Facilitation Lab
Facilitation Lab Austin
Practice Playground
With Douglas Ferguson and Erin Warner
In Partnership With Miro and Capital Factory
January 28, 2025
6pm - 8pm CST
Practice Playground is a dynamic space dedicated to facilitators seeking to refine and enhance their skills in a hands-on, interactive practice environment.
At Facilitation Lab Austin, facilitators come together to explore, experiment, and evolve their craft. Whether you’re a seasoned professional or new to the field, this lab offers an unparalleled opportunity to practice in real-time, receive constructive feedback, and learn from peers through role-play.
Come prepared to practice various facilitation techniques, from traditional methods to cutting-edge approaches. This environment is designed to be safe, supportive, and conducive to growth, allowing you to try new strategies, fine-tune your skills, and gain confidence in your facilitation abilities.
Snacks and drinks will be provided. Please RSVP.
At Facilitation Lab Austin, facilitators come together to explore, experiment, and evolve their craft. Whether you’re a seasoned professional or new to the field, this lab offers an unparalleled opportunity to practice in real-time, receive constructive feedback, and learn from peers through role-play.
Come prepared to practice various facilitation techniques, from traditional methods to cutting-edge approaches. This environment is designed to be safe, supportive, and conducive to growth, allowing you to try new strategies, fine-tune your skills, and gain confidence in your facilitation abilities.
Snacks and drinks will be provided. Please RSVP.
January 28, 2025
6pm - 8pm CST
Interested in a private cohort for your team?
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About Facilitation Lab Austin
Facilitation Lab Austin is a monthly in-person meetup for changemakers, collaborative leaders, and facilitators across Austin. Our purpose is to foster learning by doing in a psychologically safe environment, building a strong and supportive community of peers across the region.
As Regional Leads, Douglas and Erin cultivate a space for experimentation and collaborative leadership development, with a focus on people-powered organizational change.
Facilitation Lab Austin is a global network of regions, including other virtual meetups organized by continent and in-person meetups organized by cities. See the region list for a full list of all active meetups.
You can also join us in the Facilitation Lab Community Hub to stay connected with the facilitation community and get reminders of all upcoming events.
Agenda
Impromptu Networking
We’ll open with some connections to give you an opportunity to meet other community members
Idea Marketplace & Voting
Everyone shares their practice areas and opportunities for growth edges and we vote on the top ones.
Practice & Role Play
Participants take turns facilitating a method or the group role-playing a real-life facilitation scenario
Reflect, Debrief, & Commit
We’ll end with an opportunity for some quiet reflection, group debriefing, and solo commitments
Who Should Attend
Experienced & New Facilitators
Who want to level up their facilitation skills and enhance their ability to effecivelty engage participants
Chiefs of Staff
Who want to align initiatives across departments and ensure strategic projects are implemented successfully
Product & Project Managers
Who want to steer stakeholders to the best outcomes and learn best practices in stakeholder management
Teachers & Trainers
Who want to design the most impactful learning and create engaging learning experiences
Key Takeaways
Gain hands-on experience with a spectrum of facilitation techniques, from classic to cutting-edge.
Receive immediate, constructive feedback in a nurturing environment to refine your facilitation skills.
Explore the depths of your existing facilitation knowledge and boost your confidence through low-stakes practice sessions.
Realize the potential to learn from anyone, appreciating the value of diverse experiences and perspectives.
Featured Facilitators
Douglas Ferguson
Douglas Ferguson is an entrepreneur, educator, and human-centered technologist. He is the founder and president of Voltage Control, a facilitation academy that develops leaders through certifications, workshops, and organizational coaching focused on facilitation mastery, innovation, and play. He has helped transform leaders, innovators, and creatives from Nike, U.S. SOCOM, Google, the Air Force, Gap, Tesla, MSU, Church & Dwight, Apple, Adobe, Dropbox, Fidelity, Vrbo, Liberty Mutual, Humana, and SAIC. Douglas is a thought leader and author of four books: Magical Meetings, Beyond the Prototype, How to Remix Anything, and Start Within.
Erin Warner
Erin Warner is a facilitator leveraging the compelling synergy between her professional expertise in law, culture, fitness, and wellness. These unique ingredients merge into a facilitation approach that supports a spectrum of outcomes including camaraderie and unity (that are the basis of strong teams and strong communities), inviting exploration and growth (which stimulate innovation) and the rigor of decision-making and action (which are needed to execute on a vision).
In Partnership With
Miro
Miro is an online workspace for innovation that is visually reminiscent to whiteboards we have in meeting rooms. All the tools are located on the left side of the screen. And it allows you to add various content from texts to images, create maps and diagrams, and work with visual templates together with a team.
Capital Factory
Capital Factory is the place to be for entrepreneurs in Texas. We provide mentorship, coworking spaces and private offices, community events, and more.
What People are Saying
"In a world where we tend to connect digitally, it's so important to still come together, especially in a shared community where we're learning from each other and we're also affirming each other. So, coming here is worth the travel. It's worth being in the presence of others. You can't replicate that in a digital forum."
Susan Wilson-Golab
Bloomfield Hills Schools
“The best part of the Facilitation Lab is the opportunity to network with other facilitators. This community provides a unique opportunity to learn and grow from the insights and experiences of the other attendees.”
J Schuh
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.