Conversation as the engine through which meaning is made -- including meaning that expresses itself in the activities of business and marketing -- has been the subject of a number of posts lately by Corante Network contributors:

Evelyn Rodriguez says:

"Sometimes I can almost touch the buzzing energy of a movement afoot, and there are certainly conversational fields being stimulated and amplified online. One swirls around the culture of participation meme. And I see other conversational fields that are disparate and scattered offline that could be coalesced and further sparked by expanding the field through online social media."

John Winsor discusses the "essential qualities of narrative" because:http://www.johnwinsor.com/my_weblog/2005/12/developing_a_st.html

"Products will become less important than the stories they convey and the way those stories are interpreted and shared. It is a return of the ancient form of narrative. Companies need to have stories to tell – stories that inspire action. And companies must themselves embody those stories with congruency and authenticity."

John also points to John Moore's post about the white paper, Building Strong Brands By Leveraging Conversational Capital, which he quotes:

"Conversational capital arises when organisations manage to deliver products/services experiences that are remarkable and meaningful enough to prompt consumers to want to talk about them."

Meanwhile, Lois Kelly reports on a conversation she had with the CMO of a big food company:

" 'I don’t care about the concepts of community and conversations and consumer relationships,' the marketing exec told me."

UPDATE: Lois Kelly shares five tips for interesting conversations, including "listening...really, listening...[and] then .. listen some more."

(Image: From the website of the City of Fargo, ND)