We are planning to hold a meeting using the World Cafe format. The Website where we've found a number of tools and ideas says that the World Cafe concept was developed in 1995 in Mill Valley, California. Someone asked me how the name originated, and I guess it's because it's done in a cafe format, and in settings across the world. I did, however, wonder if the World Cafe existed before 1995. Is anyone familiar with it?

David Dye originated the NPR show World Cafe on U of Penn's WXPN in 1991, so we know the name has been around since then...

Really! That's interesting because we are seeking permission from the Mill Valley group to use their terminology and may even have to pay them. I wonder how close the NPR concept was to the California one. My intuition tells me that "World Cafe" has been used years before even NPR used it. I just can't find the evidence.