I recently returned from the Exploring Innovation Conference in Community Development 2009 Conference in St Louis (www.exploringinnovation.org) sponsored by the Federal Reserve Bank of St Louis. I was engaged by the conference organizers to help design a conference that demonstrates creativity and best practices and this community building event exceeded my expectations.
The design was shaped by a couple of key objectives:
- To create an ongoing dialogue where input from conference participants shapes the conference content
- To facilitate learning for conference participants through a variety of methods that accommodate diverse learning styles
- To serve as a catalyst for future dialogues around topics of significant importance to community development
These objectives required a design that promotes creative thinking, interaction and community building in a large group conference setting. I’ve written a case study describing the methods and collaborative tools we used. I invite you to read the in-depth report on the conference design and download facilitation method sheets.
