From Meetings to Gatherings
restoring energy, connection and engagement
in live conversations
in live conversations
About our Emergent Conversations Service
Our Emergent Conversations Services are designed to catalyze and transform traditional meetings, presentations, or trainings into immersive and embodied experiences with significantly enhanced levels of engagement, emotional satisfaction, and experiential value for all participants. This is achieved through the creation of an event Container, an Event Invitation, and the actual Program itself, through a Being in Systems-catalyzed co-creative engagement with our Client’s people.
1. Creating a Container
From our first conversation with you, Being in Systems comes to fully understand your organization’s challenges, needs and aspirations in relation to your people, and their level of engagement.
Being in Systems then catalyzes those in your organization, charged with providing offerings, a custom made Program or series of Programs. These programs are tailored for your organization to be responsive to the challenges presented, or agenda being pursued.
The people tasked with gatherings are engaged in a container-building process, as co-creators and co-authors of what is to be offered. The result is their being vested in, and proactively focused on the event's presentation to the intended participants. It is of and by them. It is their baby.
Whether a regular meeting, or special event, every gathering is elevated by the creation of a Program container, custom fitted to their and the organization’s needs. This container is designed in service to those who will attend, who in turn will have the opportunity to co-create their own experience and connections. It is this essential emergent cascading co-creative dynamic that Being in Systems catalyzes.
On an ongoing basis, after the completion of a Program, Being in Systems supports Program refinement, improvement, or adaptation for further use throughout the organization. When attendees self-organize post-Program ongoing gatherings or activities, Being in Systems often serves as an ongoing resource, supporting attendee-generated gatherings by providing Space Holders, to assist with support and growth of employee awakening to revitalized gathering practices.
2. Creating the Invitation for Participants of the Program(s).
After a Program container has been contextualized and developed as outlined above, the next step is to co-create the invitation to be extended to those for whom it is intended.
In addition to time and place, the invitation introduces who has created the opportunity, the value being offered to a prospective attendee, and setting of expectations regarding any participant commitments required, if any. Lastly, the invitation contains an expression of excitement for and appreciation of those who decide to come.
Being in Systems aid the Program creators in identifying the most effective timing, channels of communication, and signal frequency of invitation signaling to prospective attendees; and, if warranted, advance survey and screening to identify precisely who the Program is for, and the level of imperative attached to their attendance. This, in service to maximizing attendance and engagement of those invited.
3. The Program - Awakening Through Emergent Conversation
Once the Program time has come, attendees are welcomed, whether in 3D, or via interactive online video gathering, by a team, comprised of a Being in Systems Space Holders and the internal promotors of the event. After an initial welcome, the team provides a brief sharing of what is to happen over the duration of the gathering.
This is accompanied by sharing suggested guidelines, addressing confidentiality, recording policies, and how to participate, contribute, ask questions and engage with each other during the session. It is at this point in the Program that the participants will be given their first opportunity to experience connecting with each other in small breakout groups; after which everyone is brought back together to share individual experiences, and to experience connection within the larger group context.
The next and longest element involves providing extended time, in small groups, to engage in emergent conversations. These are catalyzed by whatever questions or topics were developed in the Program design outlined above. After extended breakout sessions all are invited to share and exchange with each other what was meaningful for them. Depending upon the number of participants, and the length of the sharing, there may be an additional breakout room round introduced.
At the conclusion of sharing, the participants are invited to participate in a Gifts Conversation, which provides an opportunity for each participant to acknowledge and thank others in the session for anything particularly meaningful or valuable to them that was shared.
Upon completion, attendees are invited to participate in a brief questionnaire, if they choose, and are given an opportunity to share their experience and opinion of the Program.
General Considerations
Program Offerings can consist of an individual or a series of Programs; or a training for Space Holders within the HR meeting and event planning areas, to integrate Emergent Conversation practice throughout the organization.
It is not unusual, based on the quality of connection and conversational depth experienced by participants, for attendees to express the desire to organize regular and ongoing gatherings, to maintain and grow the connections made with other Program attendees.
Being in Systems can provide Being in Systems Space Holders to support these emergent grass roots gatherings. This affords the sponsoring organization the opportunity to maximize the generative potential and creative capacities of the attendees energized by the Emergent Conversation practice.
We hope this gives you a starting place for understanding our process. We also know that words can tell you only so much. Actually experiencing the Emergent Conversation process, in a team situation, brings forth a totally new dynamic that powerfully shifts teams to their highest level of connection, cohesion, and achievement of greatest generative potential.