Dear Friends

Convergence 2012 has been a real success, especially:

• the alternating of prepared workshops and spontaneous initiatives. This has allowed those who wanted to share their practice to be seen and heard.
• the waltz in 3 movements of language facilitation which worked very well.

The involvement of everyone, backed up by the hosts of Meridon, who were very successful in their role of supporting us in many ways.
Everyone left the Convergence taking something away with them, whether it be personal or professional or both.
And finally, without boasting, I am going to tell you why it was such a big success: because I was there!
I had not registered or paid for my accommodation. I ate with you all the time but did not sleep at the château nor at the hotel. I discretely disappeared every evening behind the bushes in the park. I took part in most of your workshops from a distance but with my warm and sometimes illuminating presence. I found Saturday evening very funny and I loved being with you for the closing ceremony in the clearing. I found it very moving.
I know that you were thrilled that I was there and I promise you all that I will try to come again next time.
Until we meet again, take care of yourselves.
Your devoted servant

The sun

And that is not all.
We invite you to see the photos that were taken and another surprises at our website: http://convergence2012en.blogspot.com/.
If you would like us to publish something from you on the blog: a thought, a good bye, some photos, etc., send them to Myriam (myriam@convergence2012.eu) and we will be happy to publish whatever you send us.

Poem by Neil Meili

CASTLES IN THE AIR

In the forests south of Paris
there have been castles for a thousand years

Many of the stones are still holding hands

In two thousand and twelve
another was built on the holding of hands
and a foundation of Stones

Only history will tell
        if what they built
               and what we build
                        will last a thousand more

Newsletter 6

Voice Dialogue Convergence – September 6-9 - Paris (Château de Méridon - Vallée de Chevreuse)

Dear Friends,
This is perhaps our last post before the official gathering at Convergence. The organizing committee met together in June - with all the seriousness and gravity that typically characterizes its members - to send you some final advice to help prepare for the Convergence… or even to register. There’s still time left to do so.
Our first important piece of advice is this: enjoy your summer and … do nothing at all! (or get a lovely tan if that’s what you enjoy doing and join us in September with your inner as well as your outer beauty).
The second essential thing to do is this: exercise your creativity and prepare an outfit for our Saturday night dinner – it will be the “Sub-Personalities Dinner”. Choose which of your energies (primary or disowned) you’d like to promote and decide which clothes, hats, makeup, etc ... you’ll want to bring with you to make them visible. It’s your turn to play!
Below is the general outline of the program. The workshops listed are those that have been scheduled in advance; the workshop propositions from participants called "Open Space Workshops" will be added each day.
The Convergence Schedule:

Thursday 6th September
Be sure to arrive no later than 10:00am because we will start promptly at 11:00 am.

• 9:30 am: There will be a multi-lingual reception committee ready to greet you and handle the registration and transmission of all relevant information.
• 11:00 am: We meet each other, install the decor for the next three days and begin building our groups.
• 12:30: Lunch
• 2:30 pm: Program Overview: Presentation of the planned workshops and "open space"
• 3:30 pm: Coffee & Tea Break
• 4:00 - 6:00: Workshops
  o J'aime ona Pangaia: The benefit of people who bug you
  o Celie Fox-Cabane – Myriam Ladeuze : International Voice Dialogue Journal
  o Osiris and Team : L'Intelligence de Soi – The Intelligence of Self
  o Open space Workshops
  
• 7:00: Dinner
• 8:30: Organized shuttle return to hotels

Friday 7th September

• 7:00 am: morning activities (optional)
• 8:00 am: breakfast
• 9:00 am: home groups
• 10:0 am: break
• 10:30-12:30: workshops
  o Suzel Stiffel: Coaching and stress with Voice Dialogue
  o Ora Gavriely: Talking with Collectives and collective selves
  o Ana Barner: From judgement to integration… a 7 step process
  o Open space workshops
  
• 12:30-2:30: lunch
• 2:30-4:30 pm: workshops
  o J'aime ona Pangaia: A novel way of doing Voice Dialogue in small groups
  o Silvana Borile: The dynamics of attraction
  o Open space workshops
  
• 4:30 pm: break
• 5:00-6:00 pm:open space
• 6:00-7:30 pm: session exchanges
• 7:30 pm: dinner
• 8:30 pm:dance event
• 10:30 pm: return to hotels - shuttle bus

Saturday 8th September

• 7:00 am: morning activities (optional)
• 8:00 am: breakfast
• 9:00-10:00 am: home groups
• 10:00 pm: break
• 10:30-12:30: workshops
  o Judith Hendin : Discovering the Self behind the symptoms
  o Elisabeth Douillet and Marie-Danielle Koechlin: The beauty of the Energies
  o Open space workshops
  
• 12:30-2:30: wunch
• 2:30-4:30 pm: workshops
  o Marie-Agnès Chauvin : Dressing our feminine and masculine sub-personalities
  o Fernanda Abiuso- The activities of the Italian Voice Dialogue Association
  o Ana Barner : Voice constellation with a bonding pattern
  o Open space workshops
  
• 4:30 pm: break
• 5:00-7:00 pm: Session exchanges
• 7:30 pm: dinner with our sub-personalities
• 10:00 pm: return to hotels by shuttle bus

Sunday 9th September

• 7:00 am: morning activities (optional)
• 8:00 am: breakfast
• 9:00 am: home groups (including preparation of group synthesis of the Convergence experience)
• 10:30 am: break
• 11:00-1:00pm: sharing of Home groups and closing ceremony
• 1:00 pm: lunch
• 2:30 pm: shuttle bus to the railway station

During the summer holidays, our web site is open to answer any questions you may have or to enroll those of you who wish to join us at the Convergence.
The team wishes you a wonderful summer and looks forward to seeing you at the Convergence to share these forthcoming joyous moments with you.
The french preparation team - Letter 6 – July 2012
http://convergence2012en.blogspot.com/

Newsletter 5

Convergence 2012 – September 6-9 Paris (Vallée de Chevreuse) France

Dear friends,
Spring has arrived!
We hope that the weather and ecosystem where you live have already made this evident…
Here’s some news about our upcoming event:

• The program
We’re making good progress and at this moment we’ve got at least 6 proposals; this will allow us to put a bit of the organizational constraints together with the necessary and very welcome spontaneity in the “Convergence” style.
• The Language Facilitation
To allow “language facilitators” to profit from the workshops and not be transformed into translators, we’ve thought it best that those leading the programmed workshops choose the person with whom they want to work. This will give the “language facilitators” the opportunity to prepare their facilitation in advance we are providing for three languages in the Convergence: English, French and Italian. To help these exchanges run smoothly, we will have a workshop in 'language facilitation' at the beginning of the Convergence.
• Registration
You can follow the course of registrations on our blog and see who the participants will be (as well as your friends).
• Accomodation
The Chateau de Méridon sometimes takes a bit of time to respond but they do answer! Please don't hesitate to let us know if you have any questions.

And to end with a surprise....
We have a gift for you in honor of the arrival of spring for those who register now. We will apply the 'early bird' fees until May 1st.
After the Spring rush, the 'on time' fee will apply.

Looking forward to seeing you soon and until then, sending you hugs.

Call from the committee

Dear friends,

You have registered for the Voice Dialogue Convergence which will take place in Paris this coming September and we are looking forward to seeing you.
Taking into account previous Convergences, many of you have asked that the program include (the proportions have not yet been fixed), presentations and workshops prepared in advance as well as other workshops created in the 'open space' format during the Convergence.
In order to create a smoother flow, we would be grateful if you would let us know if you would like to facilitate a presentation or a workshop. If you would, please send us by e-mail (info@convergence2012.eu) the following information below:
- Your name:
- Your subject (a brief description):
- Time needed (30 minutes, one hour, two hours)
- Number of participants (Maximum / Minimum)
- Material needed
- Language (s) spoken by the facilitator
- Language (s) understood by the facilitator

Thank you

The Organizing Committee

Newsletter 4

Convergence 2012 – September 6-9 Paris (Vallée de Chevreuse) France


Dear Friends,
The period of the official French New Year’s greeting is now over. With this letter we announce the beginning of another period, a simple, warm, friendly greeting!
It is with joy that the entire 2012 Convergence Organizing team is making their wish for our encounter this coming fall to be a happy, fulfilling and festive one, and for the time before this event to be full of delight for everyone.

And speaking of time passing ...
Do you know the purpose of the time between the moment the Christmas tree is decorated and the moment the Easter bunnies arrive bearing eggs?
It’s time to register for the "Early Bird” discount!!!
Before April 1st you can take advantage of this discount by joining our existing group.

Check out the 2012 Convergence blog to see what a friendly form this blog is taking – you’ll see the names of registrants and the presentation of individual members of our organizing committee.

The festivities and future exchanges are being prepared with ardure. It would be so much less joyful and less rich if it were to take place without you!

We are now putting all our energy into organizing 3 essential elements:

1. Linguistic Diversity and Sharing Languages
This is about transforming our language differences into an asset. We’re developing the concept of "language facilitators" (a minimum for our community "dialoguers") to respect those who speak their native languages and help those who do not understand it.
To illustrate this concept, a rewritten version of the episode of the "Tower of Babel" will be sent out soon.

2. The Program
This is about providing a large field to welcome whatever will emerge while not losing too much time on managing the logistics of organization. We will therefore, in a flexible manner, provide time for prepared workshops and time for spontaneous creations. Please let us know if you already have the desire to lead a workshop by using a form that will be sent to you in the coming days.

3. Answering your Questions
Don’t hesitate to contact us!

We are looking forward to seeing you soon. In the meantime, we’d like to share with you our joy in preparing for this future encounter. We extend our friendship and would like to remind you that we are here for you.

The Organizing Committee for the 2012 Convergence
http://convergence2012en.blogspot.com/
Invitation N°4 - January 31st, 2012