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Building ourconnections:
Check-in
Hosting
people toarrive
What do Icare about?
Sharing myvision
ThinkingTogether:Connectingto our
End ofDay
:
Check-out
DeeperInquiry
:Issues thatmatter
1. Contexta. Location
The event was held in the Queen of the Colonies ballroom at the Crowne Plaza,Beirut. The place was arranged in a café setting with smallsquare and round tables, flipcharts for table covers, crayons andcolor markers for expressing, candles for light and flowers fornature living.The extension of the room with the reception and the coffee table area was abreathing space for welcoming, refreshing and personal networking.
b. Participants
A diverse number of participants attended the session. As part of the welcoming process, theunique personal talent and areas of expertise of the individuals were captured, highlighting thepotential available in the group. The outcome was then captured using “wordle.net” and projectedvisually for the whole group to see.
2. Process Development
The designed path for the day looked as follows:
a. Group Dynamics
www.
n
now.org _ p.o.box 13-5274 _ beirut, lebanon _ t+ 961 3 20 07 16
 Subject: Strategic Conversation WorkshopHost: n (an applied research Creativity Community)Date: December 6, 2008Facilitated by:Hala MakaremHala FleihanGraphic Recording by:Rami Mouallem
 
 
2One of the major stepping stones of the event is establishing a group connectionat the start. The purpose is to develop a sense of knowing and trust as theconversation and relationships get further established during the day. To thateffect, the group was invited to a large circle with an introduction to the overallcontext and thenhosts – Hala Makarem and Hala Fleihan. The group thenformed their own inner circles based on their initial name commonalities as theyintroduced themselves to everyone else. Once the sub-groups were shaped, theparticipants witnessed how a common guiding framework that was connectingthem became multiple smaller groups yet the space still held them together.To get into action, the participants were then invited to experience “forwardmovement” physically. They were guided to take steps in the hall, conscious oftheir actions: walk, turn to change direction, and greet when you come face-to-face with another. The 7-10 minutes exercise resulted in a beautiful “communitywalk”,. The attendees reflected on the impact of the activity, and some of theshared thoughts can be summarized as follows: “people returned to where theystarted”, “two groups emerged”, “I was coming face-to-face with the samepeople”, “made me acknowledge others, by looking into their eyes”.
b. Creative Arts
The impact of the creative arts as a means of building connections was thenexplored and experienced. As the participants found the table they wanted to join,the concept of the talking object was introduced; an object whose purpose is toguide the listening process during the conversations. Clay, popsicle sticks wereplaced in the center of the table, as each individual created his/her own partbefore they collectively put it all together into one piece. Anobservationby thehost shows that each group co-created something specialand beautiful: One group formed a house setting, maintaininga base with a chair, sculpting several small delicate objectsfrom clay material symbolic to the Christmas spirit, such aspresents and a colorful tree. But the collective object that broughtthem together was a beautiful sculpted red rose that remainedmobile as their talking piece. Some individuals in that group were doubtful of their creativepotential, yet the outcome demonstrated that each individual can provide his/her contributionto what will then blend into a more coherent group production. A second group built alighthouse using the natural flower leaves on a solid clay base, with a platform for aboat carrying the Lebanese flag as a symbol for connection and mobility. A thirdgroup designed a Lebanese bird, a tree, a skeleton that joins them, arepresentation of color, connection and life. The artistic piece beautiful yet notfunctional as a talking object, demonstrated how we sometimes lose focuson the ultimate aim. A fourth group produced a Lebanese flag in their ownway. It was symbolic of creativity within what binds us together.awareness throughexperiencing andlearning
 
 
3A fifth group, molded three independent pieces into a jointstory which starts at a chaotic place, before moving on a clearpath that leads to an ultimate positive thinking state. A sixthgroup worked independently, each with his/her clay materialwith no prior coordination and then found their commonground in a charming abstract sculpture.
c. Dialogue
Once the check-in process was completed, the group was introduced to thetheme of the day. Prior to engaging in conversations, the participants were givena brief on the methodology that they will be following based on the World cafépractice. Once the world café etiquette and guidelines were shared andunderstood, the group delved into their first round question .After twenty minutes,a host remained at the table to welcome the participants and present what wascaptured. The same question was further explored in the second round. After thenext twenty minutes round was completed, the group was invited to return to theiroriginal tables to answer the question which synergizes the identified answers.The choice of question was a result of two pre-event stakeholder interviewswhere both Alumni members posed that same question, as the inquiry needed tomake a difference in the situation being explored. The groupsworked together, and were then asked to harvest three ideasthat they would like to work further on. As the post-it ideas werebeing clustered with similar ones from other tables, they werebeing recorded graphically on a large white flex board byarchitect student, Rami Mouallem.
d. Acknowledgement and Sensing
The morning activities were concluded with a touch of appreciation and acknowledgement,to a member of the organization.Lunch was served; while initial general feedback was being captured, the room wasrearranged for the next session, and newcomers were welcomed.
Source:Brown,Isaacset. al
awarenessthroughinquiry,exploration,andconnection
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