Facilitation Lab
Facilitation Lab Raleigh Durham
Practice Playground
With Jordan Bowman , Shannon Varcoe, and Annie Hodges Grace
In Partnership With Miro, The Team Together , and Jbowman.org
February 20, 2025
6pm - 8pm EST
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 Raleigh Durham, 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.
At Facilitation Lab Raleigh Durham, 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.
February 20, 2025
6pm - 8pm EST
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About Facilitation Lab Raleigh Durham
Facilitation Lab Raleigh-Durham is a monthly 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 Raleigh hosted by Shannon, Annie, and Jordan. Voltage Control hosts Facilitation Lab HQ, and there are other meetups around the globe hosted by Facilitation Lab regional leads. See the region list for a full 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 effectively 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
Jordan Bowman
Jordan Bowman is the Executive Director of Journeymen, a mentoring organization that cultivates independence, resilience, and emotional maturity in teenage boys. As a community builder, Jordan designs and facilitates experiences that inspire people to connect and collaborate. Through games and creative frameworks, he engages groups in unlocking their collective wisdom together.
Shannon Varcoe
Shannon Varcoe is Co-Founder of The Team Together, where she specializes in creating engaging, hands-on experiences that help teams connect and work better together. With a background in toy and game design, engineering, and program development, Shannon brings a unique perspective to facilitation, blending structure with play. She is passionate about designing activities and tools that make collaboration more dynamic, inclusive, and effective, empowering teams to navigate challenges while enjoying their time together. Shannon is also known for her beautiful slide decks and custom designed MURAL and Miro boards.
Annie Hodges Grace
Annie Hodges Grace is Co-Founder of The Team Together, where she designs thoughtful, human-centered experiences that help teams feel connected and inspired. With a Master’s in Organizational Development & Leadership, Annie has a real magic for reading the energy of a group and creating spaces where trust and collaboration come naturally. She loves supporting teams in uncovering what conversations they need to have and how they can keep growing long after the session ends.
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.
The Team Together
The Team Together is a facilitation and experience design consultancy that specializes in custom meetings, offsites, and retreats designed around each team’s unique needs. We also create engaging training workshops that focus on key leadership and team skills for the future. Whether in-person, virtual, or hybrid, we focus on delivering relevant, actionable, and impactful experiences that help teams connect and work better together.
Jbowman.org
Experience design & group facilitation for groups and teams of all sizes. Keynote speaking for events and conferences. Individualized coaching for social entrepreneurs.
What People are Saying
"The community’s warmth and generosity in tending to me and the issue made me feel cared for and supported. Beyond the suggestions, which were immediately useful, the culture of the community makes leaning into that growth edge easier, and more delightful."
Katrina Mitchell
Senior Technical Advisor, JHPiego
“I just wanted to say thanks for the great session last night. Your feedback and suggestions were fantastic. I left very energized!"
Dan Corbin
Instructor at Pragmatic Institute
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.
