Meeting Facilitator
"Bob has been an excellent leader of our Board. He consistently comes up with creative approaches to how meetings will be organized and does a great job at facilitation so that everyone gets involved in a really productive, positive way. Our Board & Retreat Meetings have never been better."
Ted Krichels
General Manger, Penn State Public Broadcasting
Over the course of 25 years, I have organized, planned and lead literally hundreds of high level meetings, seminars and workshops. This work has included board of director meetings, annual shareholder meetings, board retreats, conferences, strategic planning sessions and new product development workshops. I have worked as meeting facilitator for many of these projects and through these experiences, I have developed a proven process that consistently results in successful meetings which exceed my clients’ expectations..
Proven Process
The first step to successful meetings is to truly understand the objectives of the leaders of the organization and the needs of all the participants. With this understanding, one can craft an approach that achieves the defined objectives and allows everyone to feel that they have contributed. The process I use includes the following steps:
Interview Organization Leaders
- Get to know the leaders and their organization
- Understand the key issues and help craft specific meeting objectives
Interview or Survey Select Group of Participants
- Understand the group’s view of the organization and the challenges they face
- Discuss what the leaders want to achieve and their objectives
Craft Meeting Objectives, Agenda & General Approach
- Meet with leaders, discuss survey results and craft final meeting objectives
- Get buy-in from the leadership group and finalize a specific logistical plan
Facilitate Meeting
- Get everyone involved, and do not get in the way of the participants
- Do something out of the ordinary; make the experience fun and meaningful
- Make sure objectives are achieved
Provide Final Report to Leadership
- Share specific observations and recommendations related to the meeting and moving forward
My role as a meeting facilitator is to first, and foremost, focus on the needs and well-being of the organization. My job is to help everyone achieve their goals and objectives and this never happens when a facilitator controls or dominates the meeting.
WPSU
I have been Chairman of WPSU’s twenty plus member Board of Representatives for the past four years and a member of the Executive Committee for the past seven years. My responsibilities include organizing and facilitating three meetings a year, and representing the interests of the station on a wide range of issues. In addition, I have planned, organized and lead two multi-day board retreats. Using the facilitation process, both retreats produced a strategic plan for the Board, and have guided activities for several years.
Intuitive Control Systems (ICS)
ICS, located in State College, PA, is a designer and manufacturer of intelligent traffic control systems. ICS equipment is being used by a wide range of government related organizations (police, fire, etc.) all over the world. In January of each year, the annual employee meeting/retreat is held off-site to review results from the previous year and to discuss plans for the next year. I have acted as the meeting facilitator for several of these meetings, using the facilitation process described above. These meetings provided clear direction to the company leaders and the entire staff
Other Projects /Clients Include:
- Organizer, Matson & Associates Strategic Planning Sessions
- Moderator, 2009 Nittany Lion Venture Capital Conference
- Organizer, Facilitator, Tucker Innovation Conferences
- Organizer, Facilitator, Ideas To Action Business Start-Up Conferences
- Organizer, Facilitator, Annual Shareholder Meetings Broadband Networks, Inc.