Steve Denning, world expert on leadership, innovation, business narrative and organizational ttorytelling

 

 

ORGANIZATIONAL STORY WEEKEND APRIL 16-18, 2009

Planning for the annual weekend of organizational storytelling events in Washington DC is now under way.

These dates are now firm:

EVENING WORKSHOP AT THE SMITHSONIAN: Thursday April 16, 2009, 6.30 pm to 9 pm.
ALL-DAY SEMINAR AT THE SMITHSONIAN: Friday., April 17, 2009, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
ALL DAY WORKSHOPS AT THE 4H CENTER: Saturday, April 18, 2009, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

It is expected that the Thursday evening session in 2009 will be similar to the Thursday evening session in 2008

The Friday and Saturday events in April 2009 will focus on "the role of story and storytelling in generating high-performance teams, vibrant communities and organizations that are highly energized at the grass-roots level."

Feedback from previous years at the Smithsonian/GF weekend

In June 2008, a couple of us conducted a survey of participants of the Smithsonian/GF weekend, in preparation for next year's International Organizational Story Weekend (Smithsonian/Golden Fleece) on April 16-18, 2009,

In the survey, we asked people what they thought of the previous Smithsonian/GoldenFleece weekends and what suggestions they might have to make next year a truly exceptional event.

You can view the entire results of the survey here. 

Overall, you’ll see that the survey respondents are enthusiastic. 74% are either very likely or likely to recommend the survey to a friend. Most respondents find a lot to like about the weekend: see what they listed here.

Respondents are interested in many uses of story, beyond storytelling. You can see their interests listed here.

Most respondents like the topic we are proposing for next year, i.e. "the role of story and storytelling in generating high-performance teams, vibrant communities and organizations that are highly energized at the grass-roots level." Only eight respondents out 77 would have preferred something different, as listed here.

Nevertheless there is obviously room for improvement:

  • 28% are somewhat dissatisfied and are probably not going to recommend it to a friend.
  • in the suggestions for improvement, the "physical facilities", the "amount of interaction" and the "quality of the speakers" were among the things that figured. You can read all the suggestions here.

We'll continue to study the results of the survey and see whether we can't improve. Some things are easy to fix e.g. make sure that participants get copies of the presentations.  Other things are less easy, e.g. "change the Smithsonian auditorium".

Some things you can help with, e.g. get better speakers. We would love to get your suggestions. Send them to steve@stevedenning.com

Resources from the 2006 Smithsonian Weekend

If you would like to view or listen to some of hte resources from the 2006 Smithsonian/GF weekedn, go to: http://www.storyatwork.com#Smithsonian2008

 
Sign up here to get Steve Denning's newsletter about organizational storytelling
Email:

Steve Denning consults and gives workshops and keynote presentations on topics that include: leadership, innovation, organizational storytelling, business storytelling, springboard storytelling, knowledge management, branding, marketing, values, communication, communities of practice, business performance, collective intelligence, tacit knowledge, business collaboration, knowledge, learning, community, performance improvement, visionary leadership, social potential, institutional community building, and internal communications. You can contact Steve at steve@stevedenning.com

Copyright © 2000-2004 Stephen Denning Webmaster CR WEB CONSULTING