30 Years of Herding Cats: Tales from the Flipchart - April 14 Viv McWaters

 

30 Years of Herding Cats: Tales from the Flipchart SFN zoom session |  Monday 14 April at 5.30pm (Sydney time) with the vibrant Viv McWaters

14 April at 5:30pm Sydney time (join earlier to test your AV equipment and chat with colleagues)   Zoom Session Click above or go to: https://zoom.uts.edu.au/j/85880392707 Explore the power of words and laughter, spontaneity and play (aka poetry, comedy, improvisation, and games). Join Viv as she shares some of the key moments in her 30+ year career as a facilitator and how they have shaped her Creative Facilitation practice. Through stories both hilarious and profound, discover why working with artists and contrarians has been crucial to her journey, and how embracing absurdity led her to try things she never thought possible—like stand-up comedy. You'll discover the liberating philosophy of beginning before you're ready, the joy of making stuff, the art of connecting people, and the wisdom of letting the group do the work.  About Viv McWaters Viv McWaters is a facilitator, trainer and bird watcher based in Bells Beach, Australia. She mixes science, arts, and a dash of improvisation to transform mundane meetings into dynamic experiences. Viv is at her most inspired when teetering on the edge of the unfamiliar, constantly discovering new ways to engage, connect, and surprise. Or when searching for street art.

Simulation Done Well - Engaging with Fun for Learning - March 10 Elyssebeth Leigh

 

Simulation Done Well - Engaging with Fun for Learning SFN zoom session |  Monday 10 March at 5.30pm (Sydney time) with Dr. Elyssebeth Leigh

10 March at 5:30pm Sydney time (join earlier to test your AV equipment and chat with colleagues)   Zoom Session Click above or go to: https://zoom.uts.edu.au/j/85880392707 Using deceptively simple activities, join Elyssebeth next Monday in exploring the key features of simulation as a powerful learning tool. How do you uncover a client's needs? Play the Bouquet Game and reveal their priorities! Why do you see things the way you do? Play the Circle Game to explore alternative perceptions of what is possible! What do you need to know about others to work well with them? Play a 'Who am I' Game and discover something about yourself and others! Join these original activities and discover the structure, components and methods for creating engaging learning environments. Stick till the end for a review of what makes a good simulation and how to be an effective simulation facilitator. About Dr. Elyssebeth Leigh Dr. Elyssebeth Leigh is a distinguished educator and leader in experiential and simulation-based learning. With over 40 years of experience, she has dedicated her career to creating and managing simulations that replicate real-world conditions, enabling learners to practice and refine their skills. Her recent work includes co-authoring "Facilitating Simulations" with Dr. Laurie Levesque, published in 2024. Dr. Leigh has served on the boards of the International Simulation and Gaming Association (ISAGA) and Simulation Australasia, including a four-year tenure as General Secretary of ISAGA. In recognition of her lifetime contributions to simulation in Australia, she received the Ray Page Award. Her extensive research and publications emphasize the skills required for effective facilitation of simulations, bridging the gap between theoretical knowledge and practical application in educational settings.

The Plentitude of Play or Nonsense to Newsense - February 10 Johanna de Ruyter

 

The Plentitude of Play or Nonsense to Newsense SFN zoom session |  Monday 10 February at 5.30pm (Sydney time) with the joyful Johanna de Ruyter

10 February at 5:30pm Sydney time (join earlier to test your AV equipment and chat with colleagues)   Zoom Session Click above or go to: https://zoom.uts.edu.au/j/85880392707 Play isn't just frivolous fun, and it's never just nonsense. It can be  a delightful tool for problem-solving and generating fresh ideas, for energising groups, for releasing tension, for shifting perspectives on issues. Nonsense to newsense is another way into sense-making that invites us to awaken our ability to listen in different ways and to engage other senses to make sense. In a world that often prioritises logic and structure, we forget that some of the most groundbreaking ideas stem from moments of pure, unfiltered play. This session is an invitation to step outside the ordinary, the rational and the logical and embrace the whimsical, the unconventional and dance with invitations that may seem nonsensical at first glance but could hold seeds of insight if we allow ourselves to play! About Johanna De Ruyter Johanna de Ruyter is a theatre practitioner with 40 years of passion and practice in improvisation, at the core of which is playfulness. She has been a Facilitator and Coach working with a range of organisations to translate and incorporate theatre principles and practices into cultural and communication development. Some of the companies she has worked with are Playback Theatre Sydney, The Ariel Group and Wicked Elephants Coop.

End of Year Celebration - Botany View Hotel, Newtown: 9 December 6pm

 

End of Year Celebration Monday 9 December at 6pm | Botany View Hotel Newtown

9 December at 6pm at Botany View Hotel in Newtown  597 King St, Newtown

Come and gather for our end of year celebration at the Botany View Hotel in Newtown! Let's gather to reflect on the year and meet each other in person. 

Bring a plate of food to share!  (The pub kitchen is closed that night, but they are letting us do our own thing).

After a year of mostly zoom meetings, it will be nice to catch up in person. So if you are in or near Sydney come along (Apologies to our interstate and international participants).

Depending on what the venue allows, we might try and do some wildcard facilitations. 

So if you've got a short activity you'd like to showcase or test out, come and do it. If we cant make it work, we shall just eat and chat. 

The Suited Monk: How to be Successful Without Meditation November 11

 

The Suited Monk: How to be Successful Without Meditation  Monday 11 November at 5pm | UTS Startups @ Central with Raf Adams

11 November at 5pm at UTS Startups @ Central  3 Broadway, Ultimo NSW 2007   The Suit is your external self, your success, your achievements, your job title, and how you project yourself to the world. The Monk is your internal self, your purpose, your values, your intuition and how confident you feel within. Most people (leaders) ONLY focus on their Suit in their career and disconnect from their Monk. So they create a gap within themselves between what they focus on and what they really want in life. This gap causes anxiety, stress and a lack of fulfilment in life and work. During our presentation you will learn how the gap is created in your life and 3 practical strategies to bridge this gap so you can live with more fulfillment aligned with career success. About Raf Adams Hi, I’m Raf Adams from Belgium, author, founder of The Suited Monk Philosophy, and executive coach. I lived 12+ years in China and Hong Kong, I lived in Spain for 6 years, and now reside in Sydney, Australia.  My career began in corporate shipping and logistics. In 2008 in China, I shifted my focus to helping leaders discover their 'Why' and pursue purpose and fulfilment.  That’s when The Suited Monk books, models and methodology was born. Over the past 15 years, The Suited Monk has been integrated in companies such as Philips, Carrefour, Henkel, BP, BASF, Bayer, GAP, IHG, Barco, Mead Johnson, Disney, NTT Data and more. My books have been translated in Spanish, English and Chinese. You can read more at www.suitedmonk.com  I look forward to seeing you for an engaging session. https://www.linkedin.com/in/rafadams/

Change for October 14 - Balancing Reciprosity and Connection

Balancing reciprocity with connection

SFN Zoom session | Monday 14 October at 5.30pm (Sydney time)

Apologies on behalf of Johanna de Ruyter who couldn't present tonight due to unforeseen circumstances. Johanna's session will be rescheduled soon. 

Zoom Session
Click above or go to:

https://zoom.uts.edu.au/j/85880392707

 A wise friend once told me that the opposite of addiction isn’t sobriety; it’s connection.
Connection is a fundamental driver of our spirit and experiences, shaping the choices we make and the environments we engage with.
While this source of connection is abundant and rejuvenating, some of us may find ourselves overextending or experiencing burnout in certain situations.
Reciprocity offers a balance where connection can thrive sustainably. In this session, we’ll explore the concepts of reciprocity, giving, and receiving, as well as what it truly means to be connected. We’ll also examine how, despite the countless forms of connection available today, we often struggle to harness their full potential for the betterment of our planet and humanity.   

About Vanessa Song

Vanessa (Ness) Song is a creator of ecosystems, community, and multi-modality creative expression. She works as a freelance creator; applying her gifts and talents to empower those who wish to positively impact our planet. Her experiences working in systems development, high level executive roles in Federal and State politics as well as National organising directives in the Union movement have lent themselves into the culmination of her work today.                                            

She is a founding member of the youth organisation, YEmpower, a community geared towards the empowerment of young people. Currently undergoing development and transformation to encompass a broader understanding of community, connection, expression and creativity. Vanessa is a passionate deep ecologist, with a fire and deep drive for advocacy and the protection of our Earth and it’s systems. This ethos deeply guides all the work she undertakes.  

A lifelong learner of life, she is currently studying Traditional Chinese Medicine, a practice that guides her deeper into her unfaltering love and respect for our Earth and it’s natural remedies and medicines.

     You can find more of her work on instagram @create_with_ness

Vitalise your Ecosystems with Stories October 14

 

Vitalise your Ecosystems with Stories   SFN Zoom session |  Monday 14 October at 5.30pm (Sydney time) with the joyful Johanna de Ruyter

14 October at 5:30pm Sydney time (join earlier to test your AV equipment and chat with colleagues)   Zoom Session Click above or go to: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84780714052 You are invited to come together as part of the SFN network and metaphorically gather around a fireplace of stories. Using the power of storytelling and story listening, the intention of this session is to both strengthen our relationships and offer insight. It is through stories that we can speak in the languages of complexity and connection. These languages are the principal threads we often follow as facilitators. Come to learn more about each other and our work as facilitators and to lean into the richness of storytelling and story listening as a method for inquiry. About Johanna De Ruyter Johanna worked as an improviser, facilitator and trainer at Playback Theatre Sydney for over 30 years. Playback Theatre is a dynamic communication forum that uses improvisation and personal storytelling to generate large group dialogue and connection. In addition, she facilitates Leadership Presence training programs including Storytelling for Business Communication throughout the Asia Pacific region. More recently she has focused on systems change and completed training with The Bateson Institute as a Warm Data lab host. Applying systems approach to change she and a group of facilitators have initiated a cooperative called Wicked Elephants, exploring how we connect, communicate and collaborate more effectively within the dynamics of wicked problems.