There are many occasions when you will want to bring in an expert to share wisdom, best practices, and expertise. As planner and facilitator of the event, you are still responsible for the learning that occurs around the new knowledge shared by the guest speaker. Focus on creating a learning-centered design versus a teaching-centered one.
I recently collaborated with a colleague to design and facilitate a workshop on gender justice for teenagers from Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA) youth groups from across the country who were attending a national youth conference. We facilitated the workshop three times and learned more each time—especially how to start strong.
“We are weary of academic conferences.” That’s how Christy Wampole starts her article The Conference Manifesto in The New York Times (posted May 4th 2015). Indeed, I can relate to that. In fact, it is getting increasingly challenging for me to go to conferences at...
After a plenary or panel session at a conference, it is helpful to protect time at the end to engage the audience with the content just presented. One idea for doing this is to pose a question for people to reflect on or discuss with others around them (or at their...
Recently, NeighbourLink North York hosted “Bridging Generations,” the third intergenerational conference in the series “Let’s Get Connected.” Their goal was to invite 50 youth and 50 seniors to come for a day of learning and fun. At the start of the day everyone was...