We closed the conference by making a short list of lessons learned and calls to action.

It proved to be a lot of time, a little investment in what turned out to be unnecessary resources, and a lot of anxiety. However, I got a foothold into the local activist scene, and some positive responses to this idea of diverse dialogue. Well worth the effort.

The weak attendance for these two sessions didn’t take anything away from the great morning conversations and the sense that this idea has potential traction in the community. There are a lot of lessons learned from this first experience, however, that need to be addressed before taking this up again.

In a few hours, it is off to Ivy Tech to see who awaits us there.

Discussed were voting issues, social welfare as it impacts voting and information channels. The group surprised me by (a) writing on the board before I could make a grid, and (b) insisting that we don’t break up into groups for the first discussion. That’s the advantage to self-organization.