The House of Conversation: the free third place to come and exchange ideas

Since June 2021, the House of Conversation has decided to make conversation a priority, to recreate social ties where it is located, between Porte de Saint-Ouen and Porte de Clignancourt, at the edge of Paris, on the 18th side. Behind this initiative, which is unusual to say the least, there is above all the beautiful ambition to create a collective and to encourage people to exchange with others in this priority district of the city.

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The place welcomes many actors from the area: first of all, associations, since five of them are in residence in the House to develop their projects, volunteers, many of them, who carry out what they wish to see appear in the programming of the place, and above all, the team of the House of Conversation, a constant source of proposals. Conversation is certainly the easiest way to get in touch with others, and at the same time, it can be a real barrier if you don't know how to communicate, if you don't master the language, the codes...

So Xavier Cazard made it his project. A former journalist by profession, he is convinced that when social networks develop, it will be a revolution in the art of speaking. However, it is the opposite: social networks do not create real conversations, on the contrary, they reduce them. With the House of Conversation, he started by offering free initiations to interested people, workshops to learn how to debate, talking circles... Then, quickly, the House of Conversation organized dozens of events: open mic, magic show, exhibitions, film-debates... So much so that in 2022, the place has counted more than 230 events, attracting up to 200 people every day. This is a real added value for the neighborhood, especially since "the public that comes to the Maison de la Conversation to attend cultural events is often not used to Parisian stages," says Xavier.

Since its creation, the Maison de la Conversation has relied on five values, proudly displayed in the Great Hall of the place: conviviality, usefulness, inclusion, serendipity and equality.

At the House, there is also the games room, with its stage and its talk-show style sofas, the Great Hall which hosts company seminars or concerts... All the spaces are removable, so that the rooms can be enlarged if necessary. There is also the Café de la Conversation, and if it is not yet open to the general public, but only accessible during seminars, its opening to all is planned for April 2023, so you can come and have lunch, drink a coffee or take a break.

The big positive point of the place is the completely free and accessible program, which is updated every month on theonline agenda of the House of Conversation.