New Office Address and Round Tables via Zoom

We have moved our office to the Landmark Center in St. Paul, Minnesota.

The Landmark Center was built in 1902 as a federal courthouse.  The exterior is pink granite ashlar with a hipped red tile roof, steeply pitched to shed St. Paul’s snows and enlivened by numerous turrets, gables and dormers with steeply peaked roofs; cylindrical corner towers with conical turrets occupy almost every change of projection.  There are two massive towers, one of which houses a clock.

The interior features a five-story courtyard with skylight and rooms with 20-foot ceilings, appointed with marble and carved mahogany finishes.  Its Richardsonian Romanesque is similar to the Old Post Office Building in Washington, D.C.

In 1972, a group of determined citizens saved the building from the wrecking ball and restored it to its previous grandeur.  It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places and reopened to the public as Landmark Center in 1978.  Today, it serves as a cultural center for music, dance, theater, exhibitions, public forums and hosts countless special events.  Owned by Ramsey County, it is managed by Minnesota Landmarks, a not-for-profit organization.

Landmark Center also houses Anita’s Cafe, Landmarket Gift Shop, five gallery spaces and a number of St. Paul’s premier arts and culture organizations.

Our new address is: 75 West Fifth Street, Suite 219, St. Paul, Minnesota 55102.

Secondly, as around the world we are getting accustomed to using Zoom and other internet platforms for meetings, we would like to convene round tables using such technology.

Zoom and similar technologies are particularly well designed for a global network like ours.  At minimal expense, we can convene thoughtful leaders from around the world.  The internet, sadly, does not permit the personal exchanges, formal and informal, of gathering in a place, such as Mountain House in Caux, and which lead to new friendships and deeper learning from one another at tea breaks and during meals.

Our plan for these round tables is to propose topics and set reasonable dates and times for the discussions.  At first, I think we should open them to a limited number of participants.  We would ask those interested in participating to RSVP, with the first 25 to register to be admitted to the session.  We will send invitations to those so registered.  If a larger number would like to participate in that discussion, we would then consider convening a separate session later to accommodate their interest.

We now are thinking about a series of round tables on 1) the most important lessons learned from the coronavirus pandemic and 2) on the application of our principles going forward, as we adjust our global community to living with the virus and its potential mutations for some years to come.

We would like to have our round tables facilitate the drafting of proceedings on the topics discussed for subsequent distribution.

Please send us your suggestions regarding how best to structure such events and what topics you believe should be tabled for consideration by participants.