This month Shareable is partnering with Heartland Circle to produce the September 17th Thought Leader Gathering at Fort Mason in San Francisco. The theme will be The Next Economy: Imagining a Law of Interdependence. As the “conversation starter”, I will join conveners Craig & Patricia Neal of Heartland and the Thought Leader Gathering (TLG) community for a unique Council Process experience.

Using the highly participatory TLG design and Council Process, we’ll leverage the collective wisdom of participants on a question of consequence for Shareable and the shift to a commons-based economy.

I'm truly honored that Heartland, who has hosted the TLG in San Francisco for the last 11 years, have crafted a social experience designed specifically to help our cause. And best of all, you're invited. I hope you will join us.

As a Shareable reader, you can attend at the special rate of $112.50 (usually $175) by using this discount code, DSC-TLG2010. Full-time college students can attend for $50. Contact patricia at heartlandcircle dot com if you qualify. Breakfast and educational materials are included. You can learn more about the event here and register at the special rate here.

Heartland emphasizes the quality of social connection. TLGs are opportunities to learn about the new world that is emerging and practice the new, more soulful social dynamics that are likely to undergird it.

I attended my first TLG in July. What stood out was how the process of convening they used enabled me to connect authentically to people I just met, and do it naturally. In one small group discussion that lasted just 15 minutes, each of us had a little cry after talking about our work for change. How starved we are for the better angels of our nature to be witnessed and called out!

Craig and Patricia Neal along with their fellow Heartland leaders are dedicated to art of authentic engagement in meetings. For them, the how of social change is as important as the work itself. They believe the means deliver the ends. Their commitment is embodied in their soon to be released book The Art of Convening, which is a distillation of over 30 years of consulting, writing, and practice as conveners.

The Thought Leader Gathering is an opportunity to join a movement which honors relationships as sacred and offers a space to practice conversation as a skill necessary to share, participate in democracy, and enjoy our lives fully.

I hope you'll join us.