Explore Engagement 2.0 at a London salon

There's an opportunity later this month to explore the issues I raised in If Participation 1.x isn't working, let's develop Engagement 2.0 at a salon in London organised by the Civic Trust. It's free, with wine and nibbles thrown in too.
I rashly agreed to help with the salon a month or so back after a delightful tea with Alexandra Rook and Stuart Woodin, and the need to pull together some new ideas was one of the reasons I wrote the blog item. You can download an invite for the October 25 event here (pdf). It says about the salon programme:

We hope these occasional events will attract interested citizens and members of the public, our supporters and members in business, public service or civic societies, concerned with the quality of life in our urban environments and wanting to debate and draw out future trends and their implications for policy.
We are delighted David Wilcox has agreed to open the series with a discussion on community engagement. It will explore why it is often difficult to go beyond the usual suspects and whether simply more of the usual methodologies will combat consultation fatigue and apathy.
With community involvement at the heart of government policy, there is an imperative for all of us involved in making places to understand how best we can adopt new approaches and technologies to improve communication and develop collaboration.
David has been working in the field of regeneration partnerships and participation for over 25 years.
His October menu will include workshop games, storytelling, blogs, wikis … and how these may help foster the trust, transparency and authenticity needed for effective engagement and local democracy. Audience participation will be encouraged…

Phew. It's frightening when these things come back from the designers ... but then salons are about encouraging people to converse, so I'm hoping there'll be a good turnout of just the sort of people whose ideas I've been repacking over the years, ready for another round. Advance ideas, comments extremely welcome.
It's 6.30 for 7pm at 1-6 Essex Street WC2, just off the Strand. Finish 8.30pm, or maybe just move to one of the excellent pubs nearby. Space is limited, so please book a place by emailing scoleman@civictrust.org.uk

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