The Art of Convening- 40% off

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via heartlandcircle.blogs.com

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The Chinese Dream

Photo Credit: Craig neal

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I'm savoring wonderful Thought Leader Gathering w/ Helen Wang + the TLG community-- visionaries all!.

Helen's deep reflection on the meaning of a middle class that is larger than the US population, and how to move towards connection and oneness was evocative and provocative.

Thank you, Helen!

More on Helen via her YouTube video.

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AoC book review- Qualitative Research Consultants' Association

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This review from the Qualitative Research Consultants Journal highlights the effectiveness of convening and authenti engagment within a very specific business applicaiton. click here for the entire review Download Book Review (02-Summer 2011) - The Art of ConveningTema-Lyn

The Art of Convening, by Craig and Patricia Neal with Cynthia Wold, is a jewel of a book, which should resonate well with research consultants interested in mastering both the inner and outer dimensions of convening meetings. The Neals bring an enlightened approach to preparing for and conducting meetings that are authentic engagements – a genuine expression of what is “true” for convener and participants. The Art of Convening provides a holistic, perhaps “spiritual,” perspective on meetings that can inspire qualitative research consultants in working with research participants and client teams.

By Laurie Tema-Lyn, Practical Imagination Enterprises,Ringoes, NJlaurie@practical-imagination.com

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The Art of Intention

Photo credit: Craig Neal

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THE ART OF INTENTION

My deepest intention is always to serve, to encourage healing (in the meaning of fostering wholeness) and to embody love. I realized over time that by setting a clear intention for each gathering, for each day--I unleashed an energetic field which then drew the outer physical manifestation of that intention to me as I simultaneously was making my way towards "it".~Pele Rouge Chadima (quoted in the book p. 30 in chapter on "Clarifying Intent", the 'first' spoke on the Convening Wheel)

In The Art of Convening, one of the "spokes" or Aspects of the Convening Wheel is "Clarifying Intent". We ask ourselves foundational questions such as "What are my intentions?", "Are they in line with who I am?", and "Who are we to be together?"  These Essential Questions require us to remain in the "being" realm of convening. With these questions, we bring into play our relationship with others: who we are to be, and the how we are to be with one another. From these reflections flows the recognition of an intention that will have substance. With a clarified personal intent to be engaged, the design of the gathering and how it will be executed unfolds more easily. The Invitation, the third Aspect, is the logical next step in articulating our purpose and intent. If our intention is muddy, confused or ambiguous, it may eventually be revealed in a wishy-washy Invitation.

What matters and what counts are imagination and inspiration, a "Hail Yes!" we can attitude, and a roll up our sleeves movement of such magnitude that the future can hear us coming with our heads held high above the cloudy predictions and our knapsacks filled with our gumption and our grit, our gifts and our gratitudes-the building blocks of new cornerstones of possibility. ~Minx Boren (quoted on p. 32)

Intention is like an ignition point where ideas come closer to form, and where the numinous begins to come into reality. It provides us as individuals and groups the opportunity to slow and reflect carefully, and opens a field of gratitude and insurmountable momentum and equanimity--qualities that support success and the deepest form of accomplishment on all levels.

May your convening be full of clear intention and inspiration,

Craig, Patricia & Cindy

PS: Publisher 30% off list price limited time offer in either hardcopy or e-book. Go here to purchase for only $13.97: http://bit.ly/ebAQiw

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Craig & Patricia Neal offers live intvw webcast on Power of Communication

Photo Credit: Craig Neal

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Craig & Patricia Neal offers live intvw webcast on Power of Communication Today 1p EDT http://bit.ly/dWr1qW @ArtOfConvening

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The Art of Convening

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AOC BOOK ON FACEBOOK

Welcome to the world of convening: the art of gathering and "holding" people for the sake of authentic engagement.

We welcome you to try the Art of Convening, beginning wherever it makes sense for you, and to discover the gift of convening in all of its simplicity and power.

-Craig, Patricia and Cindy

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11/16-Interview: Engaging Emergence: Turning Upheaval into Opportunity

photo credit: craig neal

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Thanks to all who joined us on the call last night!

Hope is definitely not the same thing as optimism. It is not the conviction that something will turn out well, but the certainty that something makes sense, regardless of how it turns out. -Vaclav Havel

Last night Peggy Holman, master change method chronicler and author of the new book, Engaging Emergence, was our VisionHolder conversationalist with Craig and the community. Here are some snippets from Peggy.

I choose to be curious about chaos and breakdown. It offers me the best chance of more than just surviving. As things fall apart, it creates the space for something good to happen. Chaos creates a diversity of opportunity for people.

Two hallmarks:

• The notion that people care: people do care and want to make a difference
• Welcoming disturbance: there is a shift, an acceptance, the knowing of your own fear.

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We’re hospicing the old; midwifing the new. -Margaret Wheatley

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Conversations that matter: Conversation that help us see ourselves in context. experience the "we", experience ourselves in the whole.
How do we take this to scale?

2 pieces of the puzzle:
macroscope: creating the tools and mechanisms (tech and internet will create the vehicles)
microscope: many of us doing this work, stretching ourselves, as often as possible. share our stories to inspire others.

-how do we bring people together in holistic way to create scale?
-visual metaphors: even though you might think a large corporate system is immovable, as soon as people can step away from the immediate focus to the larger context, something does shift.

When the structures of how things are becomes so bad for a sufficient portion of the population, it's time to look at the principles and ideas for what supports people. What evolves is more complex systems that can handle more diversity.

One of my major ah-hahs is: there is a deep human need to belong, and an unspoken cultural assumption is that to belong you must conform. Instead of conforming, consider:

• take responsibility for what you love as an act of service.
• pay attention to what you deeply love, and bring it forward. it may be disruptive, but in the higher order of complexity, our uniqueness, the larger whole emerges.

http://www.hipcast.com/playweb?audioid=P17ee1365e5335e7e5da5fb9f08a17624YFh9R1REZmtx&buffer=5&shape=6&fc=FFFFFF&pc=666666&kc=009900&bc=CCCCCC&brand=1&player=ap26
 

MP3 File

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10/20 Interview: Love Leadership: a movement is launched

Photo credit: Craig neal

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Talk about vision in action! Last night's VisionHolder Interview with John Hope Bryant was a message of hope and fierce claiming of love as a transformational power and a movement to reclaim capitalism as a foundation that works for all. Leading from love...

As a special advisor on finance and economics to the last 3 Presidents (Clinton, Bush, Obama), we found John's message at once transformative and yet very practical. Imagine the courageous conversations he invoked as he speaks about the Five laws of love-based leadership and as a financial advisor, saying, "Love makes money and Vulnerability is power." It's the beginning of transformational change in the halls of institutional power.

order the book here

Five Laws of Love-based Leadership:

1. Loss Creates Leaders (there can be no strength without legitimate suffering)
2. Fear Fails (only respect and love leads to success)
3. Love Makes Money (love is at the core of true wealth)
4. Vulnerability is Power (when you open up to people they open up to you)
5. Giving is Getting (the more you offer to others, the more they will give back to you).

There is a fierceness to his message of love as action and claiming of true power. Love is not this new-agey thing, but work, action. Fear is a punk. Fear is lazy. John spoke to rainbows after storms, not letting a good crisis go to waste. The time is now to speak this truth to create real power.

Many thanks to John for his words, his courage, and his commitment to activism through love.

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10/19: "It's what you don't know that you don't know that's killing you, but you think you know..."

photo credit: craig neal

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10/19- HOPE Oakland Financial Literacy Empowerment Forum (see below)

Heartland's next VisionHolder interview is with John Hope Bryant, author, LOVE LEADERSHIP: The New Way to Lead in a Fear-Based World. Breaking news: Operation HOPE Founder and Business Bestselling Author John Hope Bryant Attends World Economic Forum in Tianjin as a Young Global Leader.

Patricia first heard John speak on MN Public Radio and was just enthralled. The genesis story: In 1992, at the age of 26, John was running a successful financial services business in LA when the riots broke out. After the chaos subsided, John saw that his community needed a hand-up, not a hand-out, so he founded Operation HOPE. In Love Leadership, John chronicles his story of transformation from a teenager growing up in South LA to the leader of one of the most impressive antipoverty organizations in the country.

What is the secrete to his leadership success? LOVE 

Read on for more information about John and HOPE.

  HOPE Oakland Financial Literacy Empowerment Forum: the Rebirth of America, the Future of the Financial Services Industry and the Effect on Underserved Communities, Post Economic Crisis

  HOPE Global Initiatives
 John's Mission Statement

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"HOPE Global Initiatives was developed out of the organization’s leadership role in hosting Ambassadors and Heads of State visiting Southern California, as well as the founder’s former role with the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, Geneva, Switzerland, as their first ever goodwill ambassador to the United States."

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The role of HOPE Global Initiatives is to promote and advocate the benefits of economic empowerment as a tool for vastly improving the quality of life in developing countries, with a particular focus on developing countries on the African continent. The role has expanded to serve underserved communities throughout the world.

Hollywood comes to Soweto - Rwanda Rising - Operation HOPE - South Africa  Global Dignity

John''s Mission Statement:

"There is a difference between broke and being poor. Being broke is a temporary economic condition, but being poor is a disabling frame of mind and a depressed condition of your spirit, and you must vow to never, ever be poor again."
My vision for the poor, the under-served, and the wealthless of the world is to help them see themselves -- differently. We can do this by helping to expose, to educate, to empower, and ultimately to inspire them. To help them become "dreamers, with shovels in their own hands," quoting my friend Dr. Dorothy Height.
To see themselves for what and who they truly already are; rich in spirit. Assets, and not liabilities on the world's global balance sheet.
Because, I have seen, time and again, that given an informed choice, the poor do not want a hand out, but simply a hand up. They want the dignity that comes from doing for self.
That education is the ultimate poverty eradication tool, and when you know better, you tend to do better.
Moving from civil rights to silver rights. From integrating the lunch counter, to integrating the dollar too.
That low-wealth communities, the world over, represent future emerging markets waiting to be born. That one person can make a diference, and we are that one person. That we are all accountable and responsible for the world we live in, because it is literally the world we create. A little hope can make the difference.

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Strengthening through Appreciation

Photo credit: Craig neal

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A morningnote from Heartland...via our friends at LiveDynamite

Gratitude is the antidote to fear.
May 3, 2010

Appreciation is one of the strongest expressions of love and has been shown to trigger physical and emotional healing.

Research has proven that it's impossible for the brain to be in a state of appreciation and fear at the same time. And since fear can be paralyzing and hold you back from creating the life you want, the more you express appreciation the easier it is to gain the strength and support you need to take action.

By focusing your attention on all you have to appreciate, you positively reprogram the mind and memory to see how life supports you. Pay attention and you'll see how this practice allows you to experience new levels of grace, ease and joy each day. Here is a simple exercise to help you expand your gratitude practice.

Spend 3 minutes deeply thinking about someone, or something, that you appreciate.
Use all of your senses to experience what it is that you are grateful for. Pay attention to how your mind and body relax.

Repeat this exercise throughout your day when you want to feel more positive emotions.

Have a great day!
The Heartland Team

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Mojo: Building Block 4

photo credit: Craig neal

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Four vital ingredients need to be combined in order for you to havegreat Mojo.

The fourth element is acceptance. What can you change, and what is beyond your control? On the surface, acceptance—that is, being realistic about what we can and cannot change in our lives and accommodating ourselves to those facts—should be the easiest thing to do. it's certainly easier than crating an identity from scratch or rebuilding a reputation... And yet acceptance is often one of our greatest challenges... When Mojo fades, the initial cause is often failure to accept what is—and get on with life.

from MOJO: How to Get It, How to Keep It, How to Get It Back If You Lose It, by Marshall Goldsmith, our 3/23 VisionHolder Interview

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Mojo: Building Block 3

photo credit: craig neal

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Four vital ingredients need to be combined in order for you to havegreat Mojo.

The third element is reputation. Who do other people think you are? What do other people think you've done lately? It's your coworkers, customers, friends (and sometimes strangers who've never met you) grabbing the right to grade your performance—and report their opinions to the rest of the world. There is a lot you can do to maintain or improve your reputation, which can in turn have an enormous impact on your Mojo.

from MOJO: How to Get It, How to Keep It, How to Get It Back If You Lose It, by Marshall Goldsmith, our 3/23 VisionHolder Interview

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Mojo: Building Block 2

photo credit: craig neal

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Four vital ingredients need to be combined in order for you to havegreat Mojo.

The second element is achievement. What have you done lately? These are the accomplishments that have meaning and impact. We look at accomplishments from two perspectives: 1-What we bring to the task; 2-What the task give to us. Until we can honestly put a value on what we've accomplished lately, we may not be able to regain our Mojo.

from MOJO: How to Get It, How to Keep It, How to Get It Back If You Lose It, by Marshall Goldsmith, our 3/23 VisionHolder Interview

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Mojo: Building Block 1

photo credit: craig neal

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Four vital ingredients need to be combined in order for you to have great Mojo.

The first is your identity. Who do you think you are? Not how you think others see you, or what others say about you. Who do you think you are? Without a firm handle on our identity, we may never be able to understand why we gain—or lose—our Mojo.

from MOJO: How to Get It, How to Keep It, How to Get It Back If You Lose It, by Marshall Goldsmith, our 3/23 VisionHolder Interview

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MOJO with Marshall Goldsmith: Tour de Force

photo credit: craig neal

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Marshall Goldsmith is a force to be reckoned with...like entering the ring with a verbally facile Aikido master. Remember the Maxell tape commercials with the guy in the chair having his hair blown back? That's what is was like for Craig to enter the interview dance with Marshall.

For an hour he delighted and amazed us with his personal bio, ruminations on his new book, MOJO, How to Get it, How to Keep It, How to Get it Back If you Lose It in an engaging no-holds-barred conversation.

Don't take our word for it, listen to the audio of the entire session here: http://www.hipcast.com/playweb?audioid=Pba1f6533ee1642f56baa7606d84b5859YFh9R1REZmF9&buffer=5&shape=6&fc=FFFFFF&pc=666666&kc=009900&bc=CCCCCC&brand=1&player=ap26

In the interview, Craig asked Marshall, "What is your work and the new book for the sake of?" "What surprised you the most about the book when you finished writing?" "Tell us about what is underneath the book, the story of how you came to write it."

Craig & Patricia Neal

 Be sure to register forthe next VisionHolder interview on 4/20.
Join the Heartland Network social networking site (free)

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Revelation

photo credit: craig neal

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while we wait
for the days of revelation
and restitution to begin...
 
while we wait
to ignite our folded up dreams
and fire up our old hopes
perhaps there is time
to engage in the ancient practice
of simply sitting around the fire
and listening ourselves and one another
into wholeness
 
while we wait
for the glory days
and paybacks long overdue...
 
while we wait
in the shadow of a new day dawning...
 
and
while we wait for the celebration
that will burst forth when
the world is set aright
perhaps it would be good and wise
to set a place at today’s table
where those who will do the work
can be fed
 
and
since we are those people
perhaps right here
around these sturdy tables
and glowing campfires
and sacred spaces
and living rooms everywhere
right now is a good time
to engage in conversations that matter
to speak of possibilities
to give language to our hopes
and with our words
to begin to BE THE CHANGE
we wish to see
 
≈ from the heart, mind, and pen of Minx
© 2009 Minx Boren.  All rights reserved.

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Kavita Ramdas: Let's play a different game

photo credit: craig neal

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"As my husband often says, people don't realize that when the women's revolution is complete, both men and women will have more opportunities, free from stereotypical expectations about what they can and cannot do. Of course, that is very scary, because it's a dramatic departure from what we have right now, but it's also very exciting."

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The moststriking thing about the international women's movement is that it isn't an anti-male movement. We've gone beyond asking to be allowed to play the game, because we've realized that the game we're all playing is a terribly unfair one where people get hurt. So women activists are saying, 'Let's play a different game.' We're asking, 'What is the world that we want to see for ourselves, women and men, and our children?'

My VisionHolder Interview (2/2) with Kavita Ramdas, President and Chief Executive Officer, Global Fund for Women, was a conversation with a person dedicated to leaving a profound legacy for the world. The Global Fund for Women is a nonprofit grantmaking foundation that advances women's human rights worldwide.

But they are not just about women!

Kavita is clear that a new "game" should be created. One in which men and women are treated with equal dignity, and acknowledged for their wisdom and contribution. The failure to include 50% of the population is a failure of vision, but also an economic and democratic failure.

I asked Kavita WHY she has devoted her life to this work, FOR THE SAKE OF WHAT?, and,
Looking out 10 years, how will you know GFW has been successful?
she responded:

For the sake of what?
Hope: Connections being made all over the world: Hope for global community
Being a great mentor. The best mentors are those who push you off the edge. One of her mentors encouraged her to take the GFW job, saying, "Unless you take a risk you will not find what  you are really hear to do."
My husband also challenged me in the best ways—he really believed in me.
Courage was required.

Looking out 10 years, how will you know GFW has been successful?
UN: commitment to gender equality among all members and all member states.
Follow-up to Beijing conference 15 years ago. Countries are afraid to commit to hosting because of the controversial platform involving equality of women.
US as global leader in gender parity, women's human rights
Military budgets slashed in ½. So much of the earth’s resources flow to the miliatry vs. true sustainablilty, building up human capital resources.
Change the paradigm of giving: Less than 7% of all giving in US focuses on supporting girls and women’s rights.

Many thanks to Kavita for her inspiration, courage and love.

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The Compromise Trap: 1/19 VisionHolder Interview

Photo credit: craig neal

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The Compromise Trap: How to Thrive at Work Without Selling Your Soul with Elizabeth Doty, of WorkLore.

This evening's call with Elizabeth Doty was another in a wonderful series with evolutionary leaders of speaking to living a life of wholeness and integrity. Like all of our VisionHolders, Elizabeth holds a vision for a world that works not just for the individual, but for everyone. The topic of unhealthy compromise at work is VERY important to thetransformation of our organizations and the people who care about them.

The Compromise Trap helps you tell the difference between healthy and unhealthy compromise, and how to stay true to yourself and be a positive force in your organization. Some key components of the book:

Some key components of the book: the 10 Misconceptions about Compromise at work, Six Personal Foundations that bolster your courage, the 5 Positive Plays that one can take for a fulfilling life, concluding with It’s Bigger Than a Game.

Those on the call heard a compassionate real voice of experience from this Harvard MBA and former corporate manager on how to navigate the world of a commitment to reality and a commitment to integrity. She left us with an energetic question and a big vision:

How do people reconcile the contrast between what they care about as people, with the societal challenges that the organizations they work for may sometimes contribute to creating, intentionally or not?

What if each person stood up to take one small step for change and leadership? What might happen?

[Based on over fifty candid interviews with businesspeople at all levels, including vivid firsthand accounts of compromise and courage, Elizabeth details an inspiring strategy for staying true to yourself at work while contributing to your organization’s effectiveness and integrity.]

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Collective Wisdom, the movement: 11/19 VH Call, 12/4 TLG, 1/8 TLG

photo credit: craig neal

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We're honored to welcome Alan Briskinand the book that is the beginning of a movement that will bring wholeness and sustainability to our communities and organizations: The Power of Collective Wisdom and the Trap of Collective Folly. Alan was our November VisionHolder Interview and is our Conversation Starter for both the December and January Thought Leader Gatherings.

Listen to Alan's VisionHolder Call from November 19!
http://www.hipcast.com/playweb?audioid=Pdda4aacd5e5cb7fdd4f2a643e632822dYFh9R1REZmN3&buffer=5&shape=6&fc=FFFFFF&pc=666666&kc=009900&bc=CCCCCC&brand=1&player=ap26

What enables us to collectively make wise decisions and sound judgments instead of splintering apart? When human beings gather together a depth of awareness and insight, a transcendent knowing, becomes available.  We have the potential to tap into an extraordinary co-creative power that exists in every group.  How can we do this more reliably?

Collective wisdom refers to knowledge and insight gained through group and community interaction. At a deeper level, however, it is about our living connection to each other and the interdependence we share in our neighborhoods, organizations, and world community.

Based on nine years of research The Power of Collective Wisdom shows how we can reliably tap into the extraordinary co-creative potential that exists whenever human beings gather together. Stories and historical examples illustrate how collective wisdom has emerged in a range of cultures, settings and traditions, and we offer a set of practices to help readers realize the key lessons of the book. Equally important, the book describes how to recognize the pitfalls of polarization or false agreement that lead to collective folly. Ultimately, this work emerges from a deep conviction that we all have a stake in each other and that what binds us together can be greater than what drives us apart.

We see our efforts as part of a larger social movement. Everywhere we look, we see groups, networks, and communities rising up to address common challenges. What all of us share is a collective outlook and a desire for wise action. We seek what human beings have always sought: to find what is best in ourselves and what is best in and for the group.

What a wonderful conversation to be engaged in. Please join us by listening to the VisionHolder Interview, attending a TLG, commenting on this post, contacting Alan.

-Patricia & Craig

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