Learn the Art of Hosting

October 22nd, 2008 by Joe Bartmann

I’ll be helping to host a remarkable workshop in early November near Minneapolis, and I want to invite you to join me. Several rural organizations from Minnesota and South Dakota are joining the Meadowlark Institute and Northern Great Plains, Inc. in bringing the Art of Hosting and Harvesting Conversations That Matter training back to the northern plains region for a second time. We’ll gather in Albertville, MN at the beautiful Riverwood Inn and Conference Center November 6-8.

Rural Learning Center helped to sponsor the first Art of Hosting in the region last March in Oacoma, SD. This may sound over-the-top, but AoH really is a life-shifting experience for many participants. It’s geared toward anyone who leads or facilitates groups of people and wants to find new ways to be and talk and do together. The training is all about experience; participants learn by hosting each other in deep meaningful ways throughout the three days. Here ar some pictures from our experience in Oacoma earlier this year:

The Albertville AoH is being convened around three core questions:

How can we move through the complexity in our lives and communities to create space for something new to emerge?
How can we work across generations and typical divides to find solutions for the common good? and
What is the change I am inviting in myself and my leadership?

The facilitators for the training will be Sera Thompson and Jerry Nagel. Sera is a ’steward’ of the global Art of Hosting family and Jerry is a leader in rural change in the northern plains. Both are fantastic and powerful hosts. Here’s what Jerry has to say about the upcoming Albertville AoH,

“The learning is geared towards anyone that wants to shift from working with others in a command/control/hierarchical way to one that is participatory. We are offering a new leadership paradigm. I think it is really a way of approaching the whole meeting/group facilitation process from a different lens and getting to a better outcome. This process creates the opening for the wisdom within the group to truly emerge.”

“In a fast paced, complex, multi-cultural, shifting world where expectations of employees and customers are constantly evolving and innovation is constantly demanded the current/old ways of connecting don’t work. People need to connect in a different way. Businesses need to be in relation with employees and customers not separate from them. These tools offer ways to connect, to listen, to hear in a deeper way that builds those connections.”

I truly hope you can join us. Anyone interested in carpooling is welcome to hitch a ride form southeasat South Dakota or anywhere along the way to Albertville. Registration includes the three-day training experience plus materials, meals and coffee breaks. Hotel accommodations are available at the Riverwood Inn.

Download the Albertville AoH Details (PDF)

Download the Albertville AoH Registration Form (PDF)

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