Last Year Taught us Words Matter, as Do Names. We're Changing Ours!

Convertsation is now Allelo.

So much of how we communicate, connect and learn changed in 2020. The jarring shift of our civic and classroom experience online laid bare the issues fraying our societal fabric, especially challenging for educators, students and those seeking productive conversations around difficult topics or dependent on credible sources.

Last year’s debates about health care, the election, economics and even education accelerated a sense of polarization that tested our faith in each other and our institutions. At our best, we stepped out of tribalism, shared our perspective and listened to voices too often ignored in discourse that broadened our awareness of inequity and sometimes found common ground, if not agreement.

The Allelo platform was designed to help enable productive discourse, building skills, providing equitable participation and using a small group, text-based format and a little A.I. to help keep discussion productive and non-toxic.

Words have never mattered more. We’re in a moment of disorienting change and tumult, both unnerving and demanding reconsideration of language and assumptions. For those of us engaged in teaching, learning or sharing views it took skills, the right words, and sometimes the right name. In this new year, the Convertsation.org team reflected on the thousands of discussions our team shared and hosted on our platform that tackled difficult topics from curriculum and testing equity to confederate statues and the NBA’s racial justice protests and realized we’ve changed, as has our platform. It is time for a new name for our platform - Allelo.

Allelo is Greek in origin, and refers to a mutual relationship with one another. An allelochemical for example, is a substance produced by one species that influences the behaviour or growth of another species. We think this new name better reflects our mission and technology-driven platform, and our own growth this year.

The Allelo platform uses sophisticated technology and A.I. to help improve the way people share ideas and communication online. Our mission is to improve online discourse, using technology to enable productive exchanges and eliminate toxicity that derails.

In a year when words, and names, have taught us all so much, it made sense to more clearly convey our company’s mission: improving online discourse with more equitable, engaging communication. We invite you to try us as a step toward enabling better discourse in your organization, classroom or event.