Facilitation Lab
Facilitation Lab Austin
Practice Playground
With Douglas Ferguson and Erin Warner
In Partnership With Palm Ventures Studios
March 26, 2024
6pm - 8pm CT​
A dynamic space dedicated to facilitators seeking to refine and enhance their skills in a hands-on, interactive practice environment.
At Practice Playground, 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.
Come prepared to practice a variety of facilitation techniques, from traditional methods to cutting-edge approaches. The 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.
At Practice Playground, 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.
Come prepared to practice a variety of facilitation techniques, from traditional methods to cutting-edge approaches. The 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.
March 26, 2024
6pm - 8pm CT​
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 focused on helping facilitators & collaborative leaders connect with peers in a supportive and inspiring facilitation playground.
We gather to experience and explore all aspects of facilitation, including Liberating Structures, Game Storming, Thinking Wrong, MG Taylor, Improv, and much more.
At each meeting, we rotate topics and approaches, from highlighting practitioners sharing tips and tricks to open facilitation practice where you get hands-on with new tools and concepts.
In addition to Facilitation Lab Austin hosted by Douglas and Erin. Voltage Control hosts Faciliation Lab HQ, and there are other meetups around the globe hosted by Facilitation Lab regional leads. See the region map for a complete list of all active meetups.
Join the Facilitation Lab Community Hub to connect asynchronously with the facilitation community and get reminders of all upcoming events.
We gather to experience and explore all aspects of facilitation, including Liberating Structures, Game Storming, Thinking Wrong, MG Taylor, Improv, and much more.
At each meeting, we rotate topics and approaches, from highlighting practitioners sharing tips and tricks to open facilitation practice where you get hands-on with new tools and concepts.
In addition to Facilitation Lab Austin hosted by Douglas and Erin. Voltage Control hosts Faciliation Lab HQ, and there are other meetups around the globe hosted by Facilitation Lab regional leads. See the region map for a complete list of all active meetups.
Join the Facilitation Lab Community Hub to connect asynchronously 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 is an entrepreneur and human-centered technologist with over 26 years of experience. He is 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.
Prior to Voltage Control, Douglas held CTO positions at numerous Austin startups, where he led product and engineering teams using agile, lean, and human-centered design principles. While CTO at Twyla, Douglas worked directly with Google Ventures running Design Sprints, and now brings this experience and process to companies everywhere.
Douglas is currently active in the Austin startup community, where he serves on the board of several non-profits, mentors startups, and advises early-stage ventures.
Douglas is a thought leader and often writes and talks about facilitation, leadership, collaboration, innovation, culture, meetings, and Design Sprints. He is also the author of four books: Magical Meetings, Beyond the Prototype, How to Remix Anything, and Start Within, He has been published in Forbes, Fast Company, Innovation Leader, and is a regular contributor to The Future Shapers. He publishes a weekly podcast called Facilitation Lab.
Prior to Voltage Control, Douglas held CTO positions at numerous Austin startups, where he led product and engineering teams using agile, lean, and human-centered design principles. While CTO at Twyla, Douglas worked directly with Google Ventures running Design Sprints, and now brings this experience and process to companies everywhere.
Douglas is currently active in the Austin startup community, where he serves on the board of several non-profits, mentors startups, and advises early-stage ventures.
Douglas is a thought leader and often writes and talks about facilitation, leadership, collaboration, innovation, culture, meetings, and Design Sprints. He is also the author of four books: Magical Meetings, Beyond the Prototype, How to Remix Anything, and Start Within, He has been published in Forbes, Fast Company, Innovation Leader, and is a regular contributor to The Future Shapers. He publishes a weekly podcast called Facilitation Lab.
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
Palm Ventures Studios
Palm Venture Studios rescues and builds companies that positively impact human and planetary health. Our network of venture studios provides the second-chance capital, expertise and support that startups need to thrive. Please reach out with investment opportunities: https://www.palmventurestudios.com/contact.
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
"I always enjoy the opportunity to network with other facilitators in the Facilitation Lab. I've gained so much knowledge from other attendees' insights & experiences each and every week in our community."
Anonymous
Facilitation Lab Attendee
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.
