The KCafe was very kindly hosted by William Chua, CEO of eLC, a training and learning organization in Singapore at the Brewerkz Riverside Point alongside the Singapore River.
This was not the first time I have held a knowledge cafe in a pub/bar though it was a first for Singapore. William and his staff did an excellent job organising the event with free food and beer to help along the conversation. A big thanks to you all.
eLC videod the evening and I have uploaded it to the web as a Youtube playlist of five short videos.
If you have ever run knowledge cafes yourself or plan to run them then watch the start of the fourth video where I ask for someone to start the conversation. It takes 1 minute 15 seconds or so before someone takes the mike.
Believe me, standing at the front, that seemed more like for ever! And although I encourage people to start the conversation, I did not start it myself. I never have and I never will. If I am patient and wait long enough someone will always start.
Note also how the conversation got off to a slow start but once people get engaged and realise there is nothing to fear, the conversation gathers pace.
Also keep in mind, that a knowledge cafe works best with a smaller number of people where microphones are not needed and a circle can be formed at the end for the whole group conversation. In this situation, I encourage people to talk more to each other rather than report back to me or ask questions of me.
