café and have a stimulating conversation among people with diverse views but a shared desire for good exchanges with others. Now, the Conversation Café method is used in many places—cafés, classrooms, churches, conferences, community rooms and more. It’s yours to use where and when you want.
  • Variations on Conversation Café
    Like the drinks served at the coffee shops that nutured them, Conversation Cafés come in a multitude of varieties.
  • Topics for a Conversation Café
    As the host, you get to choose how a topic is generated. You may want to choose the question ahead of time, so you can include the topic in your outreach.