PLEASE MAKE YOUR HOTEL RESERVATION SOON!
Our headquarters hotel is
the Hampton Inn
200 Centennial Drive
McPherson, KS, 67460
(Just off I-135 on E Kansas Ave,
which is Highway 56)
Reservations: (620) 480-2990
Group: Kansas Dialogue
Rate: $109 + tax
CALL HOTEL DIRECTLY
The room block will be released after August 2nd, and prices may increase.
Come early on Friday afternoon! Starting at 1:30 there will be a trolley tour of McPherson, followed by a tour of McPherson College's Auto Restoration Program, made famous by Jay Leno!
General Schedule - Friday evening August 16th - Sunday noon August 18th
FRIDAY EVENING AUGUST 16th: "Exploring, Restoring, Renewing" at the McPherson Museum
The McPherson Museum & Arts Foundation will be the site of our Friday evening & Sunday morning sessions. The McPherson Convention and Visitors Bureau is also in this building, and will kindly house our silent auction items (which means bidding will only take place on Friday & Sunday.) The McPherson Museum is conveniently located at 1111 E. Kansas Avenue, not far from our headquarters hotel, the Hampton Inn.
On Friday evening registration will begin at 4:30 pm at the theatre. Enjoy roaming the museum; then a reception, dinner and evening program will begin at 5:30 and go until around 9:00 pm.
We'll finish our evening session around 9:00 and meet back at the Hampton Inn for "Dialogue After Hours" in the conference room and lobby area.
SATURDAY AUGUST 17th
Morning: Exploring at the Maxwell Wildlife Refuge!
It can get kind of warm in August, so we're going to start the day with our adventure at the Maxwell Wildlife Refuge. At 8:00 we will carpool to nearby Canton where we will get a tram tour into the Kansas prairie and hopefully see a lot of bison, elk and wildflowers!
The Heart of Dialogue: day sessions at the McPherson Community Building from 10:30 - 4:30
122 East Marlin Street in downtown McPherson.
This important building has been a community gathering space for nearly a hundred years. The gymnasium inside was the home court to the McPherson Globe Refiners basketball team, the first-ever Olympic gold medal champions. There's a fascinating exhibit about that we can check out.
Refreshments following our Maxwell Wildlife Refuge Tour will be available from 10:30 on. We'll kick off with a general session at 11:15, followed by lunch. After lunch we'll jump into smaller conversations of 20 people. You'll have a dozen topics to choose from during the afternoon. Thanks to the suggestions you make on your registration form, the conversations will range from nitty gritty to humorous and philosophical. There's something for everyone!
Saturday evening at the McPherson Opera House from 6:00 - 9:00 pm
219 S Main Street
What fun! We're taking over the Opera House on Saturday night, starting with dinner in the ballroom, and then moving to the theatre at 7:30. Famed Kansas Explorer Marci Penner of the Kansas Sampler Foundation has some surprises in store for us. We'll tour Kansas through her eyes, and have the chance to win prizes for our knowledge of Kansas places. Yep, she's bringing her Kansas Stump, her platform for trivia questions. Are you ready??
We'll continue our conversations "After Hours" at the Hampton Inn.
SUNDAY MORNING AUGUST 18th at the McPherson Museum: some high octane conversation!
Many people say this is their favorite part of the weekend. We'll have three roundtable sessions where you can choose from 9-10 topics at a time. These include some fresh topics that you bring to Kansas Dialogue on Friday night, so they feature the latest current events, the most controversial subjects, the goofy, the esoteric, the political, the spiritual... topics that are best suited to small group sharing.
As always, we conclude the weekend with our own fake radio show: "This I Believe"... an inspiring collection of audio essays written and performed by several people in our group. This live show is modeled after the NPR Radio series.
PLEASE JOIN US FOR A MEMORABLE WEEKEND GETAWAY!
More details will be available once we know who's coming.
IF YOU'VE NEVER BEEN BEFORE -
Our group size is 70 - 90 people. Conversations will vary from full group discussions to concurrent sessions with 20 people to a room, and round tables of 8. Over the course of the weekend you will have dozens of topics to choose from. Dress is casual.
As interesting as the formal sessions are, the real buzz happens at meals, breaks and "after hours". Kansas Dialogue is an immersion experience, and the people who come are thirsty for good conversation and meeting new people. We dive right in without the small talk.
If this sounds like it's for you, general details of the weekend are below. Because Kansas Dialogue is an "off the record" conversation, the final program and participant list are shared only with the people who register. Attendees also agree to a few simple "Ground Rules", which we encourage you to read.
We look forward to seeing you!
Regards,
Martha Farrell and the
Registration - $160
Student Rate: $25 (through college age)
RATES INCLUDE CONFERENCE SESSIONS, GROUP EVENTS, AND MEALS.
Click the button to fill out the registration form
NOTE ABOUT PAYMENT: We will send you a Paypal link which you may pay online with any credit or debit card; or mail a check to us.
Make checks to Kansas Dialogue and mail to
PO Box 444
Towanda, KS 67144
We're all about seeing Kansas with new eyes...
appreciating the treasures in our midst...
enjoying conversations we don't seem to find anywhere else, with folks we'd never meet otherwise...
Renew and refresh yourself at Kansas Dialogue!
Kansas Dialogue XXIX:
"EXPLORING, RESTORING, RENEWING"
McPherson, Kansas August 16 - 18, 2024
Hi everyone -
If you've been to Kansas Dialogue before, you're feeling it right about now: the anticipation of seeing a great cross-section of Kansans who become your fast friends; exploring an intriguing new community; and diving into a weekend of fast-paced, intelligent conversation.
After a fantastic visit to Ark City the last time we met, we're swinging up to McPherson, in Central Kansas.
We'll outline the bones of the weekend below, but remember that we truly design the topics around who is coming and what you want to talk about.
The Conveners meet twice to study the registrations, finalize the topics, and make facilitator assignments. If you have suggested a topic that didn't get to a larger group format, we can make it available as a round table discussion on Sunday morning.
MAP OF McPHERSON: CONFERENCE REGISTRATION IS AT THE McPHERSON MUSEUM BEGINNING AT 4:30 FRIDAY AFTERNOON
Click the pictures below to enlarge.
Many thanks to the McPherson CVB for a grant that will help fund the rental of their beautiful venues.
McPherson is in the history books now, but we're leaving this up to give you an idea of what the weekend is like!