Services

Through DMG and our predecessor organization, the Fred Friendly Seminars, we have helped an amazing array of clients open minds on major policy issues; challenge and inspire conference attendees; bring focus and imagination to corporate gatherings; and use compelling, concrete scenarios in training and education. Our unique Socratic Dialogue format opens new avenues of communication, collaboration and problem solving, in every setting and media platform it is employed.

Here is a sampling of clients with whom DMG principals have worked:

  • Accenture tackled a global corporate issue on employee retention and promotion with a Dialogue to explore effective people management strategies. A customized Dialogue program was videotaped and edited into training modules to create an online management education program that has been utilized by over 11,000 Accenture employees.

  • 11th U.S. Circuit Court brought together high-level judges at their annual meeting to wrestle with the judge's role as gatekeeper of scientific evidence in the courtroom, an issue that is both urgent and complex as sophisticated forensic evidence becomes an increasingly important part of many cases. This event for federal judges followed a series of approximately 30 events on the same critical issue at state judicial conferences from Maine to Alaska.

  • Kaiser Permanente - Among the many projects DMG principals have developed with Kaiser Permanente is a Dialogue on race in America as part of their 32nd annual National Diversity Conference. The audience included over 750 Kaiser executives, board members, physicians, human resources professionals, and front line staff. In addition, employees at Kaiser's offices as well as offices of selected Kaiser corporate partners were able to watch the live web cast. This provocative program continued to be accessible as streaming video on the Kaiser Permanente web site.

  • The World Bank - DMG principals, producing for the Fred Friendly Seminars, created for the World Bank a series of three Dialogues as part of the Bank's 50th anniversary commemoration. The first two Dialogues - on rural policy and urban policy - took place at their Washington, D.C. headquarters and were videotaped for world-wide distribution. The third and final program in the series was produced for an audience of over 1,000 government leaders, bankers, and economists as the centerpiece of the Bank's 50th anniversary conference in Madrid.

  • Environmental Protection Agency - DMG principals worked with the EPA to create a showcase Dialogue for an international conference on environmentally friendly vehicles. Participants from around the globe worked through scenarios that revealed the challenges and opportunities for governments, businesses, and NGOs seeking greener and smarter transportation solutions.

  • National Association of Homebuilders selected the Socratic Dialogue format as the ideal one to explore issues of critical interest to their membership as well as the public. They commissioned three Dialogues that probed the potential for conflict between private property rights and community values, the challenge of urban sprawl, and the impact of environmental sustainability policies on economic development. Distributed with collateral educational materials, these programs were used for public education and legislative outreach.

The DMG production team employs the same rigorous approach for each of its projects. At its heart is a compelling hypothetical scenario to galvanize the discussion. The producers work closely with client leadership to define the goals of the project and identify key issues for the hypothetical. Then the process expands to include interviews with external authorities and sophisticated issue research. The program panel is recruited in consultation with the client and an experienced moderator is selected for the project. The production team is available to manage all aspects of the event, video production, multimedia extensions, and the creation of collateral training materials or viewer guides.