So much of a meeting like this happens not in the workshop rooms, but in the halls, the lobby, the bar and restaurant, even the hotel hot tub. That’s where the networking takes place, connections that bring us beyond the conference, taking in connections and ideas to bring back into our work and lives when we return home.
Because of making some of these connections, and having two breakfast meetings with colleagues, I missed the Closing Plenary. The last day is filled with the frenzy of departure: bleary-eyed and sleep deprived, we messily pack our suitcases and say goodbyes. The lobby had free wi-fi, so lots of people were down there working on their computers. I was a bit oblivious to the fact that many of them were checking the airport for flight information because of weather-related travel chaos. My flight is scheduled an hour late and I feel grateful. A friend is stranded in North Carolina until Tuesday!
On the shuttle to the airport, I did get a few folks’ impressions on the closing plenary. My apologies to the organizers—and whoever may be reading this—for missing it. It set the stage for a voicing of “where do we go from here” and I think there were many things about the conference that leave important lessons. Including a consideration of the resources it takes to put on a national conference at all. I tend to like more regional gatherings, and given the great expenses in time, energy and money that it takes to put a national meeting together, there have to be other options in the work for us to share important info about our work, and to help strengthen our communities.
Folks on the shuttle reflected especially on the Open Mic at the closing. Something that was missing from most workshops I attended was old fashioned group work. I was not in a single workshop that had small group break outs. Many were still offered in a didactic format. But this meeting, in my mind, is about a meeting of peers, or comrades, colleagues, who all have expertise and insight to share. I felt frustrated by the lack of basic facilitation in many of the workshops, where little space was created for people to talk to each other.
Pingback by Anonymous — March 19, 2007 @ 12:08 am
Hi Samuel, It was nice to connect a bit at the Summit – hopefully more coming soon.
I agree that the small-group work that is so crucial for people to really be able to grapple with ideas was missing. And I feel somewhat personally responsible for that. I’m not taking it all on my shoulders, but I think that as the chair of the workshop review committee, I had an opportunity to really stress the importance of using small groups. I did send out that as one of twenty or so suggestions for “how to make a workshop great”, but I think it was such a long document (2-3pp) that most presenters didn’t really read it at all.
We talked extensively about whether or not to model small group work at the opening plenary, but in the end decided not to, we were afraid that we would have too little time to do it well – a fear that turned out to be well grounded. But, I do have to wonder how it might have shifted the Summit (even just a little bit) if we had taken that approach.
Thanks for all your writing – it helped me keep in mind things from the Summit that would otherwise be slipping away!
-Bill J
Comment by Bill — March 19, 2007 @ 1:42 pm