The ILA Listening Times February, 2023

1. Dr. Christopher Bond is taking a short sabbatical from the ILA Presidency for personal reasons. He will return to the Board in July as Immediate Past President. He can still be reached via email at chris.bond@listen.org. Raquel Ark will be serving as acting President and can be reached at raquel.ark@listen.org. Raquel is the Founder of listening ALCHEMY, a communication training and coaching organization and has more than 25 years of experience in multinational corporations and academia. Raquel is also a university instructor at Fresenius University of Applied Sciences in Germany and the host of the listening SUPERPOWER podcast. Raquel has been on a four-year track to the ILA Presidency, initially as 1st Vice President Elect and most recently as Vice President.  In this role, she has been leading several initiatives, including project managing our Annual International Listening Association Convention to be held this year in Mainz, Germany, in July. The ILA thanks Chris for his contributions as President, and Raquel for taking over the leadership of the ILA.  

2. Everyone is welcome at our 44th ILA Annual Convention in Mainz, Germany! We have a great cultural program planned with traditional "Kaffe and Kuchen” at the reception and the Gala at a local vineyard. The Convention will be hybrid for most programs and everyone is welcome! https://listen.org/44th-Annual-ILA-2023-Convention  . Would you like to join a growing community of ILA members who are helping to plan the 44th ILA Convention, “Discovering the impact of listening to every voice”? We would love to have you join the fun! Contact Raquel Ark and join our Convention Deep Work community meetings Raquel.ark@listen.org

3. Michael Z Murphy has drawn our attention to the “Isle of Discussion,” a tiny island in Scotland. For hundreds of years, arguing members of the MacDonald Clan were sent to the island by the clan’s chief and were not allowed to leave until their disputes were resolved. To help the feuding parties come to a swift and peaceful agreement, they were left with a supply of cheese, oatcakes, and whisky. The thought of taking a discussion to an idyllic Scottish isle, and solving matters over whisky, cheese, and oatcakes, couldn’t be more welcome right now https://vinepair.com/articles/scotland-island-discussion-whisky/

4. The monthly ILA Listening Circle experiential training is back for 2023. If you are interested in joining our group, please contact Raquel.ark@listen.org or Colin Smith. Our Listening Circles have a strong training component and they also have become a place for us to support each other in advancing Listening in our work and life environments. The next ILA Listening Circle is on February 28 at 8am USA Central Time.

5. ILA Board Member Kathy O’Brien highlighted this for us: https://lnkd.in/gH4dnC_B It’s good to see a business magazine like Fast Company recognising the importance of Listening.  We liked the practical tips too.

6. ILA members Annie Rappeport and Andrew Wolvin have published “Narrative Listening and the Quest for Peace,” in the January, 2023, issue of The Global Listener.  The article is a case study of the New Story Leadership project to bring delegates from Israel and Palestine to Washington each summer to listen to each other’s stories and to meet with members of Congress. In the same issue, Professor Wolvin is featured in an interview on the state of Listening education and research in today’s world.

7. We are delighted to announce that Michael Gilbert has been appointed Editor of our ILA Journal, Listening in Education and Training Settings (LETS), taking over from Cynthia Hazel. Many thanks to Cynthia for her contribution to Listening in the world. Michael is a Life Member of the ILA and has been active since 1981. He has served on the ILA Board and was ILA President in 1994. Please reach out to Michael for any questions, or to contribute to the journal at LETSeditor@listen.org.

8. ILA member Harvey Weiss has drawn our attention to an article in the February 6, 2023, issue of TIME Magazine entitled “Zip it! The Power of Saying Less.” The article by Dan Lyons concludes with 5 Ways to Stop Over-Talking. We might call this Listening!

9. There is a new research article available online in the latest ILA International Journal of Listening. This is available free to ILA members but remember to login first to the ILA website: Does Video Belong In L2 Academic Listening Tests? Stakeholders’ Perceptions About Test Difficulty, Authenticity, And Motivation

10. We are glad to welcome all the new ILA members this month including Motoki, David, Clare, Seth and Tiffany from Germany, Canada and the USA. We look forward to getting to know you and to hear more about your interest in Listening.

11. Those who missed Nicola Burke’s ILA Online session this month on ‘How Children Listen’ have missed a real treat. We were enthralled to hear about her research. Look out for the next ILA Online session on March 3^rd ‘Intercultural Communication’. All ILA members are welcome to register for this informal discussion on our ILA website at Register

12. Women of the ILA, you are warmly invited to be part of shaping a new online organization called Women's Listening Space from June 1st to 30th, 2023. This month-long pilot program provides you with personalized introductions to like-minded women for one-on-one, virtual listening sessions. All listening sessions include equal turns of listening and being listened to. ILA member Melina Ponak is creating Women’s Listening Space as a first step towards making listening spaces available to a wide variety of people. For this pilot, some availability between 9am and 9pm US Pacific Time is required. Learn more by emailing Melina@WomensListeningSpace.com