Discover "Elephant in the Room" – A Social Experience Like No Other
Have you ever wondered what it’s like to truly connect across differences?
Elephant in the Room is a unique conversation space where we practice engaging with perspectives that challenge our own. It’s a chance to exercise your curiosity, listen deeply, and learn from the diversity of thought, experience, and identity in our shared world.
Why Join Us?
In a world often divided, we believe in building bridges. Through this experience, we aim to foster understanding and connection—so that the things that we disagree on, don’t have to divide us.
We Invite You to Be Part of This Experience
Join Us for One or Both of These Unique Offerings:
Offering 1: One-Day Drop-In
Experience our version of “Elephant in the Room” through engaging conversations with people whose views, stories, or experiences may differ from your own.
Offering 2: Two-Day Deep Dive
Day 1: Participate in a half-day workshop that dives deeper into the concepts behind “Elephant in the Room,” equipping you with the skills to engage meaningfully across differences.
Day 2: Put your learning into action! Practice creating a space for others to explore and connect across differences in your own community with our support.
Choose the experience that fits your interest and schedule—or join us for both!
Where did this idea come from?
In 2024 we hosted a social challenge that brought together folks from all walks of life, to deep dive into the social norms that keep us separate from each other, and work towards actions that could create change on a neighbourhood level. Over two weekends, the team brainstormed, ideated and prototyped ideas that might help delightfully subvert these norms.
This idea came from a group of neighbours, working together to address our distrust for difference when engaging with strangers in our community. One of the projects that emerged was Elephant in the room; A delightful way to address distrust for difference. The goal was to invite people to get curious about perspectives different from their own. We hosted these conversations at Trout Lake to begin with and then in collaboration with Convivial Cafe along the Sea Wall.
How does it work?
As people pass by the elephant in the room event they are invited to take part. They are first greeted by a facilitator wearing an elephant hat and are introduced to the process as well as the community guidelines. The participants then decide the level of depth they want to go in conversations.
There were a few options for engaging:
The Mouse level: For those who were feeling shy and wanted to have lighthearted questions like ‘should superheroes have to pay for all the damage they cause?’ and ‘does fruit count as a dessert?’
The Cat level: For those who were a bit more curious and ready to unpack things like ‘is Vancouver a lonely city?’ or ‘what happens to us after we die?’
The Tiger level: For those ready to discuss the difficult things like ‘should borders should be open for everyone?’ or ‘is colonialism a thing of the past or present in Canada?’.
And the ‘fly on the wall’ level if you just wanted to be present and listen to others.
Each guest got a button to indicate their level, a welcome guide which outlined our curiosity guidelines and some questions to ask for deepening conversation. They were then invited to take a seat at a table with others that share the same level. Each table has a set of questions that correspond with the animal level at the table and help prompt conversation. The goal is to interact with someone that has a different perspective that you and to understand why they hold that perspective.
Want to get involved?
We’re hosting an activation on March 29th 2025, between 12:00 PM PST – 5:00 PM PST at Kingsgate Mall!
Check out the Eventbrite link to register and attend!
If you have additional questions please contact: