[All] FW: Upcoming Adam Kahane Lecture

[Robert Milligan]

Good points Greg. The $25 charge will certainly filter out many social  
innovators who will decide not to attend either because of the price  
itself -- they survive on a shoestring -- or on principle for reasons  
related to price, such as you described.

You could send an email to Arts Dean Ken Coates -- who oversees SIG. I  
could even forward him a copy of this if you wish. Also, the McConnell  
Foundation, http://www.mcconnellfoundation.ca/,  (for whom I did some  
consulting work in the late 1960's) is SIG's main benefactor -- you  
could contact them with your concerns.

Robert



On 19-Jan-10, at 3:32 PM, Gregory C. Michalenko wrote:

> I think it is extraordinary that an organization that is set up to  
> promote social innovation would charge $25 to attend a "public  
> lecture" - and force people to buy the author's book as part of the  
> privilege to hear him.  I called the "Social Innovation Generation",  
> the promoters of the event, at the University of Waterloo (a public  
> institution that exists because we pay for it through our taxes) to  
> ask for an explanation of why they are staging it in this fashion.   
> They were at least artful and complex in their explanation but it  
> simply came down to gouging the public.  I asked how much Mr Kahane  
> is charging for his lecture and they said they weren't at liberty to  
> disclose this.  I asked why they are forcing people to buy the  
> book:  if they were really interested in social innovation wouldn't  
> they donate lots of copies of his book to public libraries so that  
> people everywhere could borrow it and read it?  They replied that  
> they are charging so much so that they can eventually post it  
> online.  I felt this was at least an innovative approach to logic:   
> making you pay to buy the book so that you could read it for free  
> online!  Wowie zowie, now that's progress.  I don't find much  
> evidence that the esteemed and venerated Mr Kahane and author of  
> "Power and Love: a Theory and Practice of Social Change" loves me  
> very much, but there is plenty of suggestive evidence here that he's  
> trying to apply a power relationship to my pocketbook.  I think he  
> should change the title to "Power and Hypocrisy:  an Advanced Theory  
> of Snake Oil".  Note that another of his books contains in its title  
> "An Open Way of Talking, Listening and Creating New Realities."   
> When i called them, THEY were sure interested in doing the talking,  
> but none of the listening.
>
> Grr.  Grump. I wanna go, but no way I'm climbing into bed with these  
> earwigs.
>
> Thanks Susan for being kind enough to spread the word when someone  
> gives you a request.  No one can be faulted for that.  You're a good  
> soul.
>
> Grumpy Greg
> ________________________________________igto.net]
> Sent: Tuesday, January 19, 2010 12:50 PM
> To: 'GREN'
> Subject: [All] FW: Upcoming Adam Kahane Lecture
>
> Hi Everyone,
> I haven’t read or heard of Kahane, but was asked to forward this.
> Susan K
>
> Waterloo Lecture on Social Innovation
>
> Adam Kahane, author of Power & Love: A Theory & Practice of Social  
> Change, will deliver this year's Waterloo Lecture on Social  
> Innovation on Wednesday, Jan 27 at the Centre for International  
> Governance Innovation (CIGI) in Waterloo. Kahane,once praised by  
> South Africa's Nelson Mandela , is an internationally acclaimed  
> social innovator. He will give a public lecture and launch his  
> latest book on how to effectively deal with pressing problems in  
> society.
>
> The Annual Lecture on Social Innovation highlights world-class  
> thinkers with new ideas on how to achieve significant, durable  
> social change for pressing and increasingly complex social problems.  
> In this year's lecture, Kahane will draw on his extensive experience  
> with designing and leading complex multi-stakeholder change  
> processes to offer practical guidance for effectively balancing  
> power and love, two usually polarized drives.
> Learn more
>
>
> About Adam Kahane
>
> Adam is a leading organizer, designer and facilitator of processes  
> through which business, government, and civil society leaders can  
> work together to address their toughest challenges. He has worked in  
> more than fifty countries, in every part of the world, with  
> executives and politicians, generals and guerillas, civil servants  
> and trade unionists, community activists and United Nations  
> officials, clergy and artists.
>
> Adam Kahane is a partner in Reos Partners, an international  
> organisation dedicated to supporting and building capacity for  
> innovative collective action in complex social systems. He is also  
> an Associate Fellow of the Institute for Science, Innovation and  
> Society at the University of Oxford’s Saïd Business School.
>
> Adam is the author of Solving Tough Problems: An Open Way of  
> Talking, Listening, and Creating New Realities (San Francisco:  
> Berrett-Koehler, 2004). Nelson Mandela said: “This breakthrough book  
> addresses the central challenge of our time: finding a way to work  
> together to solve the problems we have created.” Adam’s second book,  
> Power and Love: A Theory and Practice of Social Change, is  
> forthcoming from Berrett-Koehler in December 2009.
>
>
> The event, which begins at 7 p.m., is presented by Social Innovation  
> Generation at the University of Waterloo, Region of Waterloo, CIGI,  
> Capacity Waterloo Region and Musagetes.
>
> Waterloo Lecture on Social Innovation featuring Adam Kahane
> Date: January 27, 2010
> Time: 7pm - 9pm
> Location:  Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI), 57  
> Erb St. W., Waterloo, ON
> Tickets: $25 (includes admission, a copy of 'Power & Love',  
> reception with Adam Kahane)
> RSVP: Register online here or by emailing siglecture at uwaterloo.ca
>
>
>
>
>
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