Cornerstones of Arranging a Learningful Event
- Written by Henna Kaariainen
- Published in Archive, English
- Permalink
Tatu Monkey once listed the cornerstones of arranging a good event. The list of cornerstones has been in use of plenty of event organizers since then, mostly in Finland. Now it’s time to develope the thought further and make it in English, since Monkey Business acts more and more outside of Finland. Next week Ville & Henna will go to Kramfors, Sweden, to work with NoCry2 –project Kick Off event. We are building that experience now and thus the cornerstones list is a timely thing. It’s here, have a look! Maybe you find inspiration or new points of view into your own work as event organizer!
Cornerstones of Arranging a LearningFULL Event
1.) GOAL What’s the goal of the event? What are the different points of view that the participants have related to the goal? What gathers people together in the event and inspires them to co-create? We need to work on defining the goal as long as we agree on the important thing to achieve with the event. Fun supports learning, so goal needs to be inspiring!
2.) PROCESS How do we reach the goal? Less is more! Process serves the goal, gives space for the participants and leads doing. There are many ways to reach to the goal. Monkeys always offer a variety of proposals for guiding the process, and choosing the ones to use happens in co-creation with the customer.
3.) LEADERSHIP Systems intelligence? What kind of interaction environment is created? Who ”owns” the process? There must be a leader, even though people are facilitated to self-organize, and actively co-create & take ownership in the situation. Leader can be one of the Monkey facilitators, or an event organizer.
4.) START How soon the participants are activated to co-create? What kind of interactin environment is created? How do we orientate the participants? How to get people hooked and inspired already before the event – marketing?
5.) TIME Less is more. Master picks one theme and goes deep in it from different points of view. Time serves the process. Long breaks are needed for informal, meaningful conversations. Ending can happen even before the agreed time frame. What’s your mental model of efficiency?
6.) PROFESSIONALISM Team is always smarter than any individual. How can one give up the power and empower others to act? How does the facilitation support that?
7.) LEARNING What learning methods are used? How is the wrap-up of the event done? How is the knowledge crystallized? How do we take into account different learners?
8.) TECHNICAL EQUIPMENT If something special is needed, it has to be organized beforehand, and, if needed, by technical professionals.
9.) MARKETING Even if the event was just a normal development day, it has to be marketed. We must create an inspiring vision about the future that follows after the event day! The meaning of contributing has to be clear.
10.) PLACE What kind of place we have in use? Environment supports learning, and the most important thing in it is that people feel comfortable being in the place.
Plenty of questions in this list! That does not mean that these all should be literally answered before doing anything. Anyway it’s good to check this and take into account all the parallel processes related to the event. This is one way for organizing success!
With Yellow regards,
Henna Monkey
P.S. Are there things that belong to the list but were forgotten to mention until now?
