These two M words crashed together in my mind as I lay pondering the meaning of the universe one recent night. I’d been working on a presentation about motivation for a local Toastmasters chapter on the same day that I’d had a meeting with the president of another association of which I am a member. […]
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My CalSAE colleague Shelly Alcorn writes a great blog called Association Subculture. She recently posted a great “back of the napkin” story sketch about association membership. So I decided I needed to draw mine! (Click on the thumbnail to see a bigger image.) When I went to library school in the 90s I joined a […]
After breaking my leg two years ago, I wrote a blog post chronicling the lessons I learned from hobbling around on crutches. (Read the full post here.) They can be summarized as: Slow down. Be patient. Prioritize. Ask for help. Economy of motion. Be creative. On crutches again after foot surgery, I have a couple […]
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Monday I shared my experience and thoughts about organized activities during conference meals. Today I’d like to talk about a different kind of meeting meal. Rotary, BNI, eWomen, Soroptomists, Kiwanis, and most other business networking organizations I’ve encountered include a meal with their meetings. Their agendas also usually include some business, a speaker, and networking […]
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As a meeting facilitator, I am on the planning team for most events that I attend. Last month I attended several conferences that were new to me and which I had no hand in planning – it was kind of fun to be in a different role! I learned a lot by noticing my reactions […]
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At last week’s HR West conference, I had the pleasure of graphically recording a keynote by trainer and consultant Shari Harley. Her company name is Candid Culture, and she talked about the need to choose candor over comfort in our communications. People can’t meet our expectations or needs if we don’t tell them what they […]
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In this TedX talk, my colleague Brandy Agerbeck describes five steps to using visual & spatial tools for shaping your thinking. I love her combination of both flip charts and PowerPoint. I love the simplicity of her outfit. I love the way she uses the space onstage. I love her visual mnemonic, using the fingers […]
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When training new facilitators, a concept I want them to “get” early on is the difference between content and process. Folks who are drawn to become facilitators and mediators tend to be interested in the underlying dynamics of group process. It’s easy, when learning a new facilitation technique or meeting structure, to want to use […]
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Human beings are hard-wired to read faces – our babies figure it out way before they can talk or walk. While there are facilitators out there who help groups in virtual meetings, I am not one of them. I find it hard to connect with people when our interaction is mediated by a screen – […]
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Many of our resolutions, personal or professional, are about things that we’d like to DO. Some are about things we want to STOP doing. I rather like this little piece by Jeff Haden at Inc. on ten things to stop doing in order to be happier at work: blaming, impressing, clinging, interrupting, whining, controlling, criticizing, […]
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