This page, as well as the materials listed in the menu on its left-hand side, was created as a guide for any individual or group who wanted to make a positive difference in their community by participating in the Ben Franklin Coffeehouse Challenge. The 2006 Ben Franklin Coffeehouse Challenge period has now closed, but we have decided to keep this page and its resources up online, not only to give more detail on how the program worked (for the curious), but also because much of it continues to be useful reading for anyone seeking to gather their community and come up with concrete ways to improve life for everyone!
A Coffeehouse Challenge should be relaxed, informal, and quite simple to put together. First of all, think about how you would like your coffeehouse challenge to work, and what issue you are particularly interested in focusing the discussion on. It should be something that is relevant to your local area and that you and others in the community care about.
Once you have an idea for a Coffeehouse Challenge, contact Nicola Twilley at the Benjamin Franklin Tercentenary. She will help you find and get in touch with the right people at your local Starbucks or other nearby venue.
You’ll need to agree on a date and time, and then pass those details on to us (using the Let Us Know When and Where form). We’ll list your Challenge on our online calendar, so that people in your area can find out how to join in, and we’ll send you a Starbucks card to say thank you!
Then you will want to invite people to come along to your Challenge, and we’ve created an e-vite and template invitation letter to help you do just that. We’ve also put together a page of suggestions about who to invite, to get you started. You won’t need to worry about it too much: the most productive meetings often only have between 5 and 10 people.
At the start of your Challenge meeting, Starbucks staff will break the ice with a brief coffee tasting. Starbucks will also supply complimentary coffee and tea to all Challenge participants (at their first meeting). Your role will be to briefly outline the issue you’ve chosen, and then keep conversation flowing and focused on practical solutions. We’ve put together some ideas on how to start the discussion and keep it going successfully.
At the end of the Challenge your group should swap contact details, and make plans to meet again to develop your ideas into a proposal for the chance to win an award. We’d really like to know how things went, so we’ve created a feedback form for you to fill in after that first meeting.
The best subjects seem to be ones about which the community feels strongly and can be improved upon with collective action. To identify particular local concerns, consider the issues highlighted in your local newspaper, or talk to your neighbors and colleagues. Be like Ben Franklin – look closely at your surroundings in order to understand and improve them. Many of the areas which concerned Ben are still relevant today: he and his friends worked for clean and safe streets, environmental action and regulation, civil defense, and better health-care and educational opportunities for all. You could choose to follow his lead and discuss ways to reduce waste; to promote healthy lifestyles; to make neighborhoods safer; or to bring entrepreneurial or educational opportunities to your area. Franklin’s interest in domestic industry might even qualify him as an early member of the “Buy Fresh, Buy Local” movement! From libraries to swimming and agriculture to prisons, Franklin took an interest in all aspects of society, and came up with ways to partner with others and make a positive impact.
