Portland Workshops - November 15-17, 2013

Kavana Tree's picture

Hereby announcing a Group Works team offering . . . since publishing the deck we've given public workshops in Seattle, Vancouver, & Berkeley, now it's time for PORTLAND! 

  • Are you sitting with a beautiful Group Works deck on your hands, wondering what to do with it? 
  • Do you want to geek out with other process people? 
  • Does diving deep into a new way of thinking about group dynamics that builds on your existing understanding and skills sound compelling? 

New to all this?  What is Group Works?

  1. A new way of thinking about group dynamics and how to work with them effectively. A common vocabulary for facilitators and participants to use in exploring how to create and support fulfilling group sessions.
  2. A deck of 91 beautiful cards, available for $25 in print or download for free from www.groupworksdeck.org (also available for iPad and as an iPhone app). Each card describes one pattern that shows up in meetings or other group gatherings that have a sense of life in them.
  3. A nonprofit (technically called the Group Pattern Language Project) that collectively created and stewards this ongoing exploration, and that you can get connected with in a variety of ways.

Come be with us!  We will gather at Daybreak Cohousing on November 15-17:  Friday evening, Saturday daytime, and Sunday morning

You are welcome to attend the Friday evening introduction as a stand-alone event, regardless of attending the rest of the weekend.  If you are attending on Saturday/Sunday, please either be present at the Friday night opening or have previous familiarity with the Group Works deck--talk to us ahead if you have questions about this.  Advance registration is requested.

SCHEDULE

Friday evening, Nov. 15, 6:30-9:30pm:  Group Works Applications
An introduction to a variety of ways to use the Group Works deck, including in preparation for working with a group, actively during sessions, for debrief & reflection, and in learning how to improve group functioning and/or your own abilities as a facilitator or convenor.  Led by Sue Woehrlin & Daniel Lindenberger.

Saturday all day, Nov. 16, 9am-5pm:  Method Mapping
If you had to pick 3 or 5 or 10 Group Works cards to explain to someone how one of your favorite approaches to group dynamics works, which ones would you choose, and how would you arrange them?  The cards can be used to illustrate processes such as Appreciative Inquiry, Open Space, Way of Council, or Art of Hosting; decision-making methods such as Consensus or Robert's Rules of Order;and other related topics you may care about, such as Anti-Oppression Training, Conflict Resolution, or Coaching. See this page on our site for more info.  In the past we've felt a bit cramped doing this exploration in half a day, so this will be our first time doing a full day.  Come expecting tons of interaction:  multiple rounds where you get to choose what to work on in small groups, interspersed with sharing and "gallery walks" to see what others have come up with, plus healthy breaks, a game or two, and whatever else we--or you--come up with.  Led by Tree Bressen & Sue Woehrlin.

Sunday morning, Nov. 17, 9am-12pm:  Working toward a Group Works Grammar--Layouts, Mapping, and "Molecules"
By grouping cards in various schemes, you can apply the deck in a wider variety of ways, deepening your own skill or serving as shared vocabulary with others.  For example, you might create a layout to use in talking with a group about what their needs are, an elaborate tableau to help you prepare for an upcoming meeting, or other meaningful diagrams for combining multiple cards in specific relationships.  Led by Daniel Lindenberger. 

LOCATION

Daybreak Cohousing, 2525 N. Killingsworth St., Portland, OR (half a mile west from MAX Yellow line).  Daybreak has a lovely, spacious common house with full kitchen facilities. 

REGISTRATION

The official registration page is now open for sign-ups.  Daniel Lindenberger is serving as registrar for this event (daniel@smallboxcms.com), please contact him with any questions.  The fee for this event is $25-300 sliding scale, it's your decision what to pay based on what's the right fit for you and how much of the weekend you attend.  (Note, we have not yet determined what the plan is for lunch, it might be potluck, or brown bag/walk to local food carts, or we may prepare a lunch for the group--this note will be updated once our plan is settled.  In the meantime, know that coffee, tea & snacks will be provided.) 

WHO WE ARE

Group Pattern Language Project is organized as a nonprofit, and the teaching team and others have volunteered many hundreds of hours in service of our larger vision for healthier, happier, more functional and fulfilling groups.  Groups with meetings that bring aliveness and wholeness to your soul, and effective results in the moment and afterward.  To learn more about Sue, Daniel, and Tree, check out the following: 

We are actively recruiting for new people to get involved with Group Works & GPLP in a variety of ways.  Probably at some point in the weekend, such as Saturday near the end of the day, we'll set some time aside to specifically talk with individuals who may want future involvement.  Also the teaching team and several others from our Stewards Circle (Dave Pollard, Christopher Allen) will be gathering for a multi-day work session right after the public workshops, Nov. 18-20 in Eugene.  If you are interested in attending that, please talk with Tree (tree[at]ic[dot]org).

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