Improvising a Conference - Part 1

{Caution - newborn blogger ahead}

About a month ago, I posted a notice on the AIN list serve about the Canadian Experiential Education Practitioners Symposium (CEEPS) - a conference that I host every year in Ontario. Johnnie Moore asked me if I would add a blog to the AIN web site. I generally don't write blogs, since, if I got started, it would probably be the only thing I did (as you might soon learn if I keep this up). However on this occasion I thought that it might just be a useful contribution to an organization whose concept I wholly support.

What I intend to write about is a case study for the creation of a successful learning conference, where large components are totally improvised - but within a structure. But I'm getting ahead of myself, aren't I. Here goes...

Thursday, April 28

I have just finished packing an entire Subaru Forester full of papers, computer equipment, food, props, and clothes. Essentially my entire experiential education office is being moved to the Bark Lake Leadership Centre in Haliburton, Ontario. Tomorrow is the first day of CEEPS 2005, our third annual running, and this year I decided to head up early.

It has been a very busy week leading up to the symposium, and as I drive up to the venue, I wonder for the first time if perhaps I am holding things back a bit by managing and hosting the entire conference myself. There are many unique characteristics of CEEPS that make this possible and (almost) practical, but I'm beginning to think I should explore other possibilities. As much as possible, it is essentially a paperless undertaking. Throughout the year I gather and add relevant emails and web sites to my mailing list. The only promotion is by direct email and postings on conference news sites and list serves. Registration is done on-line from the web site. The only exception is the conference information package - I'm something of an information disseminator - and each participant gets mailed a very extensive package of what to expect, what to bring, maps, agendas, format descriptions, invoices/receipts, etc. There's also the Virtual Space preparation kit - I'll get into that later.

Halfway to the Leadership centre, the cell phone rings. Someone has just learned about the symposium and wants to know if they can attend. I am thrilled because it is from a very experienced and visible person in our industry. Of course walk-ins are welcome. They say that they went to the web site, read about the format, and even want to know if they might present a session. Absolutely - bring it on! The drive seems to go a bit quicker after that.

I arrive at Bark Lake just after dinner time, set up my conference office - mostly just a computer in a broom closet - and get the party snacks and drinks into the huge lounge of the building we are all staying in. Logistically, I chose a venue that included accommodation and meals in the conference price. I wanted participants to have maximum time for community building and to focus on the learning. Cost is a big factor for me. Many in our industry don't have a lot of money, so I try to keep things accessible and my costs low. To recognize the cost of travel, the fee is lower if you are coming from outside Ontario, so our U.S. guests this year paid about $140 for the whole thing, room and board included. We also work hard to set up car pools and start the networking before day one. They love it.

Dr. Jim Cain is waiting when I arrive. He has driven up from New York to play with us this year. Jim is a phenomenally grounded and generous experiential facilitator. He has written a number of must-have books in the industry, and has the perfect energy for getting people connected very quickly. He offered to do a pre-conference session this year and I immediately took him up on that. [I only discovered later how important that session was.]

Before it gets too dark, we decide to go for a walk around the sprawling facility here. I used to be concerned about being somewhat remote - Bark Lake is about three hours from Toronto. As it turned out, many people seem to appreciate the retreat atmosphere though, and see it as a big selling point. In past years, when not in session, participants would go for nature walks or take out a canoe or kayak and process all the new information. We create a very close community, and participants find that to be extremely valuable.

It is a moonless night, and up here, when it is dark, it is DARK - hand-invisible-in-front-of-your-face dark. Time to turn in. I really like the rooms here. It is very much like a budget hotel without the TV or phone, which to me is perfect to keep the brain primed for the information overload from the sessions themselves.

[Did anybody actually read this ramble this far? Should I continue?]

Andrew, the insecure blogger...

Posted by Andrew Welch on May 4, 2005 10:45 AM in Events
Permalink