What If.. a group of 450 board, management, staff, volunteers and spouses from more than 20 countries and over 200 Not For Profit organisations around Asia Pacific came together for a 4 day conference?
What If.. the organisers wanted to help each delegate re-connect with the mission of their organisation, gain practical 'take-home' insights and tools and renew their personal inspiration?
And What If the theme was "What If", and the conference helped these people continue to alleviate poverty for millions of others through their work in Micro-Economic Development and spiritual transformation?
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FAST Meetings is no stranger to making large group conference programs work. However, this program was unique in its diversity of nationalities, languages, organisations and delegate needs.
The program structure was supported through the input of David Bussau, the convenver of the conference. David is an exceptional human being, and an inspiring leader.
His theme of "What If' encouraged us to develop processes that enabled people to look at provocative alternatives, appraise their organisations (and themselves) through honest eyes and be challenged to find new and different ways of viewing success.
The Biggest Lie exercise was an early catalyst and quickly helped people see areas of incongruence and inconsistency in their own lives, and in their organisational activities and priorities.
The power of the Conference Cafe' was demonstrated in a multi cultural environment, with the small group format enabling people to relate and share their stories and experiences at an intimate level.
A new methodology of Swarming was tested, and has since been developed further. Drawing on principles of chaos and comlexity theory, and building on work by Dave Snowdon, Greg Jenkins conceived a process that was used to help a large group of people identify their needs, and then share these while offering support to others in a fast moving and dynamic way.
The concluding dialogue of 300 people standing in a circle around the walls of the huge ballroom in Bangkok saw people share their commitments of renewal and refocus with powerful and moving insights.
As a result of this conference, this group will continue to alleviate poverty and make a difference in the lives of millions of others through continued health and vitality of their organisations.
"As I reflect on how well the Asia Forum went and how the people involved gave their very best in making the event a successful one, I am absolutely certain that it was worth the preparation you made.
I appreciate most of all how you saw to it that the What If sessions flowed smoothly and to ensure that the results were exactly what we expected. I know that the process helped people think about their organizations' future, and I'm glad that some participants were given the chance to redefine their roles in their mission field, no matter what that role may be. I appreciate how you used your creative talents in keeping people anticipating one enjoyable moment after another .... and how well you adjusted to changes in plans and your overall positive attitude--thank you, David and Greg! "
David Bussau, Founder, Opportunity International
To find out more about Micro-Economic Development organisations, contact the Wholistic Transformation Resource Centre.
To donate to a local MED organisation, contact Opportunity International.
To read David Bussau's inspiring book "Don't Look Back; The David Bussau Story", click on the book cover image. |
Conference Cafe' 
'Swarming' process 
'Topic Market Place'
Dialogue circle 
Greg Jenkins, David Bussau, David Pointon 