Posts Tagged ‘art of hosting’

How is your community’s agenda established?

October 30th, 2009

I recently stumbled on an idea that won’t let go of me.  I love those kind of ideas-something I can’t ignore, even if the Swedish side of my brain is telling me ‘no, not another project.’    So, here it is. 

The town of Harrisonburg, VA has started something called the Harrisonburg Summits  to create intentional opportunities for public conversation around important issues facing the community.  The idea in and of itself isn’t new.  What puts it over the top, in my mind, is the use of Open Space Technology. 

What’s Open Space Technology?

I first learned about Open Space Technology at an Art of Hosting training sponsored, in part, by the Rural Learning Center.  The RLC understands that conversation, and the ability to host conversation, is a critical need in our rural communities.  Open Space is one tool we use to do that.  At its most basic, Open Space is a facilitation process that allows meeting participants to create the agenda around a specified topic based on what’s most important to the people in the room.  Several conversations are hosted at one time, and people can choose to participate in whichever is most interesting to them.   There is a lot more to it, but the premise that it genuinely allows the voices of those in the room to influence the outcome is most important here.  This is vital if your goal is to engage people both in conversation, and then in the work that follows. 

See what Harrisonburg residents think of the process in the video below. 


 

The importance of involvement from the start.

Why is it so important to engage people in the process of creating the agenda?  I think the answer begins and ends with one principle: people care more about ideas and projects that they feel a part of.  Gone are the days when a city leader can come to a group of people with a project identified and execution planned, and simply ask for their help in doing the work.  People want to feel more a part of the process, and their ownership is fundamental to getting the project completed.  That ownership is one of the reasons why the community building work in Miner County has been so successful; people’s individual ideas and passions became the community’s ideas and passions.  And they were willing to work hard to make things happen.

The Harrisonburg Summit webpage indicates that the summit started as a one-time project. They indicate that it continued because “the event was so successful.” What I would surmise is that the summits have continued because it has created a renewed sense of ownership and contribution for residents.  They have become a part of something that matters. 

If your community is looking for a meaningful way to engage residents, I think the Harrisonburg model is something to consider.

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Posted in Community Engagement, Rural | Comments (4)

Learn the Art of Hosting

October 22nd, 2008

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:

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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Posted in Leadership, Training and Events | Comments (0)