Invitation to Convergence 2012

Dear Friends,

Autumn 2012 is going to be a great moment for Voice Dialogue. The international Francophone group has been working with fervor. Some of you already know about this while others are just learning about it.
We’re inviting you to an international meeting of Voice Dialogue professionals (teachers and senior facilitators) that will be held at the Chateau de Méridon in the Valley of Chevreuse, about 20 miles south of Paris, France.
Our goal is to create an environment where we can share our different approaches, exchange our experiences and ask one another questions about our work.
Please find below the details to help you organize your stay:

Dates
We’ll be able to welcome you from Thursday, September 6th starting 11am until Sunday, September 9th after lunch.

Conference setting - Château de Méridon
The Chateau is in a pleasant, friendly, country setting that can accommodate up to 120 people. In order to take advantage of the time we have together we’ll all be residential – living in close proximity to one another in the Chevreuse Valley - and, except for breakfast, we’ll have all our meals together at the Chateau de Méridon.

Lodging
Below are the four hotels in the Chevreuse Valley where we’ll be staying. You are in charge of reserving your own lodging.

1. Château de Méridon: www.meridon.eu
The Château de Méridon can accommodate up to 24 people
Rooms for 2 to 4 persons with limited amenities.
The cost per person: 32€ (toilet and shower in the hall)

2. L’hôtel des ducs de Chevreuse - www.lesducs.com – accueil@lesducs.com
The Hôtel de Chevreuse can accommodate up to 40 people.
Small apartments for 2 to 4 people
The cost per apartment: 89 to 140€

3. L’hôtel de la Chapelle - www.hotelchapelle.com
The Hôtel de la Chapelle can accommodate up to 20 people
10 Single or Double rooms: 3 rooms with 2 twin beds & 7 rooms with larger beds
The cost per room: 107€ + 10€50 for breakfast

4. L’hôtel Au bord du Lac - www.auborddulac.com - auborddulac@wanadoo.fr
The Hôtel Au Bord du Lac can accommodate up to 30 people
Rooms with 2 twin beds or 1 large bed
The cost per room: 70€

These hotels offer different levels of comfort. Please check our blog for details. We highly recommend you reserve a room as quickly as possible in order to obtain the price and comfort level you desire. The hotel managers have agreed to “hold” a small number of their rooms for us.

Cost of the Convergence
The cost includes:
Participation in all the workshops and plenary talks
All meals (except for breakfast) and all coffee breaks
Morning and evening transportation between your hotel and the Château de Méridon

Depending on your inscription date, the prices are as follows:
• Wise owl : Reservation & payment before January 1st, 2012
• Early bird: Reservation & payment before April 1st 2012 : 455 €
• On time: Reservation & payment before September 6th 2012 : 525 €

Languages
We’d like everyone to be able to express themselves in their native language and be translated (simultaneously or after a pause) into the native languages of the attending participants. We’re asking those of you who are bilingual or trilingual (or more!) to make yourselves known on your registration form. You’ll be a valued source of support in this endeavor.

Participation criteria
• You have undertaken extensive Voice Dialogue training totaling approximately 30 days, not counting personal sessions and conference participation;
• You have continued your personal development with Voice Dialogue on a regular basis;
• You have practiced Voice Dialogue professionally for a minimum of 3 years.

While waiting to greet you at this exciting event, we wish to extend our warmest wishes and remind you that we are ready to help you in any way we can.

The French-speaking Organisation Committee

Message from the organisation committee

Dear friends,
For the past 6 months, the international French group has been meeting on a regular basis. Our meetings have already been in the 'convergence' mode: we’ve shared our emotions, thoughts and organizational tasks. We’re preparing everything in the hope that our meeting in September 2012 will become a celebration.
As in the past, the 2012 Convergence will be an occasion to compare practices, share concrete experiences and explore questions. Our goal is to discover the different ways we practice Voice dialogue, exchange our clinical experiences and share our questions with each other. We eagerly await the contributions from our more experienced facilitators as well as our newcomers to enrich our Voice Dialogue workshops
The Convergence will begin on Thursday September 6th at 11 am. and will end on Sunday 9th after lunch.
Here are a few details about the physical setting of the Convergence:
The 'Château of Méridon' has the advantage of being a real castle. It is a place where you can be yourself and experience other 'parts' of yourself - to continue your own process as practiced in Voice Dialogue.
The conference rooms are beautiful without being pretentious or formal. They can seat up to 120 participants. However, this isn’t Versailles!
The castle’s park is very spacious and beautiful. There are many places for strolling the castle grounds. We hope to be able to take advantage of this, especially if the weather is good. So far it’s been beautiful – let’s hope it continues!
All meetings of the Convergence 2012 will take place at the chateau. It will be residential which allows us to really spend quality time together. Except for breakfast, all of the meals will take place at the chateau. Participants will either be housed in the chateau’s clean but spartan rooms or in one of the 3 nearby hotels with more luxurious lodgings.
As always, the program is very open. The discussions and large group exchanges will take place in a tent next to the castle and the workshops in rooms in the castle.
We’d like to try something new at this Convergence: we’d like each participant to be able to express themselves in their mother tongue. One or more of the participants will translate as they are speaking. This will allow all of us to experience the differences in our respective cultures and identities. We would be grateful to those of you who are bi-lingual or tri-lingual to let us know if you would agree to be one of the translators; you could be very helpful to the group. Our wish is that language not become an obstacle to attending the Convergence, but rather become a way of taking advantage of our cultural diversity.
Our next letter in October will give you more information and details about how to register for the 2012 Convergence.
We all send you our warmest wishes and wish you all a very beautiful summer!
P.S. Guidelines for eligibility in this Convergence:
• You’ve participated in a Voice Dialogue training of approximately 30 days (not including individual sessions and participation in conferences).
• You’re involved in on-going personal work in Voice Dialogue.
• You’ve been practicing professionally for at least 3 years.

The Organisation Committee

Location

Convergence will take place at the Château de Méridon, a superb castle in the peaceful and green Chevreuse valley, 40 km from Paris.

More information and pictures on castle Méridon website (in Dutch !!).

Convergence 2012 launch

Dear friends
Remember !
At the end of the London Convergence, a group of international French speaking people, whether it was their mother tongue or not, said that they “might consider” organizing the 2012 Convergence in Paris.
Today we are very happy to announce that we have stopped considering and that the next Convergence will take place in the beautiful castle of Méridon, 40 kms south-west of Paris, from September 6th at noon till September 9th after lunch.
It will be a residential Convergence, staying all together for 3 full days.
We have already started a mini French Convergence of 10-12 people to prepare for the big one.
We invite you to circle these days in your calendar, we care expecting a lot of you to come !
More news later and we already promise you a good package with convenient transport facilities.
Wishing you all the best !
The Organizing Committee