This weekend was our most ambitious set of workshop offerings yet for the Group Pattern Language Project.  It was 2 full days of interactive presentations, with 5 of us co-presenting.  Sue Woehrlin & i led off with an introductory workshop on a variety of ways to use the deck.  While we are still developing more ways to actually use Group Works with groups in action, it's clear there are many applications in planning, studying, and debriefing group processes.  And depending on how process-savvy or open groups are, it can also be brought in in other ways; for example, Daniel Lindenberger of Source is starting to use it with clients to define the essential aims and intentions for a session. 

After that, Dave Pollard led a skit on "How Not to Do Public Engagement," comprising 9 vignettes which the audience acted out, noted the problems of, and then called out which patterns from the deck could have made the situation go much better.  For anyone with experience in public engagement, the skit struck humorously close to home, and was a reminder of just how far we have to go in making public meetings better. 

Next up, Daniel & Dave invited people to try out a few different games with the deck.  While the past year and a half since publication has seen the rise of many "activities" to do with the deck, actual "games"--something that feels more like play, and has an element of winning in it (whether cooperative or competitive)--have been few and far between.  We did the "Best Fit" game invented by Betsy Morris (sort of like Apples to Apples), and one that was sort of like Cranium (itself a mixture of Charades, Pictionary, and Taboo), and explored other possibilities.  In the Cranium-like game, i was amazed how effective my teammates were in expressing...

Planning is underway for a series of events in the greater Vancouver, B.C. area June 25th through July 1st.  They will include a combination of public Group Works application workshops, professional development sessions for facilitators (perhaps around the therme of games possible with the deck?!) and project working sessions (likely on Bowen Island).  Local planning is being coordinated by Dave Pollard and Daniel Lindenberger.  Stay tuned for more details!

You are invited to attend . . .

GROUP WORKS:  APPLICATIONS

Saturday, February 23rd

1:00-5:00pm

Location:  Berkeley Unitarian Fellowship (Fireside Room), 1606 Bonita Avenue, Berkeley, CA
 

An open workshop on the Group Works deck and ways to use it to help your meetings and group events go deeper, be more lively, and accomplish their goals.
 

Presented by Tree Bressen, Kate Sassoon, and Sue Woehrlin,

Registration:
Sliding scale:  $10-50
To attend, please RSVP to Sassy at sassy@sassycooperates.org.

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 soon an iPhone app).  Each card describes one pattern that shows up in meetings 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.

To learn more about Sue, Tree, and Kate Sassy, check out the following:

• Sue:  www....

Scheduled for the eve of the NCDD conference, the project will be hosting a "Method Mapping" workshop to inquire into/play with how the cards might help delineate/distinguish different group methodologies.  If you can be in Seattle this day, please join us!  Here's the invite:

   You're invited to...

   MAPPING METHODS WITH THE GROUP WORKS CARDS

   Date: Thursday, October 11, 2012   

   Time: 1:30-5:30 p.m.

   Location: Antioch University Seattle, room 200

Before there was a 91-card deck called Group Works, there was a profusion of full-scale methods for working with groups large and small:  Way of Council; Open Space; Art of Hosting; World Cafe; Appreciative Inquiry; Future Search; Sociocracy; and dozens more.  The deck aimed to distill the core wisdom underlying the successful application of these methods:  what do they have in common when they are working, when a group really flows?  Now it's time to do some "reverse engineering."  We want to take the cards and use them as a common vocabulary to map out the methods.  If you had to pick 3 or 5 or 10 cards to explain to someone how your favorite method works, which ones would you choose, and in what order? 

We are inviting people to attend this free session hosted at Antioch University (near the site of the NCDD conference http://ncdd.org/events), the day before the conference begins.  The more familiar you are with the cards and with one or more facilitation methods the better, but as long as you've at least laid eyes on the deck before the session, we're happy to have you join us.  Depending on how many people participate, we'll probably split into small groups with 1-5 people working on each method at...

Tree says:  A few of us are in the process of developing various workshops around the cards, individually and in collaboration.  So far there are two basic workshop types that i know of, and i suspect a few more are out there.  The first is a basic introduction to the cards.  The second is designed to answer the initial question many of us associated with the project typically receive, which is:  "How do you use the deck?"  In my mind there are 4 basic categories of usage: 

1. learning and self-assessment (for individuals and groups)
2. planning
3. guidance mid-stream (or just before an event)
4. reflection and debriefing (which in some ways is a subset of #1, but seems worthy of its own standing)

Sue & i have developed a workshop covering these that i am hoping we are able to deliver at the NCDD conference and elsewhere.  The Oregon Mediation Association has accepted my proposal to present a concurrent session at their fall conference.  The coordinator of the Alt Blues Recess coming up in a few weeks wants creative workshops there even though it's mainly a dance event.  And the workshops coordinator at the Beloved Festival just asked me about presenting a workshop on Group Works.  I'm excited that we are getting the word out in a variety of venues.

In recent weeks we've been mentioned in newsletters by both the World Cafe and AmericaSpeaks, in addition to Tom's blog entry on us at NCDD.