A funny cartoon brought to our attention by Jeffery Gosnell on the Ropes List.

Nicholas Hagemann over at NAU posted some observations regarding the "Backlash Against Teambuilding" article. Take a moment and check it out.

An interesting article exploring the negativity that can be associated with team building. I'll let you you form your own opinions.

I just added a new page to Facili(tutor)! The Facilitator's Toolkit is a page with skills that we as facilitators tend to use a lot. Things like group splits, quieting a group, etc.

We're building a list of schools and organizations that have programs that present and future facilitators can utilize for learning. If you know of any schools that offer degrees in relevant subjects. Or companies that provide training to the field, please post their information. Use the link below, it's quick and painless and environmentally friendly! (I've heard rumors it makes you cooler as well)

I updated the team building books page to prevent erroneous entries. Now you can get your facilitation book fix without the spam. Don't forget to add to the pool of books with your own entries.

Matthew Marcus on the Ropes List posted this video for us. It's a funny satire of team building.

Mr. Deity gives the definition of a facilitator about 10 seconds into this clip, I thought some of you might get a chuckle out of it. The video is an episode of Mr. Deity a series about heaven behind the scenes.

I'm looking for suggestions on grabbing a group's attention, quieting a noisy group, etc. Creative ways to bring them to a state where ears are open and eyes are on you. Send them to debriefme@facilitutor.com or post them in the comments here. I'll assemble a document to share them with the world. If I could on get them to listen....

Sent out the new newsletter last week!!! YAHOY! If you didn't get it use the box on the left side of our site to sign-up on the list. We don't sell your info, send you strange emails, or do voodoo of any sort. Just plain ole emailed newsletters. We fill them with updates, exciting information, and a little love.

Since NCCPS the site has been growing. I'm seeing a lot of new submissions. I've also gotten plenty of feedback. Keep it coming! Nicholas from NAU suggested a comment feature for the games/activities page. His wish is now a reality! Check it out when you have a chance. I added some of the games I picked up at NCCPS in the Stay & Play (thanks Chris Cavert & Rick Bosch), new articles, new books, and more.

Keep the submissions coming!

I'm off to bask in the glory that is collaboration. I'm looking to bring back facts, figures, games, activities, and more ways to have fun with groups. I'll post all the new information as I have it.

I'm traipsing around India for the next couple of months. If you like what you've seen on the site so far, please help by posting information. You can suggest sites, books, etc. Just go to the appropriate page.

If you're interested I'm keeping a seperate blog of my travels at http://www.thumbprintmedia.net/blog/blog.php.

I found myself getting frustrated with some of the groups I had coming through my COPE program this summer. I'm currently working as a COPE director for a boy scout camp in Maryland. The program is designed to build teamwork, leadership, etc through experiential challenges, problems, etc. You'll always have groups that are higher functioning than others. The danger in that is if you try and hold lower functioning groups to the same standard. I fell victim to that mindset in the last few weeks. I felt as though the groups had fallen short of the goals I set for them. The problem was that the goals were ones that "I" set. As a facilitator I had forgotten that the group should dictate the goal. I was feeling like a failure. It wasn't till I had adult leaders telling me how much there kids had grown that I realized I was out of perspective. It's an easy rut to fall into. Take a chance and step back to look and see who's measuring stick you're holding the group up to. The one that manifests itself as they tackle problems or the on you set.

I had the blessing to attend National Camp School last week as a COPE director trainee. I met phenomenal people, learned some great games, and got to play like a 12 year old again. At the end of it all I gathered all the games we played and typed them up to send to all the participants. I also spent some time reviewing some games books. Soon I noticed that some of the games we thought were brand new were not. Some of the playful souls that predate us in this field had been doing these games for years (and years). It reminded me that everything has a cycle. An old game is not a dead game. I would venture that you can take a game and shelve it for a while, but do not leave it to die. Remember them and pull them out after they've rested a while and you'll the fun is still there. The teaching opportunities still present themselves.

I have the articles page to build and the site will almost be complete! I'm really happy with the way that everything is shaping up. Though, I'm still open to suggestions. Let me know if you see something that needs fixing or an addition that might be helpful.

The "Profiles" and "Jobs" sections are now working. I'm in the final stretch before I go live with the site!

I'm working on the profiles section of the site. The debate raging in my head is whether to build an hours log for time spent on courses. Individuals could update their profile with each program they work. It would give them an online portfolio/resume in an industry that doesn't necessarily have a ratings, ranking, or set qualification system. Hours worked on programs or courses could be a good indicator of ability. It's obviously not foolproof but we'd be going from zero to something.

Now you can offer advice and insight to some of the scenarios that arise when you're facilitating. Hyper kids, shy participants, etc. Everyone has a different style of handling cohesion barriers. What's yours?

I completed the books and Activities features last night. In doing so, i think I see a few more tidbits of information that could be relevant. I'll have to evaluate each page and determine if I need to add anything to the database. I also added content to the "what is" page. It's all coming together.... wheeeeee....

The links page is now working! I poked and prodded till it blossomed into a lovely page. You can even suggest a link!!! I'll probably be able to have this site running within a couple of weeks.

This is a test isn't it?

I did some fancy typing and this post is for the express purpose of trying the date feature. If it stills none above this post then I am a dismal failure. yeay.

I am testing to see if the height of these causes odd expansion. With a couple it is no big deal, but when I get into bajillions... it may be too much. I think. No really, I do. I saw it in a magazine once and it seemed fun. So far I have not had any luck with it but I soon hope to be thinking about all sorts of things.