HWH Public Relations - Current Events Forum

Newschat.org

The Rationale

Busy people spend their days (and, sometimes, nights) moving from one business agenda item to another. At the end of their business day activities, they may yearn to collapse in weariness or they may seek some expression of their creative sides. Some take painting classes, some write the novel, take singing classes, attend a lecture at the 92nd Street "Y" while some roller blade. Still others seek an outlet for their interest in politics, economics or society in general. This used to be called "civics."

The Current Events Seminar

For several months, large groups of business and corporate people have been gathering, on a monthly basis, in the home of Lois and Eliot Hess founders of HWH PR/New Media, a New York headquartered firm, to discuss, in a non-threatening atmosphere, the various dimensions of current events. Business people from every degree of the political spectrum attend to voice their concerns, pose questions for answers, ponder the uncertainties of unanswerable questions, exchange views in sometimes lively debate and generally act as concerned citizens in a vibrant democracy. These sessions are moderated and facilitated by Dr. Stephen Schneider, Adjunct Professor of Political Science at Hofstra University and promotes no single political agenda. Dr, Schneider typically chooses a topic for discussion from the current news or from topics impacting society on a wider basis or from suggestions from past participants. He begins the seminars with a short statement about the topic and then poses several thought-provoking or controversial questions seeking to solicit thoughtful responses or further inquiries into the topic. In every case, the discussion accelerates from there moving from participant to participant producing some lively debate and/or inquiry or surprising revelations from participants. All people of good will, sometimes agreeing to disagree without being disagreeable, are invited to attend.

The Proposal

It would seem reasonable that other corporate people would be interested in attending this kind of outlet for their creative side. But there are barriers to their attendance, not the least of which are the demands of their occupations and families. What we propose is to bring the dialog opportunity to them at a time and place that maximizes convenience and comfort while permitting them participate on a regular basis. This proposal can have two distinct dimensions: The "lunch hour dialog" or the "online dialog."

The "lunch hour dialog" may actually take place in any time slot before, during, or after the workday at the place of business. This is one way of bringing the dialog opportunity to them. As in the discussion groups held at the Hess', corporate associates are invited to attend to explore the meanings, effects and ramifications of the current events arena. Dr. Schneider uses a short introductory lecture and some pertinent questions to encourage discussion. This is usually enough to generate a lively and vigorous debate among the corporate associates who normally try to work through the topics towards a resolution. These discussions may even assist corporations in their quest for engendering greater team-work and cooperation among their employees. The "lunch hour dialog" is usually completed in one hour if it operates before or during the workday or one and a half-hours if the session is held after work.

The "online seminar." is asynchronous with regard to time or geography. This means it may take place at anytime around the clock and around the world. This may be the current ultimate method in bringing the dialog opportunity to them. Operated by a sponsoring corporation and moderated and facilitated by Dr. Schneider, the dialogs operate in much the same manner at the monthly discussion sessions held at the Hess' or the "lunch hour dialog " operated on corporate property. In this "online" opportunity, the participants can enter the discussion at any time from anywhere. Dr. Schneider chooses a topic and places a short statement on a closed, members-only message board/chat room system on the web. Following that, he places several thought-provoking or controversial questions in a "threaded discussion" format ready for responses from participants.

A "threaded discussion" format is simply a message board format pre-arranged to separate responses and discussions along sub-topic lines so that participants can answer individual questions and follow separate discussion points without having to wade through the comments on other discussions questions. A "threaded discussion" message board may look like the following illustration:

A. Question A from Dr. Schneider-

Response 1 to question A
Response 1.1 to Response 1
Response 1.11 to Response 1.1
Response 2.1 to question A
Response 2.3 to question A
Response 2.31 to Response 2.3

Conclusion

This is the proposal that we are using to go after corporate sponsors for both the live and online current events dialogs. We are also using this document to encourage attendance at the Lois and Eliot Hess gatherings or to convince the corporate world that a forum of this kind directed by Dr. Schneider would be viewed as a huge fringe benefit by employees everywhere.

Thank you for reading. We are extremely excited about this project.

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