Voltage Control + Summit Events

Facilitation Lab Summit 2026

Douglas Ferguson — Mon, 10 Feb 2025 18:33:50 +0000

Event Type

Facilitation Lab Summit 2026

The event subtitle

February 17-18, 2026

9am - 5pm CST

Austin, TX

ACC Eastview

3401 Webberville Rd
Austin, TX 78702

Get Directions›

Join us next February for a unique and transformative experience at our Annual Facilitation Summit.

Reserve your spot and be part of this transformative experience.

*All sales for summits are final. The registered participant may invite another person to substitute their place at any time at no charge.

February 17-18, 2026

9am - 5pm CST

Austin, TX

ACC Eastview

3401 Webberville Rd
Austin, TX 78702

Get Directions›

Spread the word

Alumni Salon

Join us February 10th from 10-5 CT for the the Alumni Salon, a dedicated space for our certification program alums to reconnect, reflect, and renew. Dive deeper into the inner work of facilitation and collaborative leadership to nurture and sharpen your practice.

The first 10 alumni to sign up for the summit will get the Alumni Salon for FREE!

See Previous Summits

Facilitators

To Be Announced...

Facilitators

Alyssa Coughlin

Director, Chief of Staff, Autodesk

VC Certified

Caterina Rodriguez

National Director of Strategic Initiatives & Continuous Learning, ADL

VC Certified

Dom Michalec

Executive Director, Product Management, J.P. Morgan Chase

VC Certified

Elena Farden

Executive Director, Native Hawaiian Education Council

VC Certified

JJ Rogers

Product Design Director, Watermark

VC Certified

Dr. Karyn Edwards, PCC

Founder & President, Abloom Consulting

VC Certified

Kathy Ditmore

Manager Project Delivery, The Pew Charitable Trusts

VC Certified

Skye Idehen-Osunde

CEO, Inclusive Leadership Expert, and Dynamic Facilitator

VC Certified

Live Graphic Recording by:

Sara Nuttle

Graphic Recorder, SN Illustration

Schedule

DAY ONE

9:10-10:40 am

Skye Idehen-Osunde

The Safety Net: Building Credibility and Psychological Safety in Workshops

In today’s fast-paced world, trust and safety in workshops are more important than ever. Join us for “The Safety Net: Building Credibility and Psychological Safety in Workshops”, a high-energy, hands-on session that will boost your facilitation skills and confidence. Whether you’re a seasoned pro or new to the game, you’ll walk away with practical tools to create workshops where everyone feels safe, valued, and heard. Don’t miss this chance to elevate your facilitation game and make a lasting impact!

11:00-12:30 pm

Alyssa Couglin

Change Through Stories: Capturing Hearts and Aligning Minds

Storytelling is essential to successful change management. This session explores how compelling narratives can align teams, build belonging, and secure commitment for new strategies. Learn how to craft stories that resonate with your audience by addressing their “what’s in it for me” and ensuring they see themselves in the change journey. Whether you’re communicating values, rebranding, or driving transformation, you’ll gain tools to create cohesive, captivating stories that inspire collective action and foster common ground. Join us to discover how storytelling can turn change into a collaborative and meaningful experience.

1:15-2:45

Kathy Ditmore

Mapping Your Change Journey

Kathy will take you deeper into the complexities of project and team-level change. In this session, Kathy will guide you through the essential steps to navigate a successful change initiative at the ground level. From process redesign to aligning your team around a shared purpose, you’ll learn how to engage stakeholders and address the question, “what’s in it for me?” Kathy will also cover strategies for rescuing projects that have gone off course, helping you pinpoint root causes and realign with your goals. Through real-world examples and interactive exercises, including pre-mortem analysis, you’ll leave with a comprehensive map for your change journey,

3:05-4:35 pm

Dom Michalec

Facilitating Transformation: How Small Changes Change Everything

Born from groundbreaking research in human behavior and habit formation at Stanford, Dom Michalec leads a discussion in his use of Behavior Design to facilitate massive change in the smallest ways possible for people all over the world. With real-life stories weaved throughout, you’ll learn the models and methods he uses in both his work and personal life to help people flourish in the most important areas of their lives. You’ll walk away from this discussion with a new perspective on change and a budding new super power: the ability to create any habit you want. Come join Dom as he leads you through the game-changing world of Behavior Design.

DAY TWO

9:10-10:40 am

Dr. Karyn Edwards, PCC

The Secrets of Applying Executive Coaching to Facilitation

In today’s rapidly evolving workplace, the ability to facilitate meaningful group collaboration and foster self-led discovery is more important than ever. This session will introduce you to the principles of non-directional coaching, offering a deep understanding of how this approach can be seamlessly integrated into your facilitation practice. By enhancing your facilitation skills through non-directive techniques, you’ll learn to create environments where participants lead their own learning and development. Through practical exercises and personalized planning, you’ll leave equipped with a tailored strategy to apply these transformative methods in your professional practice.

11-12:30pm

JJ Rogers

Radical Acts of Delight

Let’s explore ways to infuse delight and joy into everyday facilitated experiences, participants will be equipped with real strategies to create engaging and high trust experiences.

1:15-2:45 pm

Caterina Rodriguez

Enhancing Facilitation Through Nonverbal Communication

Understanding nonverbal communication is crucial for creating inclusive and engaging environments. In this interactive workshop, you will explore the powerful role of nonverbal cues in facilitation. You’ll uncover your own nonverbal communication styles, learn how cultural values influence these behaviors, and develop nonverbal listening skills to better connect with your participants. Whether you are new to facilitation or an experienced practitioner, this session will provide valuable insights and practical tools to enrich your practice and connect more deeply with your participants.

3:05-4:35 pm

Elena Farden

Consent as Ceremony: Learnings from Nurturing Safe Connections in Indigenous Play Parties

Dive deep into the intersection of culture, consent, and connection in this transformative session. We explore how Indigenous worldviews on consent and gratitude can shape and enhance polyamorous spaces, turning every interaction into a sacred ceremony. Whether facilitating group play or intimate connections, you’ll learn practices that honor each individual’s autonomy while fostering trust and safety. Join us to uncover how these timeless cultural teachings can be seamlessly woven into both polyamorous and non-group play facilitation, creating environments of respect, reverence, and deep connection.

Wait, What's Facilitation?

Whether you know it or not, you are probably using facilitation in your work. The act of facilitating is to make an operation or process easier. Facilitation skills are crucial to exercise when planning and running meetings to make them as participative and productive as possible. It’s imperative to company profit and culture to conduct successful meetings. Perfecting the art of facilitation is one of the most important and beneficial skill sets that make a successful leader.

A skilled facilitator can supercharge a team’s performance by functioning as a process guide for navigating complicated business challenges. Facilitators are experts at leading groups through key meetings and gatherings. Facilitators exist to enable better gatherings between teams, stakeholders, or collaborators of any kind.

Who Should Attend?

Facilitation Lab Summit is designed for professionals at all levels seeking to elevate their leadership and team collaboration skills, including:

Executives & Team Leaders

Chiefs of Staff

Product Managers

Program & Project Managers

Teachers & Trainers

Consultants & Coaches

Scrum Masters

UX Designers & Researchers

Interested in bringing a team?

We offer 20% off groups of 3-4, or 30% off groups of 5+

Apply for a Diversity Scholarship

A key part of our mission is to support diverse facilitators from different methodologies, backgrounds, races, genders, sexual orientations, cultures, and ages. If you are a part of, or serve, a traditionally underrepresented group and feel that this scholarship would allow you to amplify this mission, please apply now.

What People are Saying

It's an opportunity for facilitators to really deeply connect one-on-one in small groups. And get to practice, put into practice a lot of new methods that maybe are emerging and learn from one another in a in-person format.

JJ Rogers

Product Design Director, Watermark

I think that the interactions with the people who come to the summit are really important because we have a room full of experts, but we have an infinite combination of experience and to tap into that is absolutely amazing. I've learned so much and I'll remember what I've learned forever.

Margaret Miller

Sr. Statistician at Colorado Housing and Finance Authority

Yeah. If you're a facilitator, you probably are used to being in the background and giving out great space for others. Think of this as giving yourself permission to lean back, watch other people do it, learn, interact.

John Rabasa

Director Strategy and Design, Insight

I have been sitting here for the last couple of days thinking, "I am so glad I trusted my gut to come to this." It's exceeding my expectations. And I really feel like I found my people. And so if you're looking for a tribe of people that you need to connect with, this is really the place.

Monica Krol

Workshop Facilitator

Photo Disclaimer

Please note that photographs, video & audio recordings will be taken throughout this event. These will be used by Voltage Control for marketing and publicity in our publications, on our website and in social media, or in any third party publication. Please contact our events manager if you have any concerns or if you wish to be exempted from this activity.

Refund Policy

All sales for the summit are final. The registered participant may invite another person to substitute their place at any time at no charge.

Code of Conduct

Voltage Control is dedicated to providing a harassment-free conference experience for everyone, regardless of gender, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, age or religion. We do not tolerate harassment of conference participants in any form. Sexual language and imagery are not appropriate for any conference venue, including talks. Conference participants violating these rules may be sanctioned or expelled from the conference without a refund at the discretion of the conference organizers.

Read Full Code of Conduct

Any form of written, social media, or verbal communication that can be offensive or harassing to any attendee, speaker or staff is not allowed at Control the Room Summits. Please inform a Voltage Control volunteer or staff member if you feel a violation has taken place and the conference leadership team will address the situation.

Harassment includes offensive verbal comments related to gender, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, age, religion; sexual images in public spaces; deliberate intimidation; stalking; following; harassing photography or recording; sustained disruption of talks or other events; inappropriate physical contact; and unwelcome sexual attention. Participants asked to stop any harassing behavior are expected to comply immediately.

Partners are also subject to the anti-harassment policy. In particular, exhibitors should not use sexualized images, activities, or other material. Booth staff (including volunteers) should not use sexualized clothing/uniforms/costumes or otherwise create a sexualized environment.

If a participant engages in harassing behavior, the conference organizers may take any action they deem appropriate, including warning the offender or expulsion from the conference with no refund. If you are being harassed, notice that someone else is being harassed, or have any other concerns, please contact a member of conference staff immediately. Conference staff can be identified by t-shirts or located at the registration desk.

Conference staff will be happy to help participants contact hotel/venue security or local law enforcement, provide escorts, or otherwise assist those experiencing harassment to feel safe for the duration of the conference. We value your attendance.

We expect participants to follow these rules at all conference venues and conference-related social events.

What to do when you witness a Code of Conduct violation?

All reports of incidents are confidential! We will not publish the name of the reporter in any way.

Speak up
Of course, we do not want you do get into a more uncomfortable position as you maybe already are. You do not need to interact with the person(s) who presumably violated the Code of Conduct.

Please let someone of the organizing team know
At all times, you will find someone at the registration desk or the conference host (the person introducing the speakers). All people who are working at a Control the Room Summit are very aware of the Code of Conduct. Approach them and let them know. In most cases they will bring you to one of the organizers, so we can write an incident report.

Important questions:

Who? Could you see the names of the people involved? Was it a speaker, attendee, service person, organizer, crew?

Where? In a session hall? In the foyer? At a partner booth? …

When? The approximate time of the behavior.

What?

What were the circumstances that led to the incident?
Verbal violation (“bad jokes”, discrediting, …)
Visual violation (slide in the talk, T-Shirt with an inappropriate print…)
Inappropriate physical interaction (violence of any kind)

Everyone working at a CTO Summit is informed on how to deal with an incident. If everyone involved is physically safe, we will only ask for security help or law enforcement at the victim’s request.

Report a Violation

Please reach out to Douglas Ferguson directly:
Email: douglas@voltagecontrol.com
Phone: 512.293.7279

The Purpose of the Code of Conduct

Our Code of Conduct does not exist because we expect to deal with any such problems.

The post Facilitation Lab Summit 2026 appeared first on Voltage Control.

Facilitation Lab Summit 2025

Jamie Lafrenier — Tue, 11 Jun 2024 12:18:21 +0000

Event Type

Facilitation Lab Summit 2025

The event subtitle

February 11-12, 2025

9am - 5pm CST

Austin, TX

ACC Eastview

3401 Webberville Rd
Austin, TX 78702

Get Directions›

This year’s theme is “practice,” and we’ll be exploring ways to gain exposure and experience with new facilitation techniques, how to apply them to real-world scenarios, and the role they play in your practice.

Over two inspiring days, you’ll engage with expert facilitators, participate in interactive workshops, and connect with a community passionate about continuous improvement

Intimate & Exclusive: We’re focusing on depth over breadth. With eight 90-minute workshops and only 100 seats available, this summit promises a close-knit, immersive experience.

Purely Educational: Our commitment is to your growth. The summit will be a purely learning-centric environment, devoid of any sponsors or sales pitches.

Practical Learning: Get ready to roll up your sleeves! We offer hands-on sessions where you’ll address real challenges for a real non profit, ensuring your learning is grounded in practice.

Community Focus: Community is a commitment we take seriously. Each year, we partner with a non-profit organization to select a pressing challenge that needs solving. Summit attendees will have the unique opportunity to apply their newly acquired skills to this real-world issue, fostering a sense of shared purpose and impact.

Our Signature Touch: Every workshop is not just facilitated but also coached and co-designed by Voltage Control, ensuring you receive the best of our expertise.

Whether you’re a seasoned facilitator or just beginning your journey, this summit offers valuable insights and practical tools to enhance your facilitation skills. Don’t miss this opportunity to practice, learn, and grow with us.

February 11-12, 2025

9am - 5pm CST

Austin, TX

ACC Eastview

3401 Webberville Rd
Austin, TX 78702

Get Directions›

This event is happening again!

You should join us on February 17-18

Get Tickets

Spread the word

Alumni Salon

The first 10 alumni to sign up for the summit will get the Alumni Salon for FREE!

Facilitators

Alyssa Coughlin

Director, Chief of Staff, Autodesk

VC Certified

Caterina Rodriguez

National Director of Strategic Initiatives & Continuous Learning, ADL

VC Certified

Dom Michalec

Executive Director, Product Management, J.P. Morgan Chase

VC Certified

Elena Farden

Executive Director, Native Hawaiian Education Council

VC Certified

JJ Rogers

Product Design Director, Watermark

VC Certified

Dr. Karyn Edwards, PCC

Founder & President, Abloom Consulting

VC Certified

Kathy Ditmore

Manager Project Delivery, The Pew Charitable Trusts

VC Certified

Skye Idehen-Osunde

CEO, Inclusive Leadership Expert, and Dynamic Facilitator

VC Certified

Live Graphic Recording by:

Sara Nuttle

Graphic Recorder, SN Illustration

Schedule

DAY ONE

9:10-10:40 am

Skye Idehen-Osunde

The Safety Net: Building Credibility and Psychological Safety in Workshops

11:00-12:30 pm

Alyssa Couglin

Change Through Stories: Capturing Hearts and Aligning Minds

1:15-2:45

Kathy Ditmore

Mapping Your Change Journey

3:05-4:35 pm

Dom Michalec

Facilitating Transformation: How Small Changes Change Everything

DAY TWO

9:10-10:40 am

Dr. Karyn Edwards, PCC

The Secrets of Applying Executive Coaching to Facilitation

11-12:30pm

JJ Rogers

Radical Acts of Delight

Let’s explore ways to infuse delight and joy into everyday facilitated experiences, participants will be equipped with real strategies to create engaging and high trust experiences.

1:15-2:45 pm

Caterina Rodriguez

Enhancing Facilitation Through Nonverbal Communication

3:05-4:35 pm

Elena Farden

Consent as Ceremony: Learnings from Nurturing Safe Connections in Indigenous Play Parties

Wait, What's Facilitation?

Who Should Attend?

Facilitation Lab Summit is designed for professionals at all levels seeking to elevate their leadership and team collaboration skills, including:

Executives & Team Leaders
Chiefs of Staff
Product Managers
Program & Project Managers
Teachers & Trainers
Consultants & Coaches
Scrum Masters
UX Designers/Researchers

Interested in bringing a team?

We offer 20% off groups of 3-4, or 30% off groups of 5+

Apply for a Diversity Scholarship

What People are Saying

It's an opportunity for facilitators to really deeply connect one-on-one in small groups. And get to practice, put into practice a lot of new methods that maybe are emerging and learn from one another in a in-person format.

JJ Rogers

Product Design Director, Watermark

I think that the interactions with the people who come to the summit are really important because we have a room full of experts, but we have an infinite combination of experience and to tap into that is absolutely amazing. I've learned so much and I'll remember what I've learned forever.

Margaret Miller

Sr. Statistician at Colorado Housing and Finance Authority

Yeah. If you're a facilitator, you probably are used to being in the background and giving out great space for others. Think of this as giving yourself permission to lean back, watch other people do it, learn, interact.

John Rabasa

Director Strategy and Design, Insight

I have been sitting here for the last couple of days thinking, "I am so glad I trusted my gut to come to this." It's exceeding my expectations. And I really feel like I found my people. And so if you're looking for a tribe of people that you need to connect with, this is really the place.

Monica Krol

Workshop Facilitator

Photo Disclaimer

Refund Policy

All sales for the summit are final. The registered participant may invite another person to substitute their place at any time at no charge.

Code of Conduct

Read Full Code of Conduct

We expect participants to follow these rules at all conference venues and conference-related social events.

What to do when you witness a Code of Conduct violation?

All reports of incidents are confidential! We will not publish the name of the reporter in any way.

Important questions:

Who? Could you see the names of the people involved? Was it a speaker, attendee, service person, organizer, crew?

Where? In a session hall? In the foyer? At a partner booth? …

When? The approximate time of the behavior.

What?

What were the circumstances that led to the incident?
Verbal violation (“bad jokes”, discrediting, …)
Visual violation (slide in the talk, T-Shirt with an inappropriate print…)
Inappropriate physical interaction (violence of any kind)

Everyone working at a CTO Summit is informed on how to deal with an incident. If everyone involved is physically safe, we will only ask for security help or law enforcement at the victim’s request.

Report a Violation

Please reach out to Douglas Ferguson directly:
Email: douglas@voltagecontrol.com
Phone: 512.293.7279

The Purpose of the Code of Conduct

Our Code of Conduct does not exist because we expect to deal with any such problems.

The post Facilitation Lab Summit 2025 appeared first on Voltage Control.

Facilitation Lab Summit 2024

Jamie Lafrenier — Tue, 15 Aug 2023 15:27:05 +0000

Event Type

Facilitation Lab Summit 2024

The event subtitle

The speakers go here

February 6-7, 2024

9am - 5pm CST

Austin, Texas

ACC Rio Grande

1212 Rio Grande St
Austin, Texas 78701

Get Directions›

Join us this February for a unique and transformative experience at our Annual Facilitation Summit. This year, we’re taking a fresh approach, setting this event apart from previous years. Here are a few things to know about how this year will be different:

Intimate & Exclusive: We’re focusing on depth over breadth. With eight 90-minute workshops and only 80 seats available, this summit promises a close-knit, immersive experience.

Purely Educational: Our commitment is to your growth. The summit will be a purely learning-centric environment, devoid of any sponsors or sales pitches.

Practical Learning: Get ready to roll up your sleeves! We offer hands-on sessions where you’ll address real challenges for a real non profit, ensuring your learning is grounded in practice.

Community Focus: Community is a commitment we take seriously. Each year, we partner with a non-profit organization to select a pressing challenge that needs solving. Summit attendees will have the unique opportunity to apply their newly acquired skills to this real-world issue, fostering a sense of shared purpose and impact.

Our Signature Touch: Every workshop is not just facilitated but also coached and co-designed by Voltage Control, ensuring you receive the best of our expertise.

Reserve your spot and be part of this transformative experience. Facilitation Lab Summit 2024 isn’t just about learning, it’s about evolving. We look forward to seeing you there!

February 6-7, 2024

9am - 5pm CST

Austin, Texas

ACC Rio Grande

1212 Rio Grande St
Austin, Texas 78701

Get Directions›

This event is happening again!

You should join us on February 17-18

Get Tickets

Interested in a private cohort for your team?

Spread the word

Voltage Control is recognized by SHRM to offer Professional Development Credits (PDCs) for SHRM-CP® or SHRM-SCP® recertification activities.

Summit Purpose

We are gathering to build and celebrate a community of practice for facilitators. It’s paramount that we create a safe place to learn, grow, and advance as practitioners and engage in dialogue that advances the practice of facilitation. We invite people who seek to lead better meetings and foster inclusivity. Our mission is to share the global perspective of facilitators from different methodologies, backgrounds, races, genders, sexual orientations, cultures, and ages. We are delighted for you to join us at Facilitation Lab Summit to bring a diverse perspective to our craft and welcome everyone, especially traditionally underrepresented groups.

This year’s theme is “Community” to commemorate our first year working together with a local non-profit organization and to celebrate the launch of our new community hub. We are proud to announce that this year’s focal non-profit organization is Austin Community College’s (ACC) Military Family Center. Across the conference, facilitators and attendees will focus on a design challenge from the ACC Military Family Center: “How might we raise national awareness and adoption of the ACC Digital Fluency micro-credentials and certificates for military spouses?”

Facilitators

Douglas Ferguson

President, Voltage Control

Erik Skogsberg

VP of Learning Experience, Voltage Control

Liya James

Cofounder, Center for Deep Self Design

Ozay Moore

All Of The Above Hip Hop Academy

Solomon Masala

Principal, Source Consulting Group

Lily Chong

Innovation Design Thinking Manager, Church & Dwight Co., Inc.

Dirk Van Onsem

VP Key Sports EMEA, Nike

Susan Wilson-Golab

Bloomfield Hills Schools

Erin Warner

EXEC Consulting, LLC

Durell Coleman

Founder & CEO, DC Design

Schedule

Day One — Diverge

9:10-10:40 am

Liya James | Relational Attunement: From Breakdown to Breakthrough

In this session, Liya will share the Relational Attunement framework and lead exercises to help you integrate the tenets into your work to improve your skills in listening, understanding, and mutual responsiveness. We will experience how making small changes to the way we relate to each other can make a big difference in our ability to foster an environment of safety, creativity, and more open collaboration.

11:05-12:35 pm

Durell Coleman | Building Consensus Amongst Multiple Stakeholders: Current State/End State

Facilitating always includes an element of consensus building. Our job as facilitators is to help guide individuals with different perspectives and opinions toward a unified outcome. But how do you do that when the parties are on completely different pages? DC Design is a social impact consulting firm that has built consensus amongst hundreds of stakeholders at a time to reduce mass incarceration, homelessness, Black infant mortality, and more. This session is focused on teaching you a powerful tool you can use to build consensus amongst disparate, seemingly opposed stakeholders.

1:20-2:50 PM

Ozay Moore | What’s in the Soil?

Facilitated by renowned Hip Hop multi-disciplinarian and Non Profit executive director Ozay Moore, “What’s in the Soil'' will explore the power of incorporating historical and cultural perspectives when seeking community solutions. As facilitators, it is essential to recognize the influence of history and culture on the communities we serve. By embracing these elements, we can create more impactful and sustainable solutions that resonate with the people we aim to support.

3:15-4:45 pm

Dirk Van Onsem & Erik Skogsberg | Facilitating Change by Mapping Systems

Facilitation is a core leadership skill that is crucial to guide lasting change in organizations. Dirk and Erik will share a new framework based on systems change principles that will support you as a facilitator to guide change and help others build their change story for advocacy. They will deep dive into facilitating systems mapping as a key element within this change journey that will make the current state of influence visible and create a shared view that allows for co-creating change.

Day Two — Converge

9:10-10:40 am

Solomon Masala | Using Art and Conversation for Convergence

Within the art of decision making and group convergent thinking is the delicate balance of ensuring all perspectives are represented. This helps ensure group wisdom and collective knowledge has been engaged, and there is higher buy-in. Our session will warm up our capacity to hear and integrate others perspectives even if they are wildly different from ours, and tap our collaborative spirit to make a focused decision that honors the collective.

11-12:30pm

Lily Chong | A Design Thinking Deep Dive on Rapid Ideation

Discover how to harness the power of your team to generate a wide variety of innovative solutions to challenging problems. Through hands-on activities and practical exercises, you will learn valuable techniques to facilitate effective ideation sessions and unlock the creative potential within your group. Join us for a dynamic and interactive session that will equip you with the skills and mindset needed to drive impactful change through rapid ideation.

1:15-2:45 pm

Erin Warner | Daring Dialogues: Refining Ideas and Embracing Bold Action

Embark on a transformative journey through the power of conversation. Dive deep into the art of dialogue, where it's not about clinging to the 'right' answers, but about collectively refining ideas and moving confidently towards our desires and objectives. Taking a leaf from the playbook of visionaries like Adrienne Maree Brown and the audacious spirit of FDR in the musical Annie, this session invites you to embrace not just bold ideas, but also the courage to act upon them. Discover the magic of compromise, consensus-building, and the beauty of learning from our missteps, while always aiming to minimize any harmful consequences of our actions. Let's champion the fearless pursuit of our missions, informed by our values, unashamed of errors, but always ready to learn and adjust course. Welcome to a world where daring dialogues drive innovation and change.

3:05-4:35 pm

Susan Wilson-Golab | Developing Narratives that Bring Voice to Targeted Audience

In this session participants will explore innovative strategies to delve into the lives of their targeted communities, capturing authentic experiences and reflections that often go unheard. This talk will guide attendees on how to weave these individual threads into a compelling narrative tapestry, fostering empathy, enhancing connection, and driving meaningful engagement. Join us to harness the power of storytelling as a bridge between your message and the heart of your audience.

Wait, What's Facilitation?

Interested in bringing a team?

We offer 20% off groups of 3-4, or 30% off groups of 5+

Apply for a Diversity Scholarship

What People are Saying

It's an opportunity for facilitators to really deeply connect one-on-one in small groups. And get to practice, put into practice a lot of new methods that maybe are emerging and learn from one another in a in-person format.

JJ Rogers

Product Design Director, Watermark

I think that the interactions with the people who come to the summit are really important because we have a room full of experts, but we have an infinite combination of experience and to tap into that is absolutely amazing. I've learned so much and I'll remember what I've learned forever.

Margaret Miller

Sr. Statistician at Colorado Housing and Finance Authority

Yeah. If you're a facilitator, you probably are used to being in the background and giving out great space for others. Think of this as giving yourself permission to lean back, watch other people do it, learn, interact.

John Rabasa

Director Strategy and Design, Insight

I have been sitting here for the last couple of days thinking, "I am so glad I trusted my gut to come to this." It's exceeding my expectations. And I really feel like I found my people. And so if you're looking for a tribe of people that you need to connect with, this is really the place.

Monica Krol

Workshop Facilitator

Photo Disclaimer

Refund Policy

All sales for workshops are final. The registered participant may invite another person to substitute their place at any time at no charge.

Code of Conduct

Read Full Code of Conduct

We expect participants to follow these rules at all conference venues and conference-related social events.

What to do when you witness a Code of Conduct violation?

All reports of incidents are confidential! We will not publish the name of the reporter in any way.

Important questions:

Who? Could you see the names of the people involved? Was it a speaker, attendee, service person, organizer, crew?

Where? In a session hall? In the foyer? At a partner booth? …

When? The approximate time of the behavior.

What?

What were the circumstances that led to the incident?
Verbal violation (“bad jokes”, discrediting, …)
Visual violation (slide in the talk, T-Shirt with an inappropriate print…)
Inappropriate physical interaction (violence of any kind)

Everyone working at a CTO Summit is informed on how to deal with an incident. If everyone involved is physically safe, we will only ask for security help or law enforcement at the victim’s request.

Report a Violation

Please reach out to Douglas Ferguson directly:
Email: douglas@voltagecontrol.com
Phone: 512.293.7279

The Purpose of the Code of Conduct

Our Code of Conduct does not exist because we expect to deal with any such problems.

The post Facilitation Lab Summit 2024 appeared first on Voltage Control.

Facilitation Lab Summit 2023

Madelon Lusk — Wed, 26 Jan 2022 13:30:38 +0000

Conference

Control the Room is now Facilitation Lab Summit

Control the Room

5th Annual Facilitator Summit

Deepen your knowledge on how to facilitate meetings that matter and connect with other facilitation and meeting practitioners.

This year’s theme is Impact — we’re exploring the ways in which our choices affect our outcomes, and the far-reaching effect we as facilitators can have on the world. Whether we’re assessing how attendees may respond to a workshop, designing an accessible facilitation space, or crafting a message to reach as many people as possible, we make decisions every day that have the potential for a significant impact on those we work with – and on ourselves.

We invite you to join us in this exploration, and are excited to be building an event we believe will have a lasting and positive impact.

We’re designing this year’s summit as more than a conference; we’ve chosen a venue overlooking beautiful Lake Travis to invite contemplation as well as connection. We’ve curated moments to support a richer attendee experience, and we’re excited to gather with you!

Voltage Control is recognized by SHRM to offer Professional Development Credits (PDCs) for SHRM-CP® or SHRM-SCP® recertification activities.

Date

February 7, 2023

Time

9am - 5pm CST

Location

Austin, Texas

This year our event will be held at the beautiful Vintage Villas on Lake Travis.

See the Venue

This event is happening again!

You should join us on February 17-18

Get Tickets

Interested in a private cohort for your team?

Available Ticket Types

VIP Ticket (limited)

In addition to three days of the Virtual Summit, access to virtual speaker round table on February 1, 2021 and receive mailed facilitator care package shipped to your door!

The speaker salon is a private intimate gathering for the speakers & a few VIP guests. Douglas, our founder, will facilitate and explore the meaning and importance of connection. We will reflect on the past and anticipate the future and will have a lot of fun in the process.

Live Ticket

Access to all three days of the Virtual Summit. 18 Speakers total, six Lightning Talks + six 90-min Workshops Per Day (attendees choose 1 workshop per day)

Summit Purpose

We are gathering to build and celebrate a community of practice for facilitators. It is paramount that we create a safe place to learn, grow, and advance as practitioners, and to engage in a dialogue that advances the practice of facilitation. We invite people who seek to lead better meetings and who seek to foster inclusivity across all voices. Our mission is share a global perspective of facilitators from different methodologies, backgrounds, races, genders, sexual orientations, cultures, and ages. If you know someone who would benefit from attending Control the Room and would bring valuable diversity to the event or is part of a traditionally underrepresented group, please nominate them here.

Speakers

See the full schedule here

Amy Luckey

Getting a bigger boat: Access and inclusion in action

Benjamin Herndon

A human-cognitive perspective on AI transformation

Corrie LoGiudice

Unstuck Yourself : Your Foolproof Strategy to Activate Extraordinary Action

Eric Brown

The Green Beret Approach

Jimbo Clark

Take the BOX Breakthrough Challenge

John Rabasa

Don't Be Clever: A fundamental insight from improv that goes beyond "yes, and...”

Matthew Reynolds

Biggest Fullest Brightest- Expanding instead of Climbing

Renita Joyce Smith

Discovering & Embodying your Authenticity - The Key to Getting Out of Your Own Way

Robbin Arcega

Digging into Mentorship: What is it, really?

Sana Akhand

Choosing Freedom

Taylor Cone

How Might We Measure "Impact Potential"?

Vincent Perez

Let’s Get to kwerk: Leveraging Digital Tools to Create Inclusive Facilitation Experiences

Yvonne Alston

The Ultimate Connection: Head, Heart and Soul

Zach Montroy

Leveraging Emotional Intelligence for Connection

Post-event Virtual speakers

Andrew Otwell

Storytelling for Facilitators

Feb 9, 4:00-4:45 pm CT

Andi Cuddington

The F* Word: Thinking of Failure as a Skill

Feb 16, 4:00-4:45 pm CT

Amy Lee

Start with the end in mind: Psychological Safety From Start to Finish

Feb 14, 2:00-2:45 pm CT

Florentine Versteeg

Facilitating Language Diversity & Inclusion

Feb 15, 10:00-10:45 am CT

Marisa Davis

Practicing Feedback In A Safe Environment: The Power of a Purposeful Warm-up Game

Feb 15, 2:00-2:45 Pm CT

Wait, What's Facilitation?

Whether you know it or not, you are probably a facilitator. The act of facilitating is to make an operation or process easier. Facilitation skills are crucial to exercise when planning and running meetings to make them as participative and productive as possible. It’s imperative to company profit and culture to conduct successful meetings. Perfecting the art of facilitation is one of the most important and beneficial skill sets that make a successful leader.

A skilled facilitator can supercharge a team’s performance by functioning as a process guide for navigating complicated business challenges. Facilitators are experts at leading groups through key meetings and gatherings. Facilitators exist to enable better gatherings between teams, stakeholders, or collaborators of any kind.

Want to join us?

Interested in bringing a team? Click here to get a code for 20% off groups of 3-4, or 30% off groups of 5+

Venue

Vintage Villas

4209 Eck Ln, Austin, TX 78734

There are limited rooms available at Vintage Villas. Please call (512) 266-9333 to reserve a room. We also have a room block at the Holiday Inn just .5 mile down the road. You can reserve those rooms here.

Apply for a Diversity Scholarship

What People Are Saying

I loved the conference. As a relatively novice facilitator, I returned energized and inspired. When I signed up for the conference - I mostly did so because of rave reviews from my colleagues. It was a little hard to tell what I was getting into from the event page. There's so much value here for folks in leadership roles etc.

Vishal

UX SUPERVISOR

I realized my entire role is facilitation. I have to do a lot of lateral influencing. So I use these skills even if it is not a super-structured workshop. Our product team has micro meetings all the time, and these methods help us get the most of those moments. My team can lean on me to facilitate. You will redesign the way you have conversations. I can’t believe every college student doesn’t have to take a class like this. This is how you collaborate. It is the underpinning of the future of work.

Savannah

PRODUCT DESIGNER AT TAILWIND

Photo Disclaimer

Please note that photographs, video & audio recordings will be taken throughout this event. These will be used by Voltage Control for marketing and publicity in our publications, on our website and in social media, or in any third party publication. Please contact our event team if you have any concerns or if you wish to be exempted from this activity.

Refund Policy

All sales for workshops are final. The registered participant may invite another person to substitute their place at any time at no charge.

Code of Conduct

Read Full Code of Conduct

We expect participants to follow these rules at all conference venues and conference-related social events.

What to do when you witness a Code of Conduct violation?

All reports of incidents are confidential! We will not publish the name of the reporter in any way.

Important questions:

Who? Could you see the names of the people involved? Was it a speaker, attendee, service person, organizer, crew?

Where? In a session hall? In the foyer? At a partner booth? …

When? The approximate time of the behavior.

What?

What were the circumstances that led to the incident?
Verbal violation (“bad jokes”, discrediting, …)
Visual violation (slide in the talk, T-Shirt with an inappropriate print…)
Inappropriate physical interaction (violence of any kind)

Everyone working at a CTO Summit is informed on how to deal with an incident. If everyone involved is physically safe, we will only ask for security help or law enforcement at the victim’s request.

Report a Violation

Please reach out to Douglas Ferguson directly:
Email: douglas@voltagecontrol.com
Phone: 512.293.7279

The Purpose of the Code of Conduct

Our Code of Conduct does not exist because we expect to deal with any such problems.

The post Facilitation Lab Summit 2023 appeared first on Voltage Control.

Control the Room 2022

Jenni Robertson — Wed, 08 Sep 2021 13:32:12 +0000

Conference

Control the Room is now Facilitation Lab Summit

Control the Room

4th Annual Facilitator Summit

Deepen your knowledge on how to facilitate meetings that matter and connect with other facilitation and meeting practitioners.

We’re back in person at Capital Factory in Austin Texas, on Wednesday, February 2nd. We’ll have a full day of lightning talks, hardware lab, mini-workshops, and networking from expert facilitators sharing methods & activities. If you prefer to attend virtually, we’ll have both Zoom and VR options that will allow you to engage and participate in truly unique ways.

This year's theme is "Shifts"–how we as facilitators can help organizations and teams smoothly navigate through continuous growth, change, and transformation, in any capacity. From the tiny moment-to-moment shifts that are required of us to adapt to circumstances in a meeting or workshop, to large shifts like adjusting to hybridity, we must be equipped with dynamic techniques to stay on our toes and lead with eloquence.

Workshops

The two days prior to the summit will feature various workshops where you can get hands-on practice with in-demand facilitation techniques. While we offer a bundle ticket for the summit with two workshops, if you’d like to just attend one workshop, you can purchase tickets using the links below.

January 31, 2022

Liberating Structures: 9am – 5pm CST
Magical Meetings: 9am – 5pm CST

February 1, 2022

Workshop Design: 9am – 5pm CST
Difficult Dialogue: 9am – 5pm CST

Date

February 2, 2022

Time

9am - 5pm CST

Location

Austin, TX + VR + Zoom

Covid safety protocols will be enforced for in-person attendees, for the full list of requirements see below.

This event is happening again!

You should join us on February 17-18

Get Tickets

Available Ticket Types

VIP Ticket (limited)

Live Ticket

Access to all three days of the Virtual Summit. 18 Speakers total, six Lightning Talks + six 90-min Workshops Per Day (attendees choose 1 workshop per day)

Summit Purpose

Covid Safety Protocol

Proof of negative COVID test 48 hours prior to attendance. Grab a test while they are still in stock at Amazon.
Proof of vaccine, we will accept this in physical or digital form.
Masks required while indoors.
Prepackaged lunches delivered to tables to minimize congregation.
Hand sanitizer at each table.
Sanitation stations will be accessible at multiple locations throughout the venue.
Limited max attendees to allow for social distancing. The venue has a max capacity of 240 people and we will limit it to 100.

If these protocols are not sufficient to make you feel comfortable to attend or travel is just out of the question, we highly encourage you to consider our virtual options. We have some really cool stuff planned, involving live connections to those in the room and immersive virtual reality experiences!

In Loving Memory of Jenni Robertson

On October 17th, we lost Jenni Robertson, our Head of Operations, suddenly and tragically to domestic violence. She has been core to the identity and growth of our company and has led many important shifts in the ways we work, support our people, and create value for clients. She continues to deeply influence us. An imminent shift we hope to make in honor of her is to help eradicate domestic violence and the conditions that lead to it. To that end, we are dedicating this Control the Room Summit to Jenni and partnering with Safe, an organization who seeks a future with a just and safe community free from violence and abuse. Through this conference and beyond, we hope to facilitate necessary shifts in how people across our companies, communities, and families care for each other and find the support they need.

If you would like to support SAFE and help stop domestic violence, you are able to choose a donation amount when you purchase your ticket. Thank you for being a part of our community and a catalyst for positive change.

Speakers

Shannon Varcoe

Play with Your Work: Transform Your Facilitations Using Patterns of Play!

Hassan Ghiassi

Facilitating Difficult Dialogues, A Proven Format for Small Groups

Jennifer Houlihan

The Generation Trap: Moving Past Dated Labels

Matthew Reynolds

Moving Your Authentic Self Forward

Ghalia Aamer

How to Use Gamified Techniques to Engage Your Audience

Steven Tomlinson

Interventions to Combat Loneliness Through Inclusion

Nakia Winfield

Exploring Complexities of Power to Cultivate Authentic Inclusion

Ái Vuong

Metamorphosis: Slow Media + Shifting Systems

Samuel Diaz

Metamorphosis: Slow Media + Shifting Systems

Sandra Molinari

How to Lead Trauma-Informed Meetings and Workshops

Jessica Soukup

Stories are powerful

Nma Emeh

I Feel Good: It's All About Body Image Positivity

Hadassah Damien

The Show Must Go Wrong: Active Care and Agenda Interventions For Unruly Groups and Extemporaneous Moments

Skye Howell

Crafting a Land Acknowledgement

Annie Hodges

Crafting a Land Acknowledgement

Van Lai DuMone

Scaffolding Creativity Into Presentations to Generate Lasting Shifts

Mark Tippin

Mind Shifts

Virtual Sessions

Karen Vanderpool-Haerle

Teleporting Teams to New Virtual Worlds

Judy Tsuei

Mental Shifts — Why Caring for Your Health Leads to Sustainable Growth

Robbin Arcega

The Meta-Life of an LX Designer in Design Critique Facilitation

Shelley Paul

Let’s Not Talk: Harnessing Silence to Amplify Inclusion, Seed Insight & Spark Innovation

Rachel Economy

The Meeting Room as the Next World: Needs & Values-Based Facilitation & Design

Yvonne Alston

The Ultimate Connection: Head, Heart and Soul

Summit Schedule: February 2, 2022

Welcome

8:00 AM CST

Doors Open

8:50 AM CST

Douglas Ferguson | Introduction

Session One

9:00 AM CST

Matthew Reynolds | Moving Your Authentic Self Forward

9:20 AM CST

Shannon Varcoe | Play with Your Work

9:40 AM CST

Hassan Ghiassi | Facilitating Difficult Dialogues

10:00 AM CST

Mark Tippin & Hailey Temple | Mind Shifts

10:15 AM CST

Break & Networking

Session Two

10:35 AM CST

Skye Howell & Annie Hodges | Crafting a Land Acknowledgement

10:55 AM CST

Ghalia Aamer | How to Use Gamified Techniques to Engage Your Audience

11:15 AM CST

Steven Tomlinson | Interventions to Combat Loneliness Through Inclusion

11:35 AM CST

Mark Tippin & Hailey Temple | Mind Shifts

11:50 AM CST

Lunch

Session Three

12:50 PM CST

Van Lai-Dumone | Scaffolding Creativity Into Presentations To Generate Lasting Shifts

1:10 PM CST

Ái Vuong & Samuel Dias Fernández | Slow Media + Shifting Systems

1:30 PM CST

Jessica Soukup | Stories Are Powerful

1:50 PM CST

Mark Tippin & Hailey Temple | Mind Shifts

2:05 PM CST

Break & Networking

Session Four

2:25 PM CST

Nma Emeh | I Feel Good! It’s All About Body Image Positivity

2:45 PM CST

Hadassah Damien | The Show Must Go Wrong

3:05 PM CST

Jennifer Houlihan | The Generation Trap

3:25 PM CST

Mark Tippin & Hailey Temple | Mind Shifts

3:40 PM CST

Break & Networking

Session Five

3:55 PM CST

Nakia Winfield | Exploring Complexities of Power to Cultivate Authentic Inclusion

4:15 PM CST

Sandra Molinari | How to Lead Trauma-Informed Meetings & Workshops

4:35 PM CST

Mark Tippin & Hailey Temple | Mind Shifts

4:50 PM CST

Closing + Giveaways

5:00 PM CST

Happy Hour

Virtual Make-up Session Schedule: February 7–10, 2022

February 7

Feb 7, 10:00 AM CST

Judy Tsuei | Mental Shifts — Why Caring for Your Health Leads to Sustainable Growth

Feb 7, 1:00 PM CST

Rachel Economy | The Meeting Room as the Next World: Needs & Values-Based Facilitation & Design

February 8

Feb 8, 10:00 AM CST

Karen Vanderpool-Haerle | Teleporting Teams to New Virtual Worlds

FEB 8, 1:00 PM CST

Robbin Arcega | The Meta-Life of an LX Designer in Design Critique Facilitation

February 9

Feb 9, 10:00 AM CST

Yvonne Alston | The Ultimate Connection: Head, Heart and Soul

February 10

Feb 10, 10:00 AM CST

Shelley Paul | Let’s Not Talk: Harnessing Silence to Amplify Inclusion, Seed Insight & Spark Innovation

Wait, What's Facilitation?

Want to join us?

Interested in bringing a team? Click here to get a code for 20% off groups of 3-4, or 30% off groups of 5+

Apply for a Diversity Scholarship

What People Are Saying

"I loved the conference. As a relatively novice facilitator, I returned energized and inspired. When I signed up for the conference - I mostly did so because of rave reviews from my colleagues. It was a little hard to tell what I was getting into from the event page. There's so much value here for folks in leadership roles etc."

Vishal

UX SUPERVISOR

"I realized my entire role is facilitation. I have to do a lot of lateral influencing. So I use these skills even if it is not a super-structured workshop. Our product team has micro meetings all the time, and these methods help us get the most of those moments. My team can lean on me to facilitate. You will redesign the way you have conversations. I can’t believe every college student doesn’t have to take a class like this. This is how you collaborate. It is the underpinning of the future of work."

Savannah

PRODUCT DESIGNER AT TAILWIND

Photo Disclaimer

Please note that photographs, video & audio recordings will be taken throughout this event. These will be used by Voltage Control for marketing and publicity in our publications, on our website and in social media, or in any third party publication. Please contact our event team if you have any concerns or if you wish to be exempted from this activity.

Refund Policy

All sales for workshops are final. The registered participant may invite another person to substitute their place at any time at no charge.

Code of Conduct

Read Full Code of Conduct

We expect participants to follow these rules at all conference venues and conference-related social events.

What to do when you witness a Code of Conduct violation?

All reports of incidents are confidential! We will not publish the name of the reporter in any way.

Important questions:

Who? Could you see the names of the people involved? Was it a speaker, attendee, service person, organizer, crew?

Where? In a session hall? In the foyer? At a partner booth? …

When? The approximate time of the behavior.

What?

What were the circumstances that led to the incident?
Verbal violation (“bad jokes”, discrediting, …)
Visual violation (slide in the talk, T-Shirt with an inappropriate print…)
Inappropriate physical interaction (violence of any kind)

Everyone working at a CTO Summit is informed on how to deal with an incident. If everyone involved is physically safe, we will only ask for security help or law enforcement at the victim’s request.

Report a Violation

Please reach out to Douglas Ferguson directly:
Email: douglas@voltagecontrol.com
Phone: 512.293.7279

The Purpose of the Code of Conduct

Our Code of Conduct does not exist because we expect to deal with any such problems.

The post Control the Room 2022 appeared first on Voltage Control.

Control the Room 2019

Jamie Lafrenier — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 01:07:54 +0000

Conference

Control the Room is now Facilitation Lab Summit

Control the Room

First Annual Facilitator Summit

Join us for this two-day interactive event!

Are you responsible for meetings that drive outcomes, exploratory sessions, off-sites, strategic planning, daily standups, retrospectives, or workshops of any kind?

Are you a strategy consultant, negotiator, manager, Scrum Master or design thinker? Deepen your knowledge on how to facilitate meetings that matter and connect with other facilitation and meeting practitioners.

Date

February 5–7, 2019

Time

8am–6pm CST

Location

Austin, TX

This event has ended. Check out our upcoming conference:

Sold Out

Workshop

Facilitation Master Class

May 22 or 24, 2019

A hands-on workshop to sharpen your facilitation skills with Daniel Stillman & Douglas Ferguson

Sold Out

Conference

Austin Facilitator Summit

May 23, 2019

A full-day of expert facilitators sharing methods & activities featuring 16 Master Facilitators

Opening Speaker

Priya Parker

Master facilitator and author of The Art of Gathering: How We Meet and Why It Matters

With a background in facilitating high-powered gatherings around the world, Priya will share inspired recommendations for leading meetings of any kind.

Bonus: All attendees will receive a signed copy of Priya’s book.

Event Speakers

Douglas Ferguson

Master of Ceremonies

Anna Jackson

Principal at Alpinista Consulting

Ben Guhin

Stay Curious, Find Joy

Brian Sullivan

Empathy Immersion

Céline Thibault

Making the Meta – Physical

Daniel Stillman

Narrative Facilitation Design

Greg Galle

Think Wrong to Solve Next

Heidi Helfand

Leadership starts with listening

Jessica Lowry

20 Minute Mindful Facilitation Workshop

John Colaruotolo

I’m an Attention Seeker: Facilitating with Visual Models

Keith McCandless

Radical Departures: Productively Including Every Voice With Liberating Structures

Kevin Hoffman

Finding and Managing Style Biases in Facilitation

Marni Wilhite

Stay Curious, Find Joy

Mohamed Ali Abdirahman

I am not a label. Facilitating for community in a transient age.

Neha Saigal

Getting a team to think outside the box

Patricia Selmo

Pump Up Your Flipcharts

Reagan Pugh

Creating a Storytelling Organization

Terrence Metz

Consensual Prioritization

Tomasz Borek

Working with "Facilitator Challengers"

Wait, What's Facilitation?

This event has ended

Interested in hearing when this workshop will occur next?

Venue

Capital Factory

701 Brazos Street
Austin, TX 78701

What People Are Saying

Vishal

UX SUPERVISOR

Savannah

PRODUCT DESIGNER AT TAILWIND

The Books

Bring Your Ideas to Life

Innovation can seem complex or reserved for the exceptional. But we believe innovation is for everyone. We’ve set out to illuminate a path for you to generate bold ideas, visualize and share them, overcome obstacles, and turn them into reality. Our books are equal parts guidebook and stories from years of experience helping companies adopt an innovation mindset and culture. They’re practical & actionable, so you can get started now. We hope they’ll help you on your journey to realizing your biggest, boldest ideas.

The post Control the Room 2019 appeared first on Voltage Control.

Control the Room 2020

Jamie Lafrenier — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 00:02:42 +0000

Conference

Control the Room is now Facilitation Lab Summit

Control the Room

2nd Annual Facilitator Summit

Join us for our three-day interactive event!

Are you responsible for meetings that drive outcomes, exploratory sessions, off-sites, strategic planning, daily standups, retrospectives, or workshops of any kind?

Date

February 5–7, 2020

Time

8am–6pm CST

Location

Austin, TX

This event has ended. Check out our upcoming conference:

Sold Out

Workshop

Facilitation Master Class

February 5, 2020 • 9am–5pm CST

A hands-on workshop to sharpen your facilitation skills with Daniel Stillman & Douglas Ferguson

Sold Out

Conference

Austin Facilitator Summit

February 6, 2020 • 8am–6pm CST

A full-day of expert facilitators sharing methods & activities featuring 16 Master Facilitators

sold Out

Workshop

Sales Sprints Master Class

February 7, 2020 • 9am–5pm CST

Accelerate and deepen your sales discovery process by leveraging the power of facilitation with Daniel Stillman & Douglas Ferguson

Facilitation Master Class

In this fun, fast-paced, hands-on workshop, you’ll sharpen your facilitation skills through practice and peer feedback. Daniel and I will lead you through various methods, teaching why and how they work. You’ll get facilitation tips and tricks and learn how to incorporate these techniques into everyday meetings. You’ll end the day with a new way of looking at facilitating and the confidence to approach it with renewed energy and optimism. It’s not just about a bigger toolbox, but developing internal resources that you can draw on to be a master facilitator.

Sales Sprints Master Class

Sales discovery is slow and inefficient...it’s easy to go down the wrong path and not always clear where real possibilities lie. Rather than spend weeks on interviews and synthesis, bring all your key stakeholders together for a powerful facilitated session. A Sales Sprint can jump-start your sales process or amplify your sales enablement efforts.

Event Speakers

Douglas Ferguson

Master of Ceremonies

Solomon Masala

Experiential Evolved

Sunni Brown

Seeing Past Your Me: How to Facilitate from a Place of Deeper Wisdom

Justin Foster

Leadership Presence: Where Inner Work Meets Outer Story

J. Schuh

Story Stacks: Sharing Stories That Matter

Taylor Cone

Designing Inclusive Collaborations to Leverage Team Diversity

Hailey Temple

Designing Online Meetings for Distributed People with Purpose

Vaishali Jadhav

It Takes Two: Moving From Co-Presenting to Co-Facilitating

Leisha Barnette

It Takes Two: Moving From Co-Presenting to Co-Facilitating

Johnny Saye

I’m an Attention Seeker: A facilitator’s guide to energizing groups

Emily Jane Steinberg

Beyond Our Blind Spots - Seeing Context in a Changing World

Dan Benedict

Cyber-Physical Design Sprints within the Enterprise

Lee Duncan

Cyber-Physical Design Sprints within the Enterprise

Reagan Pugh

The Inner Work of a Facilitator

Shannon Stott

Stick to Your Shit

Jordan Hirsch

Facilitate the Fun: Bringing Improv Into Your Facilitation Work

Lynda Baker

Facilitation Meets Feng Shui

John Fitch

What is your Rest Ethic?

Erin Lamberty

Uncomfortable Conversations: How to Facilitate the Unexpected

Kellee Franklin, Moderator

Dynamic Panels: Designing & Facilitating Meaningful Discussions

Sam Schak, Panelist

Dynamic Panels: Designing & Facilitating Meaningful Discussions

John Hawley, Panelist

Dynamic Panels: Designing & Facilitating Meaningful Discussions

Jay Melone, Panelist

Dynamic Panels: Designing & Facilitating Meaningful Discussions

Shipra Kayan, Panelist

Dynamic Panels: Designing & Facilitating Meaningful Discussions

Event Schedule

Thursday | February 6, 2020

Registration

8:45 AM CST

Doors Open

9:00 AM CST

Welcome

9:10 AM CST

Solomon Masala | Experiential Evolved

9:55 AM CST

Lynda Baker | Facilitation Meets Feng Shui

10:15 AM CST

Justin Foster | Leadership Presence: Where Inner Work Meets Outer Story

10:35 AM CST

Break & Networking

10:50 AM CST

Emily Jane Steinberg | Beyond Our Blind Spots: Seeing Context in a Changing World

11:10 AM CST

John Fitch | What is Your Rest Ethic?

11:30 AM CST

J. Schuh | Story Stacks: Sharing Stories That Matter

11:50 AM CST

Dynamic Panels: Designing & Facilitating Meaningful Discussions

Moderator: Kellee Franklin | Panelists: Sam Schak, John Hawley, Jay Melone, & Shipra Kayan

12:30 PM CST

Lunch

1:30 PM CST

Daniel Stillman | Facilitator Hats

1:40 PM CST

Sunni Brown | Seeing Past Your Me: How to Facilitate from a Place of Deeper Wisdom

2:25 PM CST

Johnny Saye | I’m an Attention Seeker: A Facilitator’s Guide to Energizing Groups

2:45 PM CST

Shannon Stott | Stick to Your Shit

3:05 PM CST

Break & Networking

3:20 PM CST

Jordan Hirsch | Facilitate the Fun: Bringing Improv into Your Facilitation Work

3:40 PM CST

Leisha Barnette & Vaishali Jadhav | It Takes Two: Moving from Co-Presenting to Co-Facilitation

4:00 PM CST

Reagan Pugh | The Inner Work of a Facilitator

4:15 PM CST

Lee Duncan & Dan Benedict | Cyber-Physical Design Sprints within the Enterprise

PRIZES

4:40 PM CST

Break & Networking

4:50 PM CST

Erin Lamberty | Uncomfortable Conversations: How to Facilitate the Unexpected

5:05 PM CST

Taylor Cone | Designing Inclusive Collaborations to Leverage Team Diversity

5:25 PM CST

Hailey Temple | Designing Online Meetings for Distributed People with Purpose

Closing

Wait, What's Facilitation?

This event has ended

Interested in hearing when this workshop will occur next?

Venue

Vintage Villas

4209 Eck Ln, Austin, TX 78734

What People Are Saying

Vishal

UX SUPERVISOR

Savannah

PRODUCT DESIGNER AT TAILWIND

Photo Disclaimer

Please note that photographs, video & audio recordings will be taken throughout this event. These will be used by Voltage Control for marketing and publicity in our publications, on our website and in social media, or in any third party publication. Please contact our events manager, Tara, if you have any concerns or if you wish to be exempted from this activity.

Refund Policy

All sales for workshops are final. The registered participant may invite another person to substitute their place at any time at no charge.

Summit Partner

MURAL is a digital workspace for visual collaboration. Our platform and services enable innovative teams to think and collaborate visually to solve important problems. People benefit from MURAL’s speed and ease of use in creating diagrams, which are popular in design thinking and agile methodologies, as well as tools to facilitate more impactful meetings and workshops. Global enterprises including IBM, USAA, E-Trade, Intuit, SAP, Atlassian, Autodesk and GitHub have embraced visual collaboration to align their teams, plan in real-time, speed up decision making, reduce travel costs and accelerate a culture of innovation. MURAL’s certified enterprise-class cloud-based infrastructure connects 40 percent of Fortune 100 global enterprises, drawing the support of leading investors from Radian Capital, Gradient Ventures, Endeavor Catalyst and others. MURAL is headquartered in San Francisco and employs over 100 people working remotely across six time zones around the world, including office hubs in Buenos Aires and Europe. Learn more at mural.co

The Books

Bring Your Ideas to Life

The post Control the Room 2020 appeared first on Voltage Control.

Control the Room 2021

Jamie Lafrenier — Fri, 22 Jan 2021 20:32:37 +0000

Conference

Control the Room is now Facilitation Lab Summit

Control the Room

3rd Annual Facilitator Summit

Join us for our three-day virtual summit!

Deepen your knowledge on how to facilitate meetings that matter and connect with other facilitation and meeting practitioners. The event will include lightning talks, networking, and hands-on workshops from expert facilitators sharing methods & activities.

Date

February 2-4, 2021

Time

10:30am - 3:30pm CST

Location

Live Online

Interested in hearing when this workshop will occur next?

Available Ticket Types

VIP Ticket (limited)

Live Ticket

Access to all three days of the Virtual Summit. 18 Speakers total, six Lightning Talks + six 90-min Workshops Per Day (attendees choose 1 workshop per day)

Summit Purpose

Summit Theme

“We must establish a personal connection with each other. Connection before content. Without relatedness, no work can occur.” —Peter Block

Human connection is an integral component of the work we do as facilitators. When we connect things become possible. When we are disconnected there is dysfunction. When ideas connect they become solutions. When movements connect they become revolutions.

Event Speakers

William Aal

Equity, power and conflict in meeting design

Explore how to disrupt patterns of privilege and oppression that are often overlooked in meeting design. Explore those dynamics in your facilitation practice. Have fun making the invisible visible!

Mohamed Ali

You're that audience

How to prepare an audience for a workshop, long before they show up.

Elena Astilleros

$h*t to Hit!! Creating meetings participants love

Lead lively meetings where you (and everyone participating) feel alive and reinvigorated from your time together.

Rachel Ben Hamou

Onboarding Without Hoarding

Gather (Facilitation) Exercises You Will Genuinely Use. Since everything has gone virtual, the internet is a treasure trove AND a landfill of every process and exercise humans can imagine. How do you sift through all that noise to find activities that will help YOU facilitate well?

Emily Bowen

Peace, Love & Understanding

This 20 minute lightning session, and 90 minute facilitated session focus on how we can create lightness and ease when we want to connect people to each other and build trust when working remotely.

Kaleem Clarkson

Fighting Isolation and Building Meaningful Relationships through the Power of Play

Kaleem will be joined by David Klasko in this interactive workshop as we learn what the research says about the dangers of isolation, and how playing simple (and incredibly fun) games can create meaningful human connection in the virtual workplace.

Alison Coward

Workshop Culture for a Better Workplace

This presentation will explore the real potential of workshops in improving our experience of work, and what else that may bring.

Joshua Davies

Moving Minds: Exploring Conversation Maps in Facilitation

In this session, we’ll explore practical techniques for better awareness and co-creation in our discussions using conversation mapping, contrasting, and cadence control.

Leslie Forman

Secrets, Constraints, and Emojis

We’ll discuss practical techniques that facilitators can use to guide participants into deeper discussions, especially about ambiguous or sensitive topics.

Madelon Guinazzo

Facilitating Fearlessly with Heart

Engage in this experiential based workshop to explore some of our facilitator fears in a safe way. Together we will build resilience and the sense of connection that leads to grounded positive action in the midst of fear.

J. Elise Keith

Facilitating in Real Time, Near Time, and Far Time

We’ll explore what it means to facilitate across different time scales and surface ideas we can all use to make a more lasting impact.

Vinay Kumar

Connecting people and thinking for shared values

This session will explore at least 2 methods in creating strong connections that increase the effectiveness of group work.

Van Lai-DuMone

Incorporate Creativity Into Your Virtual Facilitations

Learn how incorporating creative tools can not only serve to harness the attention of the group, but also serve as a practical tool for: Team Building and Development, Collaboration, Idea Generation, Problem Solving and Trust Building

Caitlin Loos

7 Hours on Zoom...In a good way!

Caitlin will be joined by Jordan Hirsch in the workshop portion to teach you how they created a 7-hour zoom conference that was energizing, inspiring, & fun

Jennifer Marin Jericho

How to Pivot when things go wrong

You’ll learn the tactics for Effective Facilitation and Facilitation Pitfalls on some of the tips I have learned along the way for when things don’t go the way you expect.

Solomon Masala

Zip in your Zoom

Most humans have been conditioned to get in front of a screen and go passive. We forget that real learning is an active, full-body experience, and in our virtual learning world it’s critical to keep the learning juices activated.

Erik Skogsberg

Learn to Transform

Learning Experience Design (LXD) for Better Meetings, More Impactful Workshops, and Lasting Change

Michael Wilkinson

Consensus Building: Techniques for Getting to Yes

In this workshop, Michael Wilkinson equips you with a clear understanding of the three reasons people disagree, three methods for establishing a consensus-focused process, and five techniques for getting to yes when disagreements occur.

Event Schedule

Tuesday | February 2, 2021

Kickoff

10:00 AM CST

Doors Open

10:20 AM CST

Introduction

LIGHTNING TALKS

10:30 AM CST

Van Lai-DuMone | Incorporate Creativity Into Your Virtual Facilitations

10:50 AM CST

Mohamed Ali | You're that audience

11:10 AM CST

Leslie Forman | Secrets, Constraints, and Emojis

11:30 AM CST

Break & Networking

12:00 PM CST

Michael Wilkinson | Consensus Building: Techniques for Getting to Yes

12:20 PM CST

Emily Bowen | Peace, Love & Understanding

12:40 PM CST

Erik Skogsberg | Learn to Transform

1:00 PM CST

Break & Networking

Workshops

01:30–03:00 PM CST

Van Lai-DuMone

As many of us move our in-person facilitations to an online model - it is vital to keep participants engaged and 'in the room'. Come prepared for an experiential and interactive workshop. Bring your creative capacity, pen and paper, and leave those cameras on!

Mohamed Ali

Everyone struggles with getting participants engaged in workshops. Workshop outputs get parked somewhere, loud participants dominate groups, timelines are shrunk and workshops get rushed. The question we'll be working to answer together is how might we effectively onboard participants without overwhelming them with the exercises and time needed to conduct the workshop? How might a beginners' mindset assist an audience to contribute what they really wish to.

Leslie Forman

We'll discuss practical techniques that facilitators can use to guide participants into deeper discussions, especially about ambiguous or sensitive topics.

Michael Wilkinson

Imagine this scenario: The meeting has been going great. The participants are engaged, significant progress is being made, and the sponsor is well pleased. Suddenly, a major disagreement erupts. While some are vehement about one position, several people take an opposing stand; and still others believe the entire discussion is a waste of time. Voices get louder, people stop listening, others check-out. As the facilitator, you know you have to take control and help the group move to consensus. What do you do? In this workshop, Michael Wilkinson equips you with a clear understanding of the three levels of disagreement and proven strategies for resolution.

Emily Bowen

There are techniques that we can employ to help people create relationships even when we can't be in the same space.

Erik Skogsberg

The best facilitators, whether they know it or not, are Learning Experience Designers (LXDs). LXDs bring the best of user experience design and the learning sciences to bear on creating transformation: whether in a meeting, presentation, workshop, or course. Participants will be guided through some hands-on practice in these methods for use in a meeting, workshop or training of their own and then begin to design for better learning experiences and lasting change in their future facilitation work.

Prizes & Happy Hour

Wednesday | February 3, 2021

Kickoff

10:00 AM CST

Doors Open

10:20 AM CST

Introduction

LIGHTNING TALKS

10:30 AM CST

Jennifer Marin Jericho | How to Pivot when things go wrong

10:50 AM CST

Kaleem Clarkson | Fighting Isolation and Building Meaningful Relationships through the Power of Play

11:10 AM CST

Caitlin Loos | 7 Hours on Zoom...In a good way!

11:30 AM CST

Break & Networking

12:00 PM CST

William Aal | Equity, power and conflict in meeting design

12:20 PM CST

Solomon Masala | Zip in your Zoom

12:40 PM CST

Alison Coward | Workshop Culture for a Better Workplace

1:00 PM CST

Break & Networking

Workshops

01:30–03:00 PM CST

Jennifer Marin Jericho

"The devil is in the details." We often think of facilitation as the moment when we are in the room, running a workshop or meeting, but there's quite a lot of work to be done before and after to host a successful workshop.

Kaleem Clarkson & David Klasko

Technology has provided a platform to find and foster these relationships, but it takes a thoughtful and structured approach to create a human connection. Based in improv comedy, and built for video conferencing, Artly Working has designed workshops to add humor, vulnerability, and spontaneity to the virtual world - in other words, the human element! Using games and exercises developed specifically for the platform, the goal is to fight isolation and loneliness and build bonds on our remote platforms, and not in spite of them. Participants will leave with games and exercises that can be implemented with teams right away.

Caitlin Loos & Jordan Hirsch

In this workshop, we’ll explore how we turned our annual company conference — a deeply human, connected experience for 100+ people — into a Zoom call that lasted seven hours and spanned four time zones, but still worked. You’ll experiment and play with activities that help turn a virtual event into a virtual experience.

William Aal

In this session, participants will learn how to set the table for people to fully participate, taking into account the currents of power difference in the space. How to be aware of your own privilege dynamics; how to acknowledge conflict and use it as a tool to deepen community and when process becomes liberatory and when it furthers patterns of oppression.

Solomon Masala

Here come 25+ kinesthetic activities that range from 1 minute to 1 hour, guaranteed to get participants energized and enlivened, regardless of the group.

Alison Coward

As facilitators, we all know the impact we can make in a workshop, but have we really considered the wider impact we can make and the importance of facilitation in making the workplace better? Workshops bring many of the factors that we want to see in productive, engaged and positive cultures - collaboration, inclusion, motivation, creativity - so how can we take these elements beyond a one-off event and bring them more generally into the workplace?

Prizes & Happy Hour

Thursday | February 4, 2021

Kickoff

10:00 AM CST

Doors Open

10:20 AM CST

Introduction

LIGHTNING TALKS

10:30 AM CST

Madelon Guinazzo | Having Fun With Fear

10:50 AM CST

Vinay Kumar | Connecting people and thinking for shared values

11:10 AM CST

J. Elise Keith | Facilitating in Real Time, Near Time, and Far Time

11:30 AM CST

Break & Networking

12:00 PM CST

Joshua Davies | Moving Minds: Exploring Conversation Maps in Facilitation

12:20 PM CST

Elena Astilleros | $h*t to Hit!! Creating meetings participants love

12:40 PM CST

Rachel Ben Hamou | Onboarding Without Hoarding

1:00 PM CST

Break & Networking

Workshops

01:30–03:00 PM CST

Madelon Guinazzo

We all have fears as facilitators and our participants all come with their own fears as well. How do we tap into the powerful potential of transformation that this fear holds for both of us? How do we let that fear fuel us into fun and greater trust in ourselves and life? How do we hold fear - our own and other's - with equanimity? Engage in this experiential based workshop to explore some of our facilitator fears in a safe way. Together we will build resilience and the sense of connection that leads to grounded positive action in the midst of fear.

Vinay Kumar

The exercise of creativity evokes considerable engagement and innovation from participants in any group environment. Using the right brain is not only fun but also helps in drawing out many aspects that participants often find difficult to articulate in a group setting. This is especially true when groups are extremely diverse in terms of experience, cultures, hierarchy, language etc. This session will explore at least 2 methods in creating strong connections that increase the effectiveness of group work

J. Elise Keith

As professional facilitators, we're pretty good at planning and running events. Some of us do a great job following up, too. But how do we make sure the work begun in our events and the changes these events inspire have an impact on the every day lives of those we serve? How can we facilitate keeping the conversation alive when we won't be there to literally facilitate the meetings? In this session, we'll explore what it means to facilitate across different time scales and surface ideas we can all use to make a more lasting impact.

Joshua Davies

If we are what we say, what do your interactions say about you? Too many conversations are treadmills, endless going without ever getting anywhere, or broken parallel monologues in search of a true dialogue. In this session, we'll explore practical techniques for better awareness and co-creation in our discussions using conversation mapping, contrasting, and cadence control.

Elena Astilleros

Do you feel totally drained after facilitating your sessions? When you ask questions, do you get crickets...or worse, only the same handful of people answering every time? In this session, you'll learn: How you might be creating the wrong kind of drama (without realizing it), Practices you can start using to trigger group genius in your next meeting or workshop and a simple way to up level the questions you ask your team.

Rachel Ben Hamou & Andre Ben Hamou

Since everything has gone virtual, the internet is a treasure trove AND a landfill of every process and exercise humans can imagine. How do you sift through all that noise to find activities that will help YOU facilitate well? We’ll explore how you can develop processes and criteria that allow you to evaluate exercises and activities at speed. We’ll help you ‘Yes And’ the great resources you discover, without things becoming unmanageable.

Prizes & Happy Hour

Wait, What's Facilitation?

Want to join us?

Interested in bringing a team? Click here to get a code  for 20% off groups of 3-4, or 30% off groups of 5+

What People Are Saying

Vishal

UX SUPERVISOR

Savannah

PRODUCT DESIGNER AT TAILWIND

Photo Disclaimer

Please note that photographs, video & audio recordings will be taken throughout this event. These will be used by Voltage Control for marketing and publicity in our publications, on our website and in social media, or in any third party publication. Please contact our events manager, Tara, if you have any concerns or if you wish to be exempted from this activity.

Refund Policy

All sales for workshops are final. The registered participant may invite another person to substitute their place at any time at no charge.

Magical Meetings Pre-Launch Party

Monday, Feburary 1st | 2:30-4:00 CST

Douglas and John, authors of the new book Magical Meetings, are offering a complimentary book launch experience to celebrate the upcoming launch of the book on the eve of their annual facilitation Summit. While the book officially goes on sale in stores everyone on March 1st, you’ll have the opportunity to get a copy before everyone else.

They have also prepared an extra special virtual book launch experience. While this will be online, this is NOT a webinar or a boring meeting. They are gathering meeting professionals and remote workers of all ilk to celebrate the launch of Magical Meetings and explore together how to make every meeting more magical. Come prepared to participate!

You’ll start by meeting another attendee at random and sharing stories of your favorite meetings, followed by a share out of some of the best stories. Then our publisher, Rohit Bhargava, will share a few opening remarks before John and Douglas share their Magical Meeting stories. For the second half of the launch, we’ll spend some time in small groups in guided conversation to explore how we can show up better in all meetings. Finally, we will close with a bit of commitment.

The post Control the Room 2021 appeared first on Voltage Control.

Voltage Control + Summit Events

Facilitation Lab Summit 2026

Event Type

Facilitation Lab Summit 2026

The event subtitle

Austin, TX

Austin, TX

Tickets

See Previous Summits

Facilitators

To Be Announced...

Facilitators

Alyssa Coughlin

Director, Chief of Staff, Autodesk

VC Certified

Caterina Rodriguez

National Director of Strategic Initiatives & Continuous Learning, ADL

VC Certified

Dom Michalec

Executive Director, Product Management, J.P. Morgan Chase

VC Certified

Elena Farden

Executive Director, Native Hawaiian Education Council

VC Certified

JJ Rogers

Product Design Director, Watermark

VC Certified

Dr. Karyn Edwards, PCC

Founder & President, Abloom Consulting

VC Certified

Kathy Ditmore

Manager Project Delivery, The Pew Charitable Trusts

VC Certified

Skye Idehen-Osunde

CEO, Inclusive Leadership Expert, and Dynamic Facilitator

VC Certified

Live Graphic Recording by:

Sara Nuttle

Graphic Recorder, SN Illustration

Schedule

DAY ONE

9:10-10:40 am

Skye Idehen-Osunde

The Safety Net: Building Credibility and Psychological Safety in Workshops

11:00-12:30 pm

Alyssa Couglin​

Change Through Stories: Capturing Hearts and Aligning Minds​

1:15-2:45

Kathy Ditmore​

Mapping Your Change Journey

3:05-4:35 pm

Dom Michalec

Facilitating Transformation: How Small Changes Change Everything​

DAY TWO

9:10-10:40 am​

Dr. Karyn Edwards, PCC​

The Secrets of Applying Executive Coaching to Facilitation​

11-12:30pm​

JJ Rogers​

Radical Acts of Delight

1:15-2:45 pm​

Caterina Rodriguez​

Enhancing Facilitation Through Nonverbal Communication​

3:05-4:35 pm​

Elena Farden​

Consent as Ceremony: Learnings from Nurturing Safe Connections in Indigenous Play Parties​

Wait, What's Facilitation?

Who Should Attend?

Executives & Team Leaders

Chiefs of Staff

Product Managers

Program & Project Managers

Program & Project Managers

Teachers & Trainers

Consultants & Coaches

Scrum Masters

UX Designers & Researchers

What People are Saying

It's an opportunity for facilitators to really deeply connect one-on-one in small groups. And get to practice, put into practice a lot of new methods that maybe are emerging and learn from one another in a in-person format.

I think that the interactions with the people who come to the summit are really important because we have a room full of experts, but we have an infinite combination of experience and to tap into that is absolutely amazing. I've learned so much and I'll remember what I've learned forever.

Alyssa Couglin

Change Through Stories: Capturing Hearts and Aligning Minds

Kathy Ditmore

Facilitating Transformation: How Small Changes Change Everything

9:10-10:40 am

Dr. Karyn Edwards, PCC

The Secrets of Applying Executive Coaching to Facilitation

11-12:30pm

JJ Rogers

1:15-2:45 pm

Caterina Rodriguez

Enhancing Facilitation Through Nonverbal Communication

3:05-4:35 pm

Elena Farden

Consent as Ceremony: Learnings from Nurturing Safe Connections in Indigenous Play Parties

Alyssa Couglin

Change Through Stories: Capturing Hearts and Aligning Minds

Kathy Ditmore

Facilitating Transformation: How Small Changes Change Everything

9:10-10:40 am

Dr. Karyn Edwards, PCC

The Secrets of Applying Executive Coaching to Facilitation

11-12:30pm

JJ Rogers

1:15-2:45 pm

Caterina Rodriguez

Enhancing Facilitation Through Nonverbal Communication

3:05-4:35 pm

Elena Farden

Consent as Ceremony: Learnings from Nurturing Safe Connections in Indigenous Play Parties