The participants in a Knowledge Café play several different roles.
Not all of these roles are always needed, and the same person can play some roles.
These are the roles:
- Café Owner
The Café Owner is the person who has an issue or a problem and requests or suggests that a Café or series of Cafés are run to address that issue.
Sometimes there is more than one owner, e.g., a project team, but normally the project manager would be the designated Owner.
The Café Owner is sometimes called the Café Requester or Café Initiator.
- Café Designer
The Café Designer is the person who gets together with the Café Owner and works with them to create the Café.
No two Cafés are the same. Every Café is designed to fulfill its particular purpose.
They are the Conversation Architects.
- Café Sponsor
The Café Sponsor is the person who sets the scene for the conversation and acts as a high-level chair working closely with the Café Host.
The Café Owner and Café Designer are often not senior managers, so appointing a senior manager as Café Sponsor sometimes makes sense.
This role is optional as it is usually only needed when the Café addresses more important, strategic business issues.
- Café Host
The Café Host is the person who hosts/facilitates the Café.
Every Café needs to be facilitated. It is the job of the Café Host to facilitate the Café.
This is done by working closely with the Café Designer though often they are the same person.
For simpler, more learning-oriented Cafés, the host need not have any formal facilitation training.
- Table Hosts
There are not any table hosts in a Knowledge Café. Everyone has an equal voice.
Unlike the World Café, where a table host remains at a table for the rounds of small group conversations to welcome the new set of people and to carry key ideas, themes, and questions into the new conversations, the Knowledge Café does not have a table hosts.
This is because one of the fundamental principles of the Knowledge Café is that everyone is equal.
- Café Speaker
The Café Speaker is the person who sets the context for the Café and poses the question that triggers the conversational process.
Usually, there is only one speaker (but there can be more), and often the role is taken by the Café Host or the Café Owner.
Sometimes the conversation is triggered by other means such as a video clip, in which case a speaker is not required. This role is thus optional.
- Café Recorder
A Café recorder is a person who captures issues, ideas, or outcomes from the Café or captures the essence of the Café in blog posts, photos, videos, or visual graphics.
One or more Café Recorders do the capturing.
In a pure Knowledge Café, though, nothing is captured, and there are no recorders.
- Café Participants
The Café Participants are the people who come together to have a conversation in the Café.
They are not delegates or attendees. They are participants.
Once the Café conversation is underway, the Café Host, Owner, Designer, and Speakers usually take part in the Café as equal participants.
The Observers do not take part. The Recorders shouldn’t participate though, in some circumstances, they do.
[Status: work in progress]
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