Author Archives: Michelle Laurie

About Michelle Laurie

I am a Canadian living in the West Kootenay region of British Columbia. I work in the area of knowledge management and communications. When not blogging, I spend my time in the mountains, wilderness and being active.

Should I Work For Free?

Shouting out to all the consultants in the world, have you been asked to work for free?  Do you sometimes ask others to work for free?  Personally, I spent many years volunteering in my community and internationally as well as … Continue reading

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5 days left for early bird special…

Are you looking for inspiration?  Want to get creative?  Would you like to learn how to engage the people you work with using visuals?  You can!!! I am co-hosting a Graphic Facilitation Workshop in Rossland, BC, July 18-20th with Nancy … Continue reading

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A quick harvest from Art of Hosting Water Dialogues

I recently experienced 2.5 days doing of joint training with The Art of Hosting and Waterlution called the Water Dialogues. The training was a combination of learning and experiencing. What do I mean? There were a few sessions dedicated to … Continue reading

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Participatory Facilitation Techniques

A few weeks ago I facilitated a 1.5 day meeting for young leaders on the topic of the Columbia River Treaty (CRT).  The CRT is an international agreement between Canada and the United States which governs how water is managed … Continue reading

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Sustainability: Rear View Mirror and Crystal Ball

Recently I had the pleasure of speaking on a panel at the 5th Building Sustainable Communities conference that reflected back on Rio (1992) and looked ahead to Rio+20 in terms of sustainability.  Given I am usually making presentations for others … Continue reading

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Open Space Technology for Effective Meetings

I am organizing two meetings in the next month that will use Open Space Technology.  For one it was purposeful and for the other it simply emerged as the best method to ensure the meeting meets the needs of participants. … Continue reading

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Climate Change 201 in the making

In 2010, with the help of creative colleagues (Ingrid Liepa and Zeb Hansell) I pulled together a short animation on climate change science for the Columbia Basin.  I was coordinating a three year project on helping local governments to adapt … Continue reading

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Workshop Alert – Rosviz is back!

I am excited to announce the 3rd annual graphic facilitation workshop (aka Rosviz!) in beautiful Rossland, BC, Canada, July 18-20th, 2012. You are invited to this experiential workshop which takes place almost entirely at the drawing surface! We’ll start the … Continue reading

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I support the protest….keep the Internet free and open

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Facilitation Resource Alert

Hello facilitators and non-facilitators! Where do you look for ideas, inspiration and validation when you want to design, host or facilitate a great meeting?  I have a set of people, books and weblinks that I often go to when I … Continue reading

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