Closing the forum

[Taylor L. Willingham <taylor@bwillingham.com>]

There are two very difficult tasks that face a moderator. The first is to move the conversation from the deliberative "choice work" into the final reflections. The second is to close the final reflections. Both tasks are difficult for the same reason - we still have so much to talk about, to learn, to deliberate and to decide. Oh, if only these issues were simple enough that we could solve them after two weeks of exchanging ideas - either in person or online! But very few, if any, public issues are so easily resolved. Acknowledging the complexity of this issue doesn't go very far in relieving our frustration that there is still so much to do, but it does remind us that the work must continue in our neighborhoods, our churches and synagogues and mosques, our community centers, our schools, at the mall - any place where people come together and need to learn a new way to work together. 

As we close this deliberative forum, my wish is that you will continue to explore the issue of Money and Politics. More than that, I hope that your thinking and your strategy for exploring this issue with your friends, family and even strangers, will be one of deliberation. As you share and learn, challenge yourself to listen for the common ground that you share with others. Try to imagine how the issue affects them and how it might be different than the way in which you are experiencing the issue. No, we didn't "solve" the problem of Money and Politics, but we did capture our common concerns and we did learn a new way of talking about public issues. 

You have two final opportunities to make your voice heard. The first is the post-forum questionnaire that is related to the issue and can be found at: http://www.info-ren.org/network-democracy/map/join/mappost.shtml A second questionnaire at: http://www.info-ren.org/network-democracy/map/join/mapwrapup.shtml will help us understand how to proceed with the task of providing more online forums. We are all breaking new ground here and we need your help to do it well. 

On behalf of my colleagues, Information Renaissance, and the National Issues Forums Institute, I thank you for your participation and commend you for your thoughtful comments and your commitment to joining with fellow citizens on this journey. To learn more about how you can get involved in "live" forums, go to http://www.nifi.org/index.html. If you are interested in attending training for moderators and conveners of forums in your community, go to: http://www.nifi.org/ppi.html. 

Taylor