The Art and Science of Effective Convenings

The Art and Science of Effective Convenings
A Rockefeller Foundation Guidebook
THE ART AND SCIENCE OF EFFECTIVE CONVENINGS
Preface
Why convene
Convenings help organizations navigate the opportunities and challenges presented by an evolving external landscape.
Our problems are increasingly interdependent.

People, things, money, information, and ideas are rapidly moving across boundaries of all sorts, resulting in social and environmental problems that are interdependent and dynamic.
People are more connected than they ever have been.

Were all embedded in complex social webs. With the advent of digital tools for connecting and coordinating, leaders can find one another with increasing ease, see how their efforts fit within a broader framework of social action, and act in concert.
Yet, theres a growing tendency toward fragmentation.

At the same time as were being pulled closer together, people are overwhelmed by the never-ending information flows and are in search of filters that simplify and narrow what they take in. Similarly, in the midst of so many friends, its natural and easier to gravitate towards those with whom we share similar interests and worldviews. We run the risk of living in fragmented silos with those who are like us. It is well known among social change makers that isolated action will produce impact that is incremental at best. Funders are well-versed in the virtues of collaboration, shared learning, coordination and collective action. Yet the means to effectively bring people together and enable collective efforts often remains elusive.
In this context, the ability to conveneto bring people together and thereby inspire and align actionis a precious asset.
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Preface
Rockefellers rich convening legacy

As the importance of convenings increases, the Rockefeller Foundation can leverage its long tradition of bringing together visionary thinkers and problem-solvers. This guidebook provides resources to help staff and grantees build on the foundations rich legacy to increase the impact of future convenings.
LANDMARK ROCKEFELLER CONVENINGS
March 22-23, 1935: Convening on Social Security that led to funding for organizations supporting the newly-created program
October 1983: Convening on Child Survival that led to raising immunization rates from 20% to 80% by 1990
2007 and 2008: Impact Investing convenings, leading to the Global Impact Investing Network and the Global Impact Investing Ratings System
June 15-16, 1938: Convening on the interpretation of science to the public in Rye, NY
April 23-25, 1969: Creation of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research, which played a key role in starting the Green Revolution
September 1992: Creation of the Forum for African Women Educationalists March 7-11, 1994: Creation of the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative March 15, 1999: Summit at Bellagio that launched the GAVI Alliance, which averted over 5 million future deaths as of 2009
2005-2008: Unified New Orleans Plan convenings following Hurricane Katrina
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July 13-August 8, 2008: Making the eHealth Connection convening established partnerships to advance health systems in the Global South
table of contents
1
OVERVIEW
The guidebook: whats in it and how to use it What is a convening? A convening tragedy A convening triumph Convening dos and donts 6 7 8 9 10
(Continued)
5
21 22 23 24
Shaping the agenda

Six stages Process tools Framing questions Starting points
ASSESSING AND LEARNING FROM CONVENINGS

Designing a convening assessment Common indicators of convening impact 37 38
WORKSHEETS
Defining the purpose of a convening Assigning project roles Capturing convening design choices Traditional vs. co-creative convening design 52 53 54 55
TO CONVENE OR NOT TO CONVENE

What outcomes can benefit from convenings
Is convening the right tool for your work?
Understanding the issue and 25 creating a shared knowledge base

Creating a shared 26 knowledge base: pull content from the participants
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

When should I use a virtual convening space instead of meeting in person? How do I issue a compelling invitation? 40
Sample production worksheets

Agenda and content
56 57 58
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13
Curating the experience

General guidelines Choosing the setting
41
Engagement and communications Logistics
27 28
DESIGNING A CONVENING
The five components of convening design 15
4 PRODUCING A CONVENING
Sample production timeline Assembling a team
Typical project-length roles
How do grantmaker/grantee 42 dynamics affect the convening, in terms of those organizing the event and participants? What process tools can I use 43 to build the agenda?
APPENDIX
About the Effective Convenings Project
Background on the project Staff and experts consulted
30 31 32 33 35
60 61 62
Defining the purpose

Why its important How to do it
16 17 18 19
Typical short-term roles
When and how do I use graphic recording?
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Internal study findings

The practice of designing convenings at RF
Mapping stakeholders and engaging participants

Choosing the number of participants
Choosing a facilitator
General guidelines Ideal skills and competencies 34
How do I effectively manage 47 breakout groups? How do I use comms. and other tools to ensure follow-through? How do I engage people who are not in the room? How can convenings help create and develop formal networks? 48
Perceived structural barriers 63 to effective convenings at RF
Tips on logistics
Framing historical Rockefeller convenings 49 50 Glossary Resources: an annotated bibliography
64 66 67
Assessing group dynamics (Continued)
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CONTENTS
The guidebook: whats in it and how to use it What is a convening? A convening tragedy A convening triumph Convening dos and donts
Overview
Overview
The guidebook: whats in it and how to use it

WHAT YOULL FIND IN THE GUIDEBOOK
This document contains guidance on the craft of designing and delivering effective convenings. Its organized into building blocks that are intended to be internalized, experimented with, combined, and ultimately customized to fit the situation. The guidebook was created with Rockefeller-led convenings in mind but can also be used for providing guidance to grantees.
WHAT THE GUIDEBOOK IS NOT
This document is not a compendium of all the available material on convenings, much less a guide to the broader body of material on facilitation, meeting production, collaboration, innovation, multi-stakeholder negotiation, and conflict resolution. Instead, we refer you to external resources for taking a deeper dive. It is also not intended to be a step-by-step manual, since every convening must be a custom design. Instead, we offer questions and considerations to reflect on when designing and producing convenings, as well as starting points to get your effort underway.
TIPS ON NAVIGATING THROUGH THE GUIDEBOOK
Thinking about planning a convening? Look first at Section 2, To convene or not to convene, to determine whether convening makes sense given what youre trying to achieve and the resources you have to work with.
Already in the planning stages? Review Sections 3-5 for detailed considerations on designing a convening, what it takes to produce a convening, and how to assess its impact. Worksheets in Section 7 provide a shortcut to applying these best practices to any convening that you or your grantee may hold.
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Take a closer look at the detailed table of contents for quick access to tips, tricks and additional resources related to specific convening topics.
Overview
What is a convening?
The term convening is used in reference to meetings, conferences, workshops, symposia, and many others. In this guidebook the term refers to in-person gatherings of between 10 and 80 participants, that are at least a half-day in duration and usually a full day or longer. Specifically:
CONVENINGS ARE CONVENINGS ARE NOT
PRACTITIONER VOICES
I think of a convening as a kind of 21st-century community organizing.
Composed of diverse stakeholders who represent a range of perspectives (and organizations) For accomplishing a clear purpose (e.g., drive towards decision-making or alignment) and intended outcomes Designed to draw on all participants to generate insight and action beyond what any single actor could achieve on his or her own
Regular, internal meetings
Focused on administrative, processrelated topics Solely for delivering information or a single point of view (e.g., a media event)
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Overview
A convening tragedy
IMAGINE THIS
You get an invitation to a convening. The topic relates peripherally to your work, but its not clear what the goal is. Its sponsored by the Rockefeller Foundation, so you decide to go, figuring there must be some moneyor prestigeattached to it. Getting there is a mess, because the place is hard to find and youre given poor directions. When you finally arrive, youre pinned with a nametag by someone who looks bored and tells you to find a seat at a table, pointing you to a dark hotel ballroom with ugly carpeting. Your only way of identifying the other people in the room is by squinting at their 10-point-font name tags. Youre hungry, which is reasonable given the time of the day, but theres no food. The presentations start and drone on for what seems like hours. If you have any reactions to what youre seeing on the screennot likely, since youre mostly reading your BlackBerryyoure not given an opportunity to voice them.
PRACTITIONER VOICES
I was sent these incredibly complicated instructions about how to get a train to this village in the middle of bloody nowhere. The speaker would speak, the group would talk amongst themselves, and repeat. Speaker, talk, speaker, talk, speaker talk. It was terrible. It was an academic seminar posing as a convening. It had all of the accoutrement, but no sense of what we were working on together. And nothing creative happened in those two days! The facilitator lost the group early on because he wasnt demonstrating to them that they were the experts in the room and he wasnt. And once he lost them, he still kept pushing.
The only voices represented are those of the experts and a few squeaky wheels who mostly use the mike to grandstand. Real discussion does start a few times, but the facilitator squelches it in the name of time.
Youre given a mediocre dinner and you go to bed. After another day of the same, the convening ends having accomplished nothing meaningful for you, and you wonder what transpired in the sideroom meetings that were never acknowledged. The organizers leave you with no next steps, no action plan, just a Thanks for coming, well be in touch. You think to yourself: Never again.
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Overview
A convening triumph
NOW, IMAGINE THIS INSTEAD
You receive an invitation to come to a convening. Its an issue youre passionate about and it looks like youll able to make a real contribution.
PRACTITIONER VOICES
You accept the invitation and youre well oriented in advance towards what will be discussed, what the convening is trying to achieve, and the particular value that you bring. Youre excited by the people youre about to meet and connect with several of them beforehand.
Travel to the location is a pleasure. Logistics are smooth, and you even meet other participants during the journey, as if the universe wanted you to be there.
There were amazing people, excellent facilitation, superb ideas, unknown outcomes, a task that mattered , and expertise being tapped well. The location made a difference: if it had happened in a hotel ballroom in LA, it would not have been as good. We did a fishbowl with the funder, an educator, and a minister. We asked each to tell a story about when they broke through a logjam, and how it changed them. What they said was amazing, and you could hear a pin drop.
When you arrive at the site, it has natural beauty that gives it a magical feel. Its as if time stops. You feel full of energy, excited about the task and ready to dedicate your attention for the next few days.
The organizers greet you with genuine warmth and immediately introduce you to someone who shares your interests. You mingle with the crowd, and every person you meet has fascinating stories and information to share. Youre already thinking about keeping in touch with them.
The agenda is a spacious mix of structured and unstructured time. The latter is often more productive than the former, as you engage with others directly on the issues or take time to stroll and develop your own ideas.
The facilitator is conversant in the issues at hand and also skilled at group dynamics and process. She knows when to push and when to step back. The convening ends having achieved new alignment of perspectives, a shared goal, and clear next steps. With the support of a coordinator the group agrees to stay in touch and keep one another abreast of progress on commitments made. You leave inspired by the groups momentum and the sense of having begun something important.
These people, from neurotech and behavior change, had never met. There was real magic from them being together for two days with a good design.
It was pure open space entirely conversation. There were really interesting people, in the remarkable setting of the Peace Palace in the Hague.
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You think to yourself, What would it take to create such a powerful gathering again?
Overview
Convening dos and donts

These quick rules of thumb for creating powerful convenings, gathered from expert practitioners, are a preview of whats to come. The guidebook expands upon these and other best and worst convening practices in detail.
DO make the invitation personal DO choose a site that has charm and beauty, ideally far from work DO help the participants connect before starting the work DO balance structured work with open space and time for connection & reflection DO give the group leeway to explore areas of interest when they arise
DONT send generic invitations DONT pick a venue just for its convenient price and location DONT prioritize productivity over the need to first establish rapport DONT over-engineer the agenda
DONT steer conversation with a heavy hand just to keep to the schedule DONT use expert speakers as the only authoritative voices in the room
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DO draw on the participants for information, perspectives, and ideas
CONTENTS
What outcomes can benefit from convenings Is convening the right tool for your work?
To convene or not to convene
What outcomes can benefit from convenings

The diagram below outlines how convenings might contribute to various components of RF work: to influence, to develop foresight, to innovate, and to align and act. While any RF project might be designed around more than one of these purposes, its important to have a primary purpose driving the convening design. In addition to the primary purpose, every powerful convening should help the participants build networks and share learning.
Influence
PRIMARY PURPOSES
Develop foresight
Anticipate potential challenges and identify new opportunities for intervention, by collecting indicators of how the world is evolving today and diverse perspectives about the directions that it could take in the future.
Shape the public conversation and the attitudes of key stakeholders by bringing together important actors and thought leaders to discuss, improve, and customize new concepts for their context.
Innovate
Explore new approaches and enable creative disruption by reframing, reimagining, or recombining different elements and perspectives. Use these inputs to prototype transformational new processes or services and develop ideas for their adoption and scale.
Align and act

Mobilize stakeholders in different parts of a system to act in concert. Help build a shared understanding of the system and the problem, develop consensus around a common vision, align strategies around it, and support one another in the execution.
FUNDAMENTALS
Build networks
Engage a diverse group of participants, reflective of different facets of the problem. Help them connect with one another, build trusting relationships, and discover shared areas of commonality.
Share learning
Enable participants to exchange information, expertise, and points of view in a form that benefits their individual and collective practice.
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Is convening the right tool for your work?

Given a variety of options for advancing influence, innovation, foresight, and action (e.g., research/publication, media events, inidividual capacity building), and given that convening places significant demands on time and resources, its important to make informed decisions about when and how to bring people together. As a first step, review your theory of change. Ask whether convening is the best tool for what you're trying to achieve. Then, when strategic fit is clear, use the following set of considerations to determine if convening gathering a diverse group of stakeholders for an in-person gathering of at least a half dayis the best tool.
CONSIDERATIONS ALTERNATIVES
Can the purpose/opportunity be clearly articulated?
? ? ? ? ? ?
NO
When the purpose is not clear, focus first on deeper research and framing. Be careful not to develop a too-rigid point of view. Leave space for being informed by diverse perspectives in the future. When the issue is nascent, ill-defined and/or lacking critical mass, focus on mapping the system and connecting players with shared interests. If not, consider other modes of engagement that make it possible for key stakeholders to take part, such as short consultations, interviews, or convening virtually. Note: Stakeholder engagement is especially important for ALIGN and ACT. When the issue youre working on can just as easily be addressed by individual actors, focus on supporting capacity for individual action or 1-on-1 interactions. Note: Collective intelligence may be especially important for INNOVATION/FORESIGHT. If the work is better suited to shorter blocks of time (less than 2 hours), consider convening virtually and/or adding a short focused meeting to other events where key players are coming together. Note: Shorter events may work for INFLUENCE. If not, hold off until youve secured ample leadership capacity and design/production team members, and consider more time and cost effective alternatives for connecting the group e.g., conference calls, webinars, surveys, wikis, etc. If other entities are holding a related convening, explore partnerships. Note: Serving as primary convener may be especially important for INFLUENCE.
Is the issue ripe for making meaningful progress? Is there sufficient energy around the issue to tip to a new level of insight or action?
NO
Can the critical stakeholders be assembled?
NO
Does the purpose/opportunity call for collective intelligence?
NO
Is an extended block of time essential to doing the work?
NO
Do you have the necessary resources (time, people): 1) ample time to dedicate to the convening design and production process; 2) convening facilitation, design and production support?
NO
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Do you need to be the primary convener?
NO
CONTENTS
The five components of convening design Defining the purpose

Why its important How to do it

Assessing group dynamics Shaping the agenda

Six stages Process tools Framing questions Starting points
Understanding the issue and creating a shared knowledge base

Creating a shared knowledge base: pull content from the participants

General guidelines Choosing the setting
Designing a convening
The five components of convening design

Once you have confirmed that convening is the best way to meet your goal, there is no right way to design an experience. Every design challenge is unique and must be highly customized to context. However, most situations will require attention to the following components: Mapping Stakeholders & Engaging Participants
Identify the full range of stakeholders whose interests the work needs to address, including broader constituencies. Then use those interests to guide you to an appropriate number of invitees with the right mix of capabilities and perspectives. Use communications to extend your audience and engage the broader stakeholder community before and after the gathering.
RESOURCES
The Art of Convening. Craig and Patricia Neal, February 2011.

Guidance on how to attend to the overall emotional and psychological subtleties of the participants experience throughout the process.
Assessing Group Dynamics & Shaping the Agenda

Anticipate the different engagement styles, internal alignments, and points of division within the group. Then shape an agenda using process tools that will tap their best creative energy.
Defining the Purpose

Clarify the issue area and specific goals to achieve.
Curating the Experience

Create an experience for participants that leads to the outcomes you care about, both in the moment and after the gathering. Weave together the venue, participants, agenda components, and content, to build an integrated whole.
Understanding the Issue & Creating a Shared Knowledge Base

Help the group collect and share the information, perspectives, and history relevant to the topic. Design opportunities to share and respond, both ahead of time and in the room.
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Adapted from Designing Strategic Conversations by Chris Ertel and Lisa Solomon (forthcoming).
Designing a convening DEFINING THE PURPOSE

Why its important
The purpose of a convening is its north star that orients all design choices: the participants and setting you choose, the agenda you compose, and how you conduct follow-up and evaluation. Here are some illustrative examples of the difference it can make:
Influence AS THE PRIMARY PURPOSE:

PRIMARY PURPOSES
Develop foresight AS THE PRIMARY PURPOSE:

You might engage participants with a broad diversity of perspectives and expertise. You might dedicate substantial time in the agenda to exploring their views and constructing stories about the future. To allow for expansive thinking, you might choose a removed setting such as a retreat surrounded by natural beauty.
You might engage prestigious leaders as participants, and a broad set of stakeholders. Time in the agenda might be put aside for leaders and experts to share their point of view. You might invest heavily in knowledge creation ahead of time. To add significance, you might choose a setting with historic meaning.
Innovate AS THE PRIMARY PURPOSE:

You might engage a small number of particularly creativeminded participants from a range of disciplines. You might then design the agenda to provide substantial time for co-creation, so new ideas can emerge and take form. To prepare for that work, you might invest in building a shared understanding of the problem and the system that surrounds it.
Align and act AS THE PRIMARY PURPOSE:

You might choose participants whose actions have a material impact on the system, and who are willing to collaborate. You might invest in managing group dynamics so that everyone feels like they have a stake in the work being done, and build a strong foundation for collaboration by first developing a sense of community, then sharing knowledge about the nature of the problem.
FUNDAMENTALS
Build networks AS THE PRIMARY PURPOSE:

You might choose the participants from a group of people who will need to work together seamlessly in the future. You might then design the agenda principally around building community and sharing knowledge, with much of the dialogue shaped by the participants and a substantial portion left unstructured for peer-to-peer connection.
Share learning AS THE PRIMARY PURPOSE:

You might choose participants who are engaged in similar or related practical work and will be interested in learning from others. You might design the agenda as an open space, where participants propose their own topics and facilitate the discussion. And if the group is geographically dispersed, you might even hold the convening virtually, to make it easier to attend.
Designing a convening DEFINING THE PURPOSE

How to do it
Given the importance of a convenings purpose in all decisions related to its design, execution, and evaluation, how do you go about defining one?
QUESTIONS FOR CONSIDERATION STARTING POINTS
WORKSHEET See page 52 for a step-by-step guide to developing and expressing your convenings purpose.
Why do you want to bring people together? What can you and they achieve as a group that could not be achieved separately? How will you know it has been a successful convening? What does success look like? How clearly defined is the target output? What do you and the participants want to leave with?
Review the theory of change for the larger initiative(s) that the convening is part of. Identify the specific element(s) that this convening should advance, and any other efforts within the initiative that it could connect with. Review the six typical convening purposes from Section 2 and consider which could help you advance those element(s): build networks, share learning, influence, develop foresight, innovate, and align and act. Choose a primary purpose this convening should achieve and any secondary purposes. Consider how each one will be reached over the course of the event. Consider the outputs (whether tangible or intangible) that will be created by the end of the event. Consider the additional indicators that you will be able to use for demonstrating success during and immediately after the event, 2-3 months afterwards, and six months or more later. (See Section 5 for a list of common indicators.) As you work through the other aspects of the convening, return frequently to the stated purpose and consider whether your design choices continue to serve itor whether it should be adjusted based on new information.
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MAPPING STAKEHOLDERS & ENGAGING PARTICIPANTS

In designing a co-creative event, it is critical to deeply understand the interests of key stakeholders. Develop an intentional approach around who to engage and how to engage them before, during and after the convening:
QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER STARTING POINTS
PRACTITIONER VOICES
People actually do want to help other people think and achieve things. They want to contribute.
The participants must be invested in creating ideas that didnt exist before the gathering.
Who are your stakeholders, both narrowly and broadly speaking? What interests and perspectives should be reflected at the convening? Who should be invited?
Pick the size of the group based on the type of work they need to do. (See the following page for guidelines.) Choose people because they have an interest, expertise, or passion in the topic youre discussing, not because of their title or organization.
What mix of characteristics will make for a productive group?

What level of participation will be required to reach the goal? What size of group will enable it? How might you engage them (e.g., give input on the design, play a leadership role at the convening, help shape or act on next steps coming out of the gathering)? What avenues of communication and styles of engagement will be most effective?
Engage diverse constituencies (e.g., nationality, profession, org. type, or field) and perspectives (e.g., political stance, upbringing, training, or worldview) appropriate for the work.
Seek participants who have something valuable to offer, curious to learn new information, are committed to creating new ideas, and are capable of engaging in dialogue with minimal ego. Compose a group of people who will be excited to meet each other and who will collaborate well. Include some voices that are out of the ordinary. Develop an understanding of tensions in the group (such as areas of disagreement or power differentials) and shape a convening that acknowledges and embraces them rather than acts as if they arent present.
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MAPPING STAKEHOLDERS & ENGAGING PARTICIPANTS

While there are no hard and fast rules, here are some rough guidelines for assembling a group thats a good size for your objective:
SMALL
TEENS TO LOW TWENTIES
MEDIUM
LOW THIRTIES TO HIGH FORTIES
LARGE
SIXTY TO EIGHTY
The largest ideal size for intimate dialogue among the participants to build trust and achieve breakthroughs in how they relate.
The largest ideal size for generative ideation where the participants all have the chance to build on one anothers concepts.
Note: this is a good size for many INNOVATION convenings.
The largest size at which there can be meaningful exchange in plenary, the group can contribute to a shared task, and most participants will have a chance to meet one another. Note: this is a good size for many INFLUENCE convenings.
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Assessing group dynamics

QUESTIONS FOR CONSIDERATION STARTING POINTS
ASSESSING GROUP DYNAMICS & SHAPING THE AGENDA
Is the group a groupi.e., do participants know one another and see themselves as working toward shared objectives?
PRACTITIONER VOICES
Research the diverse learning styles and personalities of your audience, and design accordingly.
Power dynamics are incredibly important. The challenging meetings that I consider to have went well all involved fruitfully handling power differences.
Where are the points of commonality, divergence, and tension? How critical is community building to the convening purpose and objectives?
Embrace this diversity. These different modes of learning and interaction are all important for group productivity. (See cartoon below.)
Provide time for individual reflection, group work, use of visuals, and other learning tools. In our experience, most groups are made up of the archetypes below; they all can and will make important contributions if your process is designed well.
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Illustration 1996 Global Business Network
Shaping the agenda

Six stages
Most well-designed gatherings follow patterns of convergent and divergent thinking and activity. Here weve identified six common stages, each of which may have varying degrees of importance depending on the convenings purpose:
PRACTITIONER VOICES
A really great convening makes the participants the heroes. A lot of people think that if they get a great group together, they have to have an amazing speaker to inspire them. Id rather draw the amazingness out of them. Theres a metaphorical campfire at every convening: the source of warmth. You want to make sure you create that campfire at the beginning and return there regularly.
DIVERGENCE
Give participants the space to spell out their perspectives, identify the similarities and differences among them. Also, create opportunity to brainstorm expansively about the topic at hand.
CONVERGENCE
Prioritize and refine what has been created and note areas of remaining divergence. Build towards a shared overall understanding of the issue and develop specific options for action.
CONNECTION
Welcome the participants, give them the opportunity to connect with one another on a personal level, and help them establish a sense of group identity.
COMMITMENT
Refine and finalize the options, come to the appropriate degree of alignment and closure on the issue, define the next steps for the participants, and choose a method of staying accountable to those goals.
SHARED LANGUAGE
Orient the group to the substance of the conversation: the state of play, relevant history, important facts, and other shared understanding that is foundational to the work.
CO-CREATION
Using the shared language and divergent views as raw material, work together on one or more new outputs such as options, designs, prototypes, solutions, paths, plans, or principles.
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Shaping the agenda

Process tools
Each of the six stages of the agenda can be accomplished through the artful combination of one or more structured activities (process tools), chosen and customized to fit the purpose of the event. Here is a selection of tools to use in each stage, some of which fit in more than one:
PRACTITIONER VOICES
DIVERGENCE
Human spectogram Appreciative inquiry World Caf Facts and opinions Jigsaw Trade-show presentations Fishbowl Systems mapping Open space Breakout groups Rapid prototyping Scenario planning Brainstorming Roleplaying
CONVERGENCE
World Caf Systems mapping Roleplaying Brainstorming Three horizons Breakout groups Rapid prototyping
[A convening] is a dance between joining and differentiation. People can only have a joining experience for so long before they need to differentiate. And, for the group to keep doing its work, that differentiation can only happen for so long before there needs to be some joining.
CONNECTION
Structured go-around Group timeline Network-mapping Stand up, sit down Human spectogram Asset mapping Appreciative inquiry World Caf
COMMITMENT
Dynamic planning Individual writing The gradients of agreement Defining goals and milestones Systems mapping
SHARED LANGUAGE
Asset mapping Appreciative inquiry World Caf Facts and opinions Jigsaw Trade-show presentations Fishbowl Systems mapping
CO-CREATION
Breakout groups Rapid prototyping Scenario planning Dynamic planning Systems mapping Open space Jigsaw
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See the appendix (pages 43-5) for details on each tool
Shaping the agenda

Framing questions
There is no easy recipe for how to shape a powerful convening agenda since convenings are custom-designed to address a specific purpose, audience and issue. Start by deeply considering the framing questions below and the design principles on the next page.
PRACTITIONER VOICES
You want clarity of purpose, but also to empower the community to amend, adapt, and cocreate its own sense of purpose. If the purpose is introspection, one has to give people time for it. Ive heard it said that convenings should be a time for the soul to catch up to the body.
FRAMING QUESTIONS
What is the purpose of your convening and how might that impact how you shape the agenda? (E.g., if your purpose is innovation, there will be a focus on cocreation. If youre focused on action, ample time will need to be devoted to convergence and commitment.) Who are the participants? Do they know each other? How do they best learn and work together? What are their points of commonality and divergence? How much tension will be there be in the room? Who will be natural allies?
How familiar are people with the issue? If its deeply familiar, what will make this gathering fresh and exciting? What knowledge needs to be shared and developed over the course of the convening?
What overall experience do you want participants to have and how can the agenda help deliver that experience?
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Shaping the agenda

Starting points
KEEP PARTICIPANTS AT THE CENTER CREATE CONNECTIONS
PRACTITIONER VOICES
You have to pay attention to the fact that youre initiating people into a new belonging, and making that feel really good. Its fundamental to whether or not the magic will happen in the room. You need to give people the sense that they can give something of themselves and truly contribute. Without that youve missed an opportunity to tap into something fundamental in the human spirit.
Facilitate participant ownership of the convening. Plan for how each participant can make a meaningful contribution, and design-in chances for them to start contributing early including by providing input to the agenda. Serve multiple learning styles by mixing up the modes of interaction to include variation between textual and visual, analytical and emotional, creating and reflecting. Engage participants whole selves by breaking up work that is mental and analytical with activities that are and creative and intuitive such as storytelling, collage, or contemplation. Plan to improvise. Have a strong agenda and expect that it will need to be adjusted in real-time in order to meet the groups needs.
Create experiences that offer the opportunity for new relationships to be born. For example, think carefully about which people to seat together at dinner. When working on sensitive topics, invest extra time in establishing connection and trust among the participants, so that there is a safe container for the exchange of emotionally charged perspectives. Provide opportunities and information that enable participants to connect in advance of the convening.
ESTABLISH GROUND RULES
Discuss principles at the start for how the group wants to interact. Set norms with participants about when and when not to use cellular and internet connections over the course of the convening. Establish how the conversation will be captured and communicated beyond the room. That begins with an agreement of how participants will share what is said whether real-time, via social media, or afterwards. It should also include a discussion of any organized method of capturing and harvesting the insights.
PAY ATTENTION TO FLOW OF THE AGENDA
Balance structured and unstructured time. Leave plenty of time for one-on-one connection (e.g., meals and walks). Balance serious contribution with playfulness, fun and creativity. Remember the importance of beginnings, transitions (from one activity to the next) and closings.
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UNDERSTANDING THE ISSUE & CREATING A SHARED KNOWLEDGE BASE
Understanding the issue and creating a shared knowledge base

Productive collaboration requires the group to work from a shared foundation of information, perspectives, and history relevant to the topic. It is often worthwhile to spend time collecting, sharing, and responding to that content, both ahead of time and in the room.
QUESTIONS TO ASK STARTING POINTS
How does this discussion build on the history of effort to advance progress on the issue?
Interview knowledgeable participants beforehand and share their perspectives as a pre-read to help get the group up to speed. Engage in collective history-telling and landscape-mapping for the issue to give each participant the chance to have their point of view heard early in the session and surface any potential disagreements. Research and share background information on unresolved questions when the participants would not know the full picture themselves, or when there is not time to construct the picture collectively.
What knowledge of the topic is shared by the group, what is known only to some, and what is unknown or not fully clear to anyone?
What perspectives are generally accepted and where are the points of controversy? What additional knowledge might help provoke new insight?
Choose presenters for what they can contribute, and for their ability to stimulate conversation and advance understanding as fellow participants, not for their prominence or position.
Make sure all presentations are easy to follow. Encourage speakers to connect with the participants by sharing their personal experience, and to end their presentation with a question about something they dont yet know.
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Who are the best sources of information and perspectives? (The convener, the participants, additional experts, or a combination?)
Provide ample time to absorb any material you send ahead of time, but dont assume that anything other than the participant bios will be read by everyone. For non-native English speakers, it is especially helpful to include presentation material with the pre-reading.
UNDERSTANDING THE ISSUE & CREATING A SHARED KNOWLEDGE BASE
Creating a shared knowledge base: pull content from the participants

GENERAL APPROACH
RESOURCES Visual Teams: Graphic Tools for Commitment, Innovation, & High Performance. David Sibbet, 2011. Shares best practices in using visualization to provide teams with a common language.
The traditional use of content in a conference is described as a push model by David Sibbet in Visual Teams. He gives it that term because it puts the audience in the position of constantly receiving a pre-determined set of information, with the event ordered by the organizer and each sessions ideas ordered by the speaker. While this is often the best format for conveying ideas from one person to many, it also offers very limited opportunities for input and exchange, which creates resistance in participants and dampens their participation. He recommends balancing the typical push approach with pulling participation where the choices of what to discuss and the content of the conversation are drawn out of the participants. This gives the participants a series of clear and focused opportunities to add value to what the group was gathered to accomplish.
Source: Visual Teams by David Sibbet, page 8.
EXAMPLE: THE IMPACT SOURCING CONVENING
When the Rockefeller Foundation set out to accelerate the field of impact sourcing in Africa, it took the approach of working with Monitor Inclusive Markets to gather points of view from the fields leading actors and combine those with independent research to produce a whitepaper on the fields emergent form and direction. A typical push approach might have been to commission the researchers to collect information, publish a whitepaper, and then release it at an event where the leading actors were invited to hear it and ask questions. Instead, the leading actors were all invited to a convening where they were encouraged to comment on a draft of the research and provide specific input into the fields boundaries, direction, and potential for growth. The event served to weave tighter connections among the players, and the final whitepaper carried far greater weight for including their input.
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Designing a convening CURATE THE EXPERIENCE

General guidelines
All of the design and production work of a convening ultimately creates an experience for participants that helps them contribute to the outcomes you care about, both in the moment and after the gathering. Think of yourself as a curator weaving together the participants, agenda components, and content, to create an integrated whole.
PRACTITIONER VOICES
There should be a sense of excitement that were embarking on something that mattersfor our sector, our field, or our country. If Im developing an event, it doesnt have to be glitzy and glamorous and high production value. It has to be on-brand, whatever that brand is. At first we were focusing on logistics and plenary speakers, but as the years have gone by, weve gotten to focus on the smaller details, which weve discovered can be the most important part of a persons experience.
What type of experience do you want to create? Intimate? Groundbreaking? Concrete? What would you like to hear participants saying about the event? What type of experience will be a good fit with your purpose? For example, if your purpose is innovation, you may want a convening that feels disruptive. What might disruptive look like across all components of convening design and production? How might the Rockefeller Foundation brand be reflected in the convening experience?
Keep your desired experience top of mind at all times during the convening design and production process when engaging participants, crafting the agenda, framing the content, and managing the logistics. Account for how different participants may experience the event, including how the experience may shift over the duration of the convening. Anticipate and be ready to meet their needs. Design the event to reflect a personality: the groups, Rockefellers, or the issues. Make it memorable. Create new and unique experiences. Provide giveaways that will trigger participants memory of the convening in the future, and give them a reason to tell a story about it to others. Produce materials that reflect the purpose and intended feel of the gathering. For example, invest in high quality design, use as many visuals as possible, and make any printed content stand out (such as through unusual paper stock, size, binding, and bold color). Select a venue that will enable the type of experience you want to create.
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What spaces and activities can create such an experience?
Designing a convening CURATE THE EXPERIENCE

Choosing the setting
Location and surroundings of a convening have far more effect on the groups productivity than is commonly believed. Here is a checklist of qualities to consider seeking:
FREQUENTLY VALUABLE
SOMETIMES VALUABLE
ALWAYS VALUABLE
PRACTITIONER VOICES
Meetings at convention centers and hotels seem easier to plan and get to and but are literally more difficult to squeeze something good out of.
Natural light and access to outdoors

To provide physical and mental energy
Uniqueness that the group will appreciate

To help the experience stand out, in the moment and in recollection
Ease of travel, whether centrally located or remote

So participants have a smooth, non-stressful arrival and departure
Creating space that is physically and psychologically welcoming is hugely important to creating positive outcomes.
Dont underestimate the value of beauty, especially nature. Its not the fancy hotel that were at. Its that someone put flowers on the table that they brought from their garden.
Good acoustics
To promote sound projection so that everyone can be heard
Multiple rooms
For breakout groups or parallel sessions
Movable chairs and tables

For easy setting and resetting of the space, such as from a single circle to small groups
Off-site, and perhaps even far away

To separate participants from everyday concerns and allow for deep conversation
The opportunity for leisure, new experiences, and group outings nearby
For promoting connection within the group
Substantial open wall space

For graphic recording and working with flipcharts, where tape can be applied
Relevance to the purpose

Such as being in the home country of key participants, or the topics global hotspot
Multiple seating options (sofas, high chairs, caf tables, etc.)

To promote an informal and open group conversation
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Limited or no Internet connectivity

To promote particularly deep conversation & reflection
CONTENTS
Sample production timeline Assembling a team

Typical project-length roles Typical short-term roles
General guidelines
Ideal skills and competencies
Tips on logistics
Producing a convening
Sample production timeline

Producing a convening requires substantial advanced planning, and has to happen on a carefully managed timeline. If a grantee is the convener, additional lead time will naturally be needed for issuing an RFP and selecting a partner. Here is a rough timeline for a convening of ~80 people:
5 months 4 months 3 months 2 months 1 month EVENT
WORKSHEET
See page 56-58 for worksheets on each of the three workstreams.
12 to 9 months
6 months
AGENDA AND CONTENT

Assemble the team, find partners, and run RFP process (ideally at 12 mos.) Define the objectives (ideally at 12 mos.) Brainstorm design ideas Draft & circulate a high-level design Begin research for presentations & prereads Gather and respond to design input Continue research for presentations & pre-reads Refine the design Continue research for presentations & pre-reads Continue to refine the design Create first draft of presentations & prereads Iron out micro Create templates design (e.g., and supporting facilitation guidelines) materials Refine presentations Finalize & pre-reads presentations & pre-reads
ENGAGEMENT AND COMMUNICATIONS

Map stakeholders Interview core Issue second-wave Issue backup (ideally at 12 mos.) invitees (about their invites (including participant and interests, availability presenters) presenter invites (if Identify core invitees to participate and necessary) (including potential Identify backup others to engage) presenters if invitees & presenters Communicate needed) Issue core invites important info Request bios & regarding travel Identify second-wave special needs reservations invitees Request remaining bios & special needs Finalize bio-book design (if formal bio book is needed) Request remaining bios (if necessary) Produce bio book content Recruit participants to blog & tweet during or after the event Communicate important travel, logistical and prep information Initiate any shared online space where the participants can connect
LOGISTICS
Choose the date and location (ideally at 12 mos.) Contract with a local partner (if necessary) Issue RFP to hotels Process travel visas Choose venue (if not a hotel) Choose a hotel Research dinner and outing prospects Contract with a graphic designer Make dinner reservations Develop first draft of outing agenda Contract for A/V services Finalize outing agenda; begin arranging details Purchase air and Print complex paper ground transport products (e.g. bio book) Finalize outing details Work with venue on logistics, setup, and catering Print & ship simple paper products (signs, flipcharts, handouts, name tags) Assemble & ship table supplies
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Critical period when additional staffing will be needed
Assembling a team
Typical project-length roles
A convening team will often not require more than three or four members, but there are many distinct hats to wear in the process. A typical set of project-length roles includes:
WORKSHEET See page 53 for a worksheet on assigning these roles
DIRECTOR
PRODUCER
Conceptualize the intellectual program and agenda. Coordinate all aspects of content and design. Work directly with Producer to ensure production/logistical support for meeting design and to determine additional content/design staffing needs. Collaborate with the Communication Manager on pre- and post-meeting content deliverables.
Manage the budget, project production timeline, and on-site staff and logistics. Ensure that the meeting design fits with the available space and logistical support. Design for flawless logistics so that participants can focus their energy on the work at hand and feel well cared for. Manage all other production tasks (see Tips on logistics below).
COMMUNICATIONS MANAGER PROCESS FACILITATOR
Advise the Director in developing the meeting design. During the event, run the process as defined by the Director.
Communicate with participants before and after, skillfully integrating social media. Collaborate with Director to determine the best post-meeting content deliverables.
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If the meeting takes an unexpected turn, work with the group to improvise a productive new course.
Work with Producer on the editing and proofing of all deliverables.

Manage production of post-meeting deliverables.
Assembling a team
Typical short-term roles
A number of roles in creating a convening only require short-term or more episodic involvement. They are:
WORKSHEET See page 53 for a worksheet on assigning these roles
RESEARCHER
CONTENT & DESIGN CONSULTANTS
Support the Director with research and maintaining meeting design documentation. Identify potential participants and speakers. Develop the content and presentation material with the Producer and Communications Manager.
Advise the Director and Producer on elements of the content and event design, such as in the initial conceptualization of the event, event materials, and final deliverables.
LOCAL PRODUCTION PARTNER
PRODUCTION ASSISTANT
During the event, provide logistical support to the Producer as needed.

(Rule of thumb: have one producer or production assistant at the event for every 50 participants.)
Support the Producer by identifying, pricing, and arranging appropriate venues, vendors, transport, support staff, and other resources in the area where the convening is to be held.
(Helpful for planning an event that will be held in another country.)
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General guidelines
The convening facilitator plays a critical role in ensuring that the group can achieve its full potential. Below are a few guideposts to assist you in finding and choosing a facilitator.
FINDING A FACILITATOR
PRACTITIONER VOICES
A facilitator is at once the most humble and most confident person in the room. As a facilitator, difference, diversity, and conflict is my friend, not my enemy. Its from difference that the new thinking will emerge. Its from clashes that new power will be found. If youre just being polite and agreeable with everyone else, your opportunity for a breakthrough is much reduced.
Since youll need to have a high level of trust in the facilitator, youll be best served by recommendations from trusted colleagues, or by having seen the facilitator in action. There are directories of facilitators (listed on the left). If you choose to go this route, give yourself ample time to vet and get to know candidates. Keep in mind that there is no standard credentialing for facilitation: being included in a directory or not does not have any bearing on the persons skill level.
ENGAGING A FACILITATOR
Involve the facilitator as early as possible in helping engage participants and shape the agenda.
HOW TO DETERMINE A GOOD FIT*
Skills and competenciesdoes the facilitator have the skills and competencies critical for your situation? (See the list on the next page.) Values and characterdo you share agreement on what impact is desirable and how it should be achieved? Working styledo you have similar taste in the level of structure you bring to the task? Relationship chemistrydo you have smooth conversations and find it easy to make decisions? Timingis the facilitator available at the time and place that is required? Also, be sure to consider the extent to which the facilitator may perform some of the front-end work designing the convening and engaging participants. Costis the facilitators fee a match for your budget and sense of fair value?
RESOURCES The International Association of Facilitators directory of certified facilitators: http://bit.ly/vAeAob. Note: this and any other directory should be used as a last resort or a supplement to trusted recommendations.
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THE ART AND SCIENCE OF EFFECTIVE CONVENINGS * List adapted from The Change Handbook by Peggy Holman, Tom Devane, and Steven Cady, 2006. Page 38.
Ideal skills & competencies
A good facilitator should have many of the following skills and competencies:
Process experience and capabilities that specifically fit your convenings purpose. For example, experience with futures thinking tools may be important when your purpose is developing foresight. Emotionally centered, confident, and humble, to ensure they're accurately measuring and meeting the needs of the group. Credible as a result of being conversant in the language and issues central to the convening topic. Flexible enough to adjust during the convening. Puts the group first, especially in challenging moments. Neutral in engaging diverse perspectives on the topic; has excellent listening skills and wont push his/her own agenda. Balances control and emergence, and therefore able to facilitate focused dialogue and work while giving the group ample space to take the conversation where they want to. Attuned to participants diverse cultural outlooks and perspectives. Capable of probing gently to encourage full participation, draw out underlying beliefs and promote mutual understanding. A capable user of a wide range of process tools, both in the advance design and in the moment. Skilled at storytelling and real-time synthesis. Good at preparing the group for the upcoming stages of work so that they know what to expect.
PRACTITIONER VOICES
A facilitator should have a ferocious concentration on the quality of the human experience, on clarifying and aligning around the purpose, and making that as participative a process as it can be. Great facilitation pays attention to the whole being: spirit, soul, mind, and body. People have different emphases. No matter how much prep you do, and how much you think you know the group, groups react in unpredictable ways. A facilitator who can change everything on the fly, without making it seem chaotic and disorganized, has real skill.
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THE ART AND SCIENCE OF EFFECTIVE CONVENINGS * List adapted from The Change Handbook by Peggy Holman, Tom Devane, and Steven Cady, 2006. Page 38.
Tips on logistics
Skillfully producing a convening benefits from the judgment that comes with experience. Here are some guidelines offered from seasoned producers (and note that, as with effective convenings in general, executing on these tips takes time to do well):
Use a local partner: When producing a
convening abroad, its invaluable to work with a local event production company that is well connected with local vendors. Those that are medium-sized (staff size of approximately eight) are typically the best balance of being large enough to handle the work but small enough to treat it with care.
PRACTITIONER VOICES
Provide ample table supplies: Anticipate

the participants needs and support the agendas activities by providing ample table suppliespens, paper, sharpies, large stickies, voting dots, flipcharts, and easels. For a touch of playfulness, include fidget toys such as silly putty, slinkies, Legos, stress balls, or anything else that people can manipulate with their hands.
Make it easy for people to be there. Make it feel like the universe is aligned with them coming, at this time, to do this thing.
Shop around for the venue and accommodations: To get the best price on a
hotel, put out an RFP out to 3-5 venues, negotiate with them, and visit in person if possible. A professional meeting producer will often be more successful at securing the best value.
Check on connectivity: Establish how strong and reliable the Internet and cellular connections are at the site, and work with the Director to make sure that the design can work within those constraints. Make backup plans: Anticipate how to
handle any potentially disruptive outside forces, such as unusually bad traffic, weather, or shipping delays.
Discover participants needs: When you get a

positive response from an invitee, follow up with a request for not only their bio but also any relevant information about their particular needs, e.g., meal preferences, translators, and any other information that will be helpful for meeting their needs and/or integrating their experience into the agenda.
Site-related logistics: Make sure all the

participants have the information they need to travel to the location and find their way around.
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Provide good food: The basics are essential to productivitycoffee, tea, water, breakfast or lunch as appropriate, and snacks. Ideally, food should be available at all times, and should be chosen to be high-quality and healthy. Avoid swings in physical and mental energy by minimizing heavy main dishes, sugary snacks, and carbohydrates.
Assessing and learning from convenings
CONTENTS
Designing a convening assessment

Common indicators of convening impact
Assessing and learning from convenings PRACTITIONER VOICES
Designing a convening assessment

Rockefeller convenings are part of larger efforts to change complex systems. Assessing that work is challenging since causality is hard to assign and the time horizons required for change are long. Assessing the impact of an isolated convening within a broader systems change effort is a similarly difficult proposition. Here are some guidelines on how to track and reflect on what has worked:
STARTING-POINTS: DESIGNING AN ASSESSMENT STARTING-POINTS: SHORT-TERM FOLLOWUP
The one way I judge in the instant is body language. You read people. Things that produce deep and lasting change you wont be able to see quickly. Often people really overestimate whats possible in a convening! You need to dial back, be realistic, and get people to recognize that group process is slow.
Design the assessment plan at the start of the work, in tandem with defining the convening purpose and intended outputs
Identify where the convening fits within a broader theory of change and plan for action Assess multiple timesimmediately after a convening, 2-3 months after and 6+ months after o Emphasize learning, action, and lasting change over simply the transfer of information, since convenings often plant seeds for the future o Focus on meaningful contribution toward impact, rather than attribution Capture and share what is learned, adding to institutional learning about holding effective convenings, as well as programmatic learning
Survey the participants at or immediately after the event, and ask questions that dig into the quality of the experience and participants satisfaction with the investment of their time. Be as comprehensive as you can without overtaxing their attention span. If the event is part of a series, keep as many questions constant as possible for longitudinal comparison.
Debrief the process with all the organizers in a way that is open and honest, and capture detailed notes for how to improve the process in the future, for this specific group or for convening production in general. Follow up personally with the participants and any key stakeholders after enough time that they can start to see what value the convening produced for them, which is often at 2 to 3 months. A phone call is more likely to get a thoughtful response than an email.
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Assessing and learning from convenings
Common indicators of convening impact

Different aspects of a convenings impact can be measured at different intervals after the event. Every convening serves a different contextual purpose, so there can be no single standard, but the list below is a starting place for what indicators are often relevant. Prior to the convening, be sure to gather data on participant expectations what they say want to get out of the gathering and integrate into your indicators of impact.
CONVENING
PRACTITIONER VOICES
Our scenario work in East Africa seems to be behaving a bit like a wine, maturing with time. People will come back occasionally and say: You know, those things you said about 7 or 8 years ago, are now recognized in the common vocabulary. Be realistic about the goalposts: not every convening will achieve breakthrough results.
DURING & IMMEDIATELY AFTER
2-3 MONTHS
6+ MONTHS
Level of participant engagement Strength of community (e.g., new connections established; level of trust) Extent to which participants energized and motivated to act (e.g., commitment or demonstrated willingness to take part in follow-on activities) Level of knowledge extracted from what was developed during the convening Tangibility and usefulness outputs (e.g., a new prototype or protocol) and concreteness of next steps
Levels of ongoing communication and other information flow among participants (e.g., listserv activity) Level of knowledge applied that was developed during the convening Progress made on next steps articulated at convening Continued work on the outputs Extent to which participants initiate new projects or activities inspired by convening
Same as 2-3 months after, plus

Whether the convening is viewed as making an important contribution to: Shifts in the public discourse New tools or services being developed Stronger performance by organizations and groups working in the system Progress on desired fieldlevel outcomes
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Emergence of new collaborations among participants who connected at the convening
Note on timeframe: many of these indicators may not be visible until several years after the convening
CONTENTS
When should I use a virtual convening space instead of meeting in person? How do I issue a compelling invitation? How do grantmaker/grantee dynamics affect the convening, in terms of those organizing the event and participants? What process tools can I use to build the agenda? When and how do I use graphic recording? How do I effectively manage breakout groups? How do I use communications and other tools to ensure followthrough? How do I engage people who are not in the room? How can convenings help create and develop formal networks?
Frequently asked questions
Frequently asked questions PRACTITIONER VOICES
Virtual work is great for planning and transactional exchanges, and even designing an object. But if youre trying to build trust, I dont know how you get around being there [in person]. If theyre good, online communities can meaningfully connect people.
TOOLS
When should I use a virtual convening space instead of meeting in person?

Virtual meeting spaces are very flexible and are naturally suited for speeches, seminars, training courses, or meetings of far-flung teams and already-established networks. But while online gatherings may sound easier, they pose challenges to achieving that sense of community and high interactivity which give convenings their special feel. Here are some guidelines for how to use virtual space well:
CONDITIONS FOR CONVENING VIRTUALLY:
IF
VIRTUAL CONVENINGS VS. VIRTUAL COMMUNITIES:
The participants have at least moderate comfort with socializing online The participants all have sufficient connectivity for easy participation There are too many people to gather in person The urgency is high enough that organizing an in-person meeting would take too long
IF
A virtual convening is a one-time gathering for a specific purpose, whereas a virtual community is an ongoing meetingplace where a group can meet repeatedly and for a variety of purposes. One example of virtual convening would be for a group of 30 content experts to provide input into scenario planning through a time-bound conversation on a mailing list, with a strong facilitator to lead and structure the conversation. By contrast, an example of a virtual community is SocialEdge, a site hosted by Skoll Foundation where participants in the thousands converge to read and discuss content connected to a certain broad-based set of current affairs.
IF
Go2Meeting, Adobe Connect Pro, or FreeScreenSharing for webinar-style sharing of slides, video, and live demos during conference calls
MeetingWords for making realtime notes captured visible WikiSpaces for co-creation of content in a wiki format WordPress or Blogger for publishing blog posts and getting comments over time Google Groups or Yahoo! Groups for discussion over time using email Ning or the groups feature of Facebook or LinkedIn for discussion over time in the setting of a social network
IF
IF
There are participant availability issues, they lack resources, or there are some other hard constraints which prevent meeting in person
RECENT EXAMPLE: THE CASE FOUNDATIONS MILLENNIAL DONOR SUMMIT
When the Case Foundation wanted to highlight the latest trends in giving and engagement by the Millennial generation, it considered both in-person and virtual options for bringing together about 1,000 of its target audience of executives across sectors. Both formats would have served its goal of broadening the dialogue around the second annual Millennial Donor Survey, but Case felt it was especially important to involve individuals from a wide range of backgrounds and industries who might not have been able to participate otherwise. For the complete details on the lessons they learned, see:
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Your Virtual Seat Awaits: Key Takeaways from Planning and Executing a Virtual Convening, available at http://bit.ly/tQAZC9.
How do I issue a compelling invitation?

The first function of the invitation is to attract participants to come; for those who accept, it is also the beginning of their experience. Here are some general guidelines for making it effective:
GENERAL APPROACH: COMPOSITION: DELIVERY:
PRACTITIONER VOICES
The more personal the invitation, the better. People show up for people. One has to compellingly inspire participants to invest their time. The essential and oftenoverlooked quality to make an invitation effective is sincerity No matter what the form, an effective invitation is extended with genuine hospitality, generosity, and conviction.
Tailor the communication based on the cognitive and emotional impact you want to make on that individual, e.g., giving them hope for the outcome, giving a chance to make a difference, or giving them exposure to an elite group. To lay the groundwork for a collaborative atmosphere, ask people to come because of their background, capabilities, and interests as individualsnot because of their position or because they represent a particular organization.
Use language that is personal, direct, warm, and speaks to the person as an important relationship, whether existing or new. Make the convenings objective clear and position it as part of the larger objectives that it serves. Word the topic as one or more questions rather than general issues, topics, or problems, to suggest there will be something to develop and explore. Trust that people will want to contribute: emphasize not what the person will gain but what they have to offer to the work.
Convey the invitation through existing relationships wherever possible, since a personal appeal will be considerably more effective. Use a combination of inperson, phone, email and hard-copy invitations. One type can be used to follow up on the other. Give the invite an eyecatching design that connects to the topic and is part of the style for the rest of the materials.
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How do grantmaker/grantee dynamics affect the convening, in terms of those organizing the event and participants?
PRACTITIONER VOICES
[As a funder] you need to have a good balance of listening and contributing. You want to let leadership emerge by listening but need to talk enough to let people know where you stand. [Convening is about] creating safe space for people to tell their truth. When a foundation is sponsoring this space, the problem around safety and truth telling becomes harder to deal with because people want something from a foundation. They gauge what theyre saying to what the foundation thinks they want to hear.
How can you contribute to creating the environment for an authentic conversation? What role(s) will you play at the convening? Whats most appropriate role given the purpose of the convening? (E.g., emcee may be a good fit if your purpose is to influence, while participating as a peer may be well suited for convenings focused on stakeholder alignment and action.) How will you address and manage expectations around grantmaking associated with the convening?
Stay in touch with the conversation happening in the field and choose the topic of a convening based on listening to what the field needs. Find partners for designing and facilitating the convening who are seen by nonprofits as respected and neutral, and can skillfully help you play a productive role. At the opening of the convening, acknowledge your position as a funder and describe the role you intend to play in the convening. Be fully transparent about your and Rockefellers motivations, goals, and perspectives, while also working within the chosen role. Speak personally and authentically throughout the event, offering reflections from both the heart and the mind. Do not observe without participating. Participants need a view into your opinions. Be open about any grantmaking conversations that need to happen at the event by making a public announcement of when and how they will occur. Make time for them, but keep them separate from the rest of the convening.
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What process tools can I use to build the agenda? (1 of 3)

A wide range of process tools can be used to compose the agenda. Here is a selected list, each of which can be used in one or more phases of the event as shown in the diagrams on the right, with more detail available in the sources listed on the following line:
NAME PHASE(S) NAME PHASE(S)
RELATED POINTS Description of the six stages of the agenda: page 21
Structured go-around: participants take

turns sharing introductions (clockwise around a circle, tossing a beanbag, or popcorn-style).
Facilitator's Guide to Participatory Decision-Making. Sam Kaner et al., 2007. Pp. 101, 146-7. Connection
Human spectogram: describe two

opposing perspectives that form a spectrum, and ask participants to line up along it to show where they stand.
Human Spectogram. The Knowledge Sharing Toolkit. http://bit.ly/rFkmYM. Connection and divergence
Group timeline: participants place

themselves on a visual timeline of the groups previous work.
Visual Teams: Graphic Tools for Commitment, Innovation, and High Performance. David Sibbet, October 2011. Pp. 101-102. Connection
Asset mapping: participants from an

existing community build mutual understanding of one anothers capabilities and needs, to find ways to support one another.
Community Summits. The Change Handbook. Peggy Holman et al. (2006), pp. 365. For the original theory, see Building Communities from the Inside Out, by John Kretzmann and John McKnight.
Connection and shared language
Network-mapping: visually map the

relationship connections among the participants.
How Networked Nonprofits Visualize Their Networks. Beths Blog, January 25th 2011. http://www.bethkanter.org/network-mapping/. Connection
Appreciative inquiry: participants

interview each other about the strengths of the community or field.
The Change Handbook. Peggy Holman et al. (2006), pp. 73. Connection, shared language, and divergence
The World Caf: participants rotate Stand up, sit down: have the group
stand or sit to show a series of answers to questions about background. among small groups to discuss the topic, building on the previous conversation and sharing the results in plenary.
Connection
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Stand Up Sit Down. Teampedia. http://bit.ly/rHkUQf.
For a summary, see page 179 of The Change Handbook by Peggy Holman et al. in 2006. For the original book, see The World Caf by Juanita Brown and David Isaacs in 2005.
Connection, shared language, divergence, and convergence

Facts and opinions: create a separate

list of facts and opinions about the issue in order to get information on the table quickly.
Facilitator's Guide to Participatory DecisionMaking. Sam Kaner et al., 2007. Pp. 210. Shared language and divergence
Open Space: participants volunteer to

lead a discussion on a topic, the group defines the agenda collaboratively at the start, and then join the sessions they find most interesting.
Open Space Technology: A Users Guide. Harrison Owen, 2008. For a summary, see page 135 of The Change Handbook by Peggy Holman et al. in 2006.
Divergence and cocreation
Jigsaw: participants self-segregate into

groups to discuss key themes, then reform groups that contain at least one person from each interest group to report & reflect on their groups ideas.
Facilitator's Guide to Participatory DecisionMaking. Sam Kaner et al., 2007. Pp. 95, 113, 149.
Breakout groups: divide into small

Shared language, divergence, and cocreation
groups either to work on parts of a large task or to work in parallel on the same task.
Facilitator's Guide to Participatory Decision-Making. Sam Kaner et al., 2007. Pp. 104-5, 115, 164, 174, 178. Divergence, cocreation, and convergence
Trade-show presentations: the

participants split into several groups and rotate through multiple speakers.
Facilitator's Guide to Participatory Decision-Making. Sam Kaner et al., 2007. Pp. 95, 109. Shared language and divergence
Rapid prototyping: identify pain points,

generate potential solutions, and flesh them out into plans for a testable prototype.
The Monitor Institute innovation toolkit for philanthropy: http://bit.ly/w4Guww.
Fishbowl: a small group sits in a circle

and converses about the topic while the rest of the participants listen and join by sitting in an empty chair in the circle.
Facilitator's Guide to Participatory DecisionMaking. Sam Kaner et al., 2007. Pp. 95, 111, 149.
Divergence, cocreation, and convergence
Shared language and divergence
Scenario planning: participants

contribute a range of perspectives about how the issue could evolve in the future in unexpected ways and construct narratives of the divergent possibilities.
What If? The Art of Scenario Thinking for Nonprofits. By Diana Scearce, Katherine Fulton, and the Global Business Network Community. 2004. Available for download at: http://bit.ly/rDRiGz.
Systems mapping: gather insights on

the workings of a large social system, diagram them visually, and identify the key levers for creating change.
Video introduction to systems mapping, by Innate Strategies: http://bit.ly/sO25EF.
Divergence, cocreation, and convergence
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From shared language to commitment

Brainstorming: generate ideas by

speaking off the cuff and treating all ideas as valid, using flipcharts and post-its in various combinations.
Facilitator's Guide to Participatory Decision-Making. Sam Kaner et al., 2007. Pp. 98, 120-2, 154, 209, 214, 229.
Payoffs and risks: list these for each

proposal, then ask for new ideas that keep the payoffs while reducing risks.
Divergence and convergence
Facilitator's Guide to Participatory Decision-Making. Sam Kaner et al., 2007. Pp. 258.
Convergence
Dynamic Planning: participants from

multiple stakeholder groups provide input into a collaborative charrette that develops a variety of options and refines them into to one that is mutually agreeable.
Divergence and convergence
Roleplaying: some participants take on

the role of key outside stakeholders and either brainstorm or provide reactions in that role.
Facilitator's Guide to Participatory Decision-Making. Sam Kaner et al., 2007. Pp. 95, 110, 215.
The Change Handbook. Peggy Holman et al. (2006), pp. 300.
Co-creation, convergence, and commitment
Individual reflection on next steps:

participants work independently to list ideas, create a first draft of the output, or reflect on their personal next steps.
Facilitator's Guide to Participatory Decision-Making. Sam Kaner et al., 2007. Pp. 95, 106, 178, 219, 228. Commitment
Three Horizons: generate or evaluate

proposals under the headings of basic hygiene, new ideas for focused exploration, and novel experiments.
Enduring Ideas: The three horizons of growth. McKinsey Quarterly, December 2009. http://bit.ly/tMDmcT. Convergence
The gradients of agreement: give

participants a numerical scale for indicating their level of agreement and use it to measure support for each idea.
Facilitator's Guide to Participatory Decision-Making. Sam Kaner et al., 2007. Pp. 278. Commitment
Clarifying evaluation criteria:

participants rephrase the goals as criteria, e.g., turning Get two factions to work together into It appeals to both factions, then dot-vote on which to use.
Defining goals and milestones: place

the goal and 3-5 milestones on a long sheet of butcher paper, then break into groups to list the steps for each one.
Convergence Visual Teams: Graphic Tools for Commitment, Innovation, and High Performance. David Sibbet, October 2011. Pages 101-102. Commitment
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Facilitator's Guide to Participatory Decision-Making. Sam Kaner et al., 2007. Pp. 257.
When and how do I use graphic recording?

WHAT GRAPHIC RECORDING PROVIDES: WHAT GRAPHIC RECORDING REQUIRES: The following are necessities in order for graphic recording to provide high value:
RESOURCES Visual Teams: Graphic Tools for Commitment, Innovation, and High Performance. David Sibbet, October 2011. Instructions on the use of visual facilitation for teamwork, from the fields pioneer. The International Forum of Visual Practitioners: http://ifvp.org/. A global community of graphic recorders and other types of visual practitioners, including a directory for finding one nearby. The Back of the Napkin. Dan Roam, March 2008. How to think and problemsolve using simple sketches.
Graphic recording fuels and amplifies the participants engagement by:
Showing participants that their input was heard in real time
Helping participants recall what was said

Helping participants see patterns across the conversation Clarifying a set of options or any other conceptual content in real time
Place the recorder in the center of the action, typically at the front of the room on either side of the speaker/facilitator, in view of both the speaker/facilitator and the participants. Make sure the facilitator will engage with the graphic recorder in real-time to create value for the group, rather than leaving the recorder to work independently without any opportunities for input and feedback. Provide a 4x8 area of smooth wall space for the recorder to work, either on a wall of the room or a portable wall (e.g. a pair of easels and a 4x8 sheet of foamcore board). Give strong lighting to the recorders area (ideally natural light), especially if the room is dimmed to show slides. Ask the process facilitator to slow down any important conversations that are moving too fast to be recorded, and for critical points, to read back how it was captured. Choose a venue with space to hang the recordings afterwards, ideally where people can congregate around them at breaks. Ask the recorder to take high-resolution photos of the recordings afterwards and send you a cleaned-up set for you to share with the group as part of the follow-up.
Helping non-native English speakers to track what is being said

Helping participants convey the experience and content of the event to others
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Image from http://bit.ly/sBMOk2
How do I effectively manage breakout groups?

When working in breakout groups during a convening, it is important to give the groups clear instructions that they can use to self-facilitate, since the facilitator cannot work with every group at once. A common way to do this is with a large-format template a big piece of paper that groups can use as a shared worksheet for guiding the conversation.
STARTING POINTS EXAMPLE FLIPCHART TEMPLATE
Note: flipcharts can be hand-drawn, as in the case below, or created in PowerPoint and printed at a copy shop.
Break down the process into simple steps that the group can understand, discuss, and complete with minimal help. Be realistic about the amount of time it will require the group to complete each step. For work in small groups, consider two template sizes: a flipchart template (approximately 25x30 placed on a flipchart that is mounted on an easel) or a tabletop template (placed on the table and sized to fit). Larger templates on butcher paper can be useful for extended work or to capture a substantial output. These can be mounted on 4x8 foamcore boards, held up with a pair of easels, or taped to the wall if one is available. Size the font to be legible from the distance at which the template will be viewed, and leave space for large handwriting. High-resolution photos are an easy way to capture the content of a filled-out flipchart.
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How do I use communications and other tools to ensure follow-through?

Follow-through can take a number of different forms depending on the convenings purpose. For example, if the purpose is influence there will be more focus on spreading ideas from the gathering and broadening the conversation. If the purpose is action-oriented, make sure the infrastructure is in place to enable next steps. Potential activities include:
ENABLING ACTION MAINTAINING ENGAGEMENT BROADENING THE CONVERSATION
RELATED POINTS Worksheet on communicating with participants: page 57 How to broaden the conversation by engaging groups who are not in the room: page 49
How to build on a convening to create and develop formal networks: page 50

Further ideas on using virtual convening spaces and online communities: page 40 How to assess a convening: pages 37 and 38
Make small seed grants quickly available for developing ideas that emerged. Put dedicated resources in place for post-convening communication and coordination, such as part-time staff to steward an action plan and check up on participants progress against their commitments. If the convening concludes with a set of action-oriented goals, schedule a check-in after an appropriate period of time, to provide accountability and continued support. Engage convening participants in follow-on discussions of implementation and planning.
Follow up individually with particularly valuable participants to thank them and discuss whether they would be interested in other opportunities to engage with Rockefeller that fit their capabilities. Maintain a database of these individuals that is shared across the enterprise. If there is a specific conversation that at least a portion of the group would like to continue, a strong moderator can sustain it on an email list, bulletin board, or Facebook/LinkedIn group.
Identify already-scheduled gatherings related to the convening topic and introduce relevant ideas and actions from the convening into those conversations. Hold briefings for stakeholders who werent able to attend, such as through a webinar that communicates the events key ideas. Share ideas from the convening online and invite public comments, such as in a blog post.
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How do I engage people who are not in the room?

The harvest of material from the convening should tie closely to its purpose. What material being created is important for you, the participants, and any outside stakeholders or audiences? Consider these options:
REAL-TIME CAPTURE: Live-tweet memorable quotes; encourage the group to use a shared hashtag in their tweets. Live-blog the event narrative as it occurs. Recruit a team of volunteer bloggers among the participants to share their reflections in writing. Conduct and post impromptu video interviews (sometimes termed Flip chats) to capture reactions, learning, and other thoughts from participants. Live-stream parts or all of the event as audio or video.
RELATED POINTS How to engage participants: page 18 How to create and develop formal networks: page 50
Worksheet for communications with participants: page 57
REAL-TIME INPUT:
PARTICIPANTS
Take audience questions for speakers through online tools for real-time engagement such as WebEx, CoVision, Twitter, or PollEverywhere.
OUTSIDE AUDIENCES
POST-EVENT KNOWLEDGE SHARING & CONVERSATION: Invite participants to post photos using tag on Flickr or a page on Facebook. Share cleaned-up photos of any graphic recordings, ideally printed and in color. Share minutes of key discussions, augmented by the accompanying flipchart notes. Ask participants to share written reflections afterwards of the experience and what they took away. Record audio or video of key sessions to provide for download. Publish any tangible output of the work, whether that is a set of scenarios, innovation proposals, new directions for a field, policy goals, or other product of the groups effort.
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How can convenings help create and develop formal networks?

All convenings facilitate network building to some extent: they bring people together to do shared work and, in the process, strengthen social ties. Formal networksgroups with some shared identity working together over a period of time that extends beyond the convening are especially important if your goal is stakeholder alignment and action. Not all convenings need to build a sustainable formal network, but if that is the goal, convening is a critical tool for providing the shared spaces for connection and collaboration that healthy networks need.
THE NETWORK LIFECYCLE QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER
RESOURCES Catalyzing Networks for Social Change: A Funder's Guide. Monitor Institute and GEO, October 2011. Describes the work that funders are doing to catalyze networks and new opportunities for harnessing network potential, in which convenings play an integral part.
What point is the network at in its lifecycle? (See the model at left.) Convening is especially important during the knitting, organizing and growing the network phases. How can you use your communication before the convening, the design of the agenda, and your follow-up afterwards to advance the networks growth?
STARTING POINTS
Convenings are mobilizing events for networks, with bursts of network-wide activity leading up to and after the gatherings. Use the opportunity strategically in the context of the networks ongoing work together. Engage network participants in co-designing and coleading the convening. Convenings are an opportunity to build and distribute network leadership. Integrate the in-person shared space created by the convening with the networks shared online space.
Diagram adapted from the work of iScale, June Holley, and Valdis Krebs
RELATED POINTS How to map stakeholders and engage participants: page 18 How to ensure follow-through: page 48 Worksheet on communicating with participants: page 57
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Worksheets
CONTENTS
Defining the purpose of the convening Assigning project roles Capturing convening design choices Traditional vs. co-creative convening design Sample production worksheets
Agenda & content
Communications Logistics THE ART AND SCIENCE OF EFFECTIVE CONVENINGS
Worksheets WORKSHEET
Defining the purpose of the convening

Here is a step-by-step guide for the process of identifying and expressing a statement of purpose for the convening, which should be refined throughout the design process:
The principles for these steps can be found on page 17.
In the theory of change for the initiative that this convening is part of, what specific element(s) should this convening advance? What other efforts within the initiative should it connect with?
What is the primary (and secondary, if applicable) purpose of the convening, and how will it help achieve your overarching goals? Describe:
Describe the central outputs (whether tangible or intangible) that will be created by the end of the event:
What indicators will allow you to demonstrate success? (See section 5 for a starting list.)
BUILD NETWORKS
fill in if applicable
SHARE LEARNING
INFLUENCE
DEVELOP FORESIGHT
INNOVATE
ALIGN AND ACT

Worksheets
Assigning project roles

As described on pages 31 and 32, a convening team will typically require only 3-4 staff but may involve as many as 8 roles. Use this worksheet for matching those roles to specific people:
WORKSHEET This worksheet is an extension of pages 31 and 32, which describes the typical roles and each of their responsibilities.
Percent capacity reserved by month: Role:

DIRECTOR
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
(name)
PRODUCER
EVENT
(name)
PROCESS FACILITATOR
(name)
COMMUNICATIONS MANAGER
(name)
RESEARCHER
(name)
CONTENT & DESIGN CONSULTANTS
(name)
PRODUCTION ASSISTANT
(name)
LOCAL PRODUCTION PARTNER
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(name)
Worksheets
Capturing convening design choices

The template below can be used to work with a design team to organize a collaborative design conversation and capture the outputs. As you are brainstorming each phase of the gathering, push yourself to understand implications for design elements listed in the left-hand column.
DURING CONVENING
TIP Draw this grid on the wall during planning sessions, and capture the content in a spreadsheet so that the convening vision can be seen in one place as it evolves.
Commitment
Convergence
Pre-reading
Co-creation
Connection
Divergence
Follow-up
Invitation
Shared Language
WORKSHEET This worksheet is an extension of pages 21 to 24, which provide guidance on the principles and approaches to shaping the agenda.
Objective Desired participant experience Roles / responsibilities required Facilitation needs Inputs required Outputs intended Logistical needs Content capture and online interactivity
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DESIGN ELEMENTS
Worksheets
Traditional vs. co-creative convening design

Most convenings require an artful blending of traditional/more centrally controlled approaches to convening design and co-creative approaches. While the choice is not either/or, but both/and, push yourself to let go of some traditional approaches and try out co-creative approaches when it makes sense.
WORKSHEET This worksheet is an extension of pages 21 to 24, which provide guidance on the principles and approaches to shaping the agenda.
TRADITIONAL
APPROACH TO GATHERINGS
In a meeting with the design team, use the output to spark a conversation about the type of experience you want to curate:
CO-CREATIVE
APPROACH TO GATHERINGS
Convey insight Designed by a leader Instructional Delivered by a leader
Discover insight
Co-designed by participants Experiential Co-delivered by participants Have an open-ended outcome
Achieve a specific goal

Engage the mind alone Include homogeneous perspectives Use expert knowledge
Engage the mind, body, and heart

Include diverse perspectives
Use collective pattern recognition
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Worksheets
Sample production worksheet: agenda & content

4 months
AGENDA & CONTENT AGENDA & CONTENT
12 to 9 months
WORKSHEET This worksheet is an extension of page 30, which contains the complete list of production tasks for all three core workstreams: agenda and content, engagement and communications, and logistics.
Assemble the team, find partners, and run RFP process (ideally at 12 mos.) Define the objectives (ideally at 12 mos.) Brainstorm design ideas
Refine the design Continue research for presentations & pre-reads
3 months
6 months
Draft & circulate a highlevel design Begin research for presentations & pre-reads
5 months
Continue to refine the design Create first draft of presentations & pre-reads
2 months
Gather and respond to design input Continue research for presentations & pre-reads
Iron out micro design (e.g., facilitation guidelines) Refine presentations & prereads
1 month
Create templates and supporting materials Finalize presentations & pre-reads
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EVENT
Worksheets
Sample production worksheet: engagement and communications

12 to 9 months 4 months
ENGAGEMENT AND COMMUNICATIONS ENGAGEMENT AND COMMUNICATIONS
Map stakeholders (ideally at 12 mos.) Identify core invitees (including potential presenters if needed)
Issue backup participant and presenter invites (if necessary) Communicate important info regarding travel reservations Request remaining bios & special needs Finalize bio-book design (if formal bio book is needed) Request remaining bios (if necessary) Produce bio book content Recruit participants to blog & tweet during or after the event Communicate important travel, logistical and prep information Initiate any shared online space where the participants can connect
3 months
6 months
RELATED POINTS How to choose participants: page 18 How to issue a compelling invitation: page 41 How to engage people who are not in the room: page 49 How to ensure follow-through: page 48
Interview core invitees (about their interests, availability to participate 2 months and others to engage) Issue core invites Identify second-wave invitees
5 months
1 month
Issue second-wave invites (including presenters) Identify backup invitees & presenters
Request bios & special needs
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EVENT
Worksheets
Sample production worksheet: logistics

4 months
LOGISTICS LOGISTICS
12 to 9 months
Choose the date and location (ideally at 12 months) Contract with a local partner (if necessary) Issue RFP to hotels Process travel visas
Choose venue (if not a hotel) Choose a hotel Research dinner and outing prospects Contract with a graphic designer
Contract for A/V services Finalize outing agenda; begin arranging details Purchase air and ground transport Finalize outing details
3 months
6 months
2 months
Print complex paper products (e.g., bio book) Work with venue on logistics, setup, and catering
1 month
5 months
Make dinner reservations Develop first draft of outing agenda
Print & ship simple paper products (signs, flipcharts, handouts, name tags) Assemble & ship table supplies
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EVENT
CONTENTS

Background on the project Staff and experts consulted

The practice of designing convenings at RF Perceived structural barriers to effective convenings at RF
Framing historical Rockefeller convenings Glossary Resources: an annotated bibliography
Appendix
Appendix

Background on the project
This guidebook is the result of a study on the effective use of convenings conducted for the Rockefeller Foundation by Monitor Institute in the fall of 2011. Convening is a critical tool used by the Rockefeller Foundation to support its goals to achieve systems-wide social change. Over the past century, the Foundations convenings have contributed to important advancements in several areas, including health (GAVI), agriculture (the Green Revolution), public policy (social security), and disaster relief (New Orleans). In 2010, the Foundation held more than 60 convenings (DCE and grant-related), resulting in millions of dollars* spent. The number of convenings in 2011 has already surpassed 2010 figures. In light of the importance of convening in Foundation life, Rockefeller embarked on a multi-stage study to better understand what works well in the Foundation and what the needs are to implement effective convenings in the future. The first stage involved work conducted by an RF team in March 2011, that documented internal understandings of convening work and identified some external resources for sharpening convening practices. Building on that work, Monitor Institute was asked to help the Rockefeller Foundation better understand how to effectively engage and connect together leaders working on the issues the Foundation supports, and when to invest the time and money in meeting face-to-face. In support of these goals, Monitor Institute conducted internal interviews with Foundation staff and an external study with expert convening practitioners. Highlights of both can be found on the following pages.
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* The 60 convenings each had a budget in the approximate range of between $15,000 and $50,000, indicating that the total spent was between $900,000 and $3 million.
Appendix

Staff and experts consulted
EXTERNAL: SEASONED PRACTITIONERS INTERNAL: ROCKEFELLER STAFF
Lori Bartczak (Grantmakers for Effective Organizations) Sarah Borgman (Skoll Foundation) Courtney Bourns (Kendall Foundation) Juanita Brown (The World Caf) Donna Broughan (independent event producer) Carlin Carr (Intellecap) Lynn Carruthers (Global Business Network) Victor DAllant (Skoll Social Edge) Chris Ertel (Doblin Innovation) Aidan Eyakuze (Serengeti Advisors) Katherine Fulton (Monitor Institute) Claudia Horowitz (facilitator, The Stone House)
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Eamonn Kelly (Monitor Group) Mike Kubzansky (Monitor Inclusive Markets) Andy Maas (Teneo Strategy) Nancy Murphy (Global Business Network) Catherine OKeefe (Chatham House) Parker Palmer (Center for Courage and Renewal) Chris Riley (studioriley) Ritu Shroff (independent facilitator and consultant) David Sibbet (The Grove) Angelique Skoulas (independent facilitator and trainer) Jonathan Star (Global Business Network) Nancy White (author and facilitator) Andrew Zolli(creator of PopTech)
Karl Brown Antony Bugg-Levine
Hilary Castillo
Benjie De La Pena Ashvin Dayal Pam Foster Melvin Galloway
Brinda Ganguly
Rob Garris Jill Hannon Peter Helm Kippy Joseph Zia Khan Nancy McPherson Evan Michelson Michael Myers James Nyoro Cristina Rumbaitis Del Rio Ellen Taus Gary Toenniessen Eddie Torres
Appendix

The practice of designing convenings at RF
While theres a great deal of convening experience within the Foundation, there is no shared decision-making framework for when to hold convenings, no codified practice for how to do so effectively, nor is there an explicitly shared understanding of what it means to hold highimpact convenings. There is also a sense of variance in the quality of convenings on the whole, and across different aspects of convenings. Monitor Institute conducted an assessment exercise with a group of six RF staff (the "Convening Working Group") to elicit opinions about where the Foundation stands across a number of measures related to convening capacity. The outcomes of the exercise are consistent with the perspectives of our 20 RF staff interviewees. Overall, those who participated in the exercise felt that the Foundation does fairly well across these measures. They noted a particular need to focus on improving communications, convening execution, post-convening activity (follow-up and evaluation), network and stakeholder engagement, and attentiveness to culture and issue history.
SCALE
CONVENING PRACTICE
Poor Excellent
RF CURRENT STATE
CONVENING PRACTICE
RF CURRENT STATE
Building community/ networks Before a convening During a convening After a convening Selecting participants
Using communications/media Before a convening During a convening After a convening Engaging stakeholders
Choosing the right setting

Developing the agenda Creating (+) participant experience
Minding cultural differences

Paying attention to issue history Executing a convening Conducting follow-up Conducting evaluation
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Minding group dynamics Creating content
Appendix

Perceived structural barriers to effective convenings at RF
A number of barriers to excellent convening practice at the Foundation were surfaced through interviews with staff:
Some staff sense an expectation, among those outside the Foundation, that there will be money behind RF convenings: The structure of initiatives Search, Development, Execution means that there are many instances where RF will hold a convening but will not pursue a grantmaking initiative. This structure can be mismatched with some participants expectations. Program staff dont want to create false hopes participants may feel frustrated (and stop coming) if their expectations continue to be unmet over time. Even if program staff do want to put money behind a convening, to support follow-up activities, they feel that they dont have sufficient discretion to allocate money freely to a topic.
Some fear RF may not have a strong enough brand to continue attracting top-tier participants in the face of increasing noise of other global convenings such as Davos and CGI. VIPs may choose not to attend RF convenings in light of the other options present.
Program staff in RF are generalists who may not get invited to convenings that prioritize deep issue-area knowledge; rather, staff are more sought out for funder convenings. This dynamic diminishes staffs ability to participate in convenings substantively and supports false assumptions when they do participate.
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Appendix
Framing historical Rockefeller convenings

The Rockefeller Foundation has a rich legacy of convening that stretches back to its early history. Here are four examples of pivotal Rockefeller convenings and the goals they achieved:
CONFERENCE ON THE INTERPRETATION OF SCIENCE TO THE PUBLIC June 15th to 16th, 1938
EXAMPLE 1
BUILD COMMUNITY
SHARE LEARNING INFLUENCE DEVELOP FORESIGHT INNOVATE ALIGN ACTION
Context: The Rockefeller Foundation saw it as essential that the public understand the value of science to the
countrys many needs, and the arrival of radio and film presented new opportunities for shaping public opinion.
Approach: Rockefeller organized a two-day conference in Rye, NY to address the basic values of science, the
purpose of interpreting it to the public, and the best methods for doing so. From what was recorded, it is clear that the participants were prominent and came from many fields, with at least three Foundation staff present as facilitators to help the conversation operate at a high level and arrive at clear next steps.
Results: The group achieved agreement on the topics, which enabled them to draft an expression of that
shared perspective in a follow-up gathering the next year, as well as to poll sectors of the public on how they consumed mass media. These served to draw attention to the central considerations in interpreting science for the public, and had the positive side effects of (a) showing the connectedness of different scientific disciplines to many prominent actors within them and (b) modeling interdisciplinary approaches to problem-solving.
EXAMPLE 2
BUILD COMMUNITY
CREATION OF THE CONSULTATIVE GROUP ON INTERNATIONAL AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH (CGIAR) April 23rd to 25th, 1969
SHARE LEARNING
INFLUENCE DEVELOP FORESIGHT INNOVATE ALIGN ACTION
Context: Famine was threatening developing countries, with the traditional farming systems expected output
predicted to fall far short the needs of their rising populations within six years. Many observers believed the situation was dire and beyond the capacity of governments and existing institutions to remedy through food aid.
Approach: The Rockefeller Foundation believed that if foreign aid agencies became cognizant of the progress
being made in agricultural science that they could mobilize the resources from governments and other donor institutions to implement these new ideas. Rockefeller organized a short meeting of 16 aid agency leaders focused on agriculture, along with head officials from the Ford Foundation, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, USAID, and the World Bank. (The structure of the discussion is not known.)
Results: By the close, the aid leaders were convinced that agricultural methods informed by recent science
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would be sufficiently productive and profitable for farmers and that these new methods held greater promise for avoiding famine than direct donations. After two follow-up conferences, the participants established the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research, which founded four centers for spreading the scientifically-informed agricultural practices, ultimately forging a new chapter in the Green Revolution.
Appendix
Framing historical Rockefeller convenings

Continued
DEVELOPING THE UNIFIED NEW ORLEANS PLAN (UNOP) 2005 2008
EXAMPLE 3
BUILD COMMUNITY SHARE LEARNING INFLUENCE DEVELOP FORESIGHT INNOVATE ALIGN ACTION
Context: After Hurricane Katrina, a set of city, state, and federal agencies were tasked with creating a
redevelopment plan that fit a stringent set of governmental requirements as well as building public engagement. Their efforts to find consensus reached an impasse, and the they reached out to the Rockefeller Foundation for help.
Approach: Rockefeller gave $3.5m to the Greater New Orleans Foundation to establish a plan for the regions
land use. Convening was used throughout the process to engage an often-contentious group of stakeholders, including two town-hall-style meetings that used technology to capture input from a representative group of residents in sixteen nearby cities.
Results: By taking the time to listen to and reconcile the needs of the many stakeholders involved, the process
generated substantial public support where there was little before, and led to a plan that was both effective and mutually agreeable. EXAMPLE 4
BUILD COMMUNITY SHARE LEARNING
MAKING THE eHEALTH CONNECTION: GLOBAL PARTNERSHIPS, GLOBAL SOLUTIONS July 13th to August 8th, 2008
Context: The Rockefeller Foundation had identified weak health systems as a core area for investment. In a
2007 convening, it heard from health leaders that the use of information and communications technology in health (eHealth) was a promising frontier, with the uptake of those technologies at a tipping point in key countries.
INFLUENCE
DEVELOP FORESIGHT INNOVATE ALIGN ACTION
Approach: Rockefeller decided to hold convenings to forge new partnerships, identify key areas of work, and
raise the global profile of eHealth. To do this, it worked with leading eHealth organizations to host eight weeklong gatherings of 25-30 participants from across industry, donors, governments, researchers, and civil society. The gatherings were held on two parallel tracks over four weeks, with Rockefeller providing grants to support information-sharing and help with public messaging.
Results: The outcome was noticeably greater momentum for the growth of eHealth in the Global South, as
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witnessed by the establishment of the mHealth Alliance, consolidation of the OpenMRS Foundation for promoting open source electronic health records, and a new national health network in Rwanda.
Appendix
Glossary
co-creation
Creating something collaboratively as a group, often the central work of a convening.
live-blog
Covering an event in real time using short blog posts that describe what happened and offer play-by-play commentary.
convening
A gathering that brings together a diverse group of participants for a clear purpose and generates insights or action beyond what any single participant could achieve on his/her own.
live-stream
Broadcasting live audio and/or video of an event over the web to either the public or a selected audience.
convergence
Moving from many ideas towards greater alignment of perspectives on the issues being discussed.
live-tweet
Covering an event in real time using tweets that capture key quotes, ideas, and reflections from the dialogue.
divergence
Putting multiple ideas, possibilities, and questions on the table as input to the participants dialogue and co-creative work.
network mindset
Exercising leadership in a way that prioritizes openness, transparency, making connections and sharing control.
facilitator
The person who guides the participants through a set of interactions that will help them achieve their shared goals.
stakeholder
In the context of a choice being made, a person, group, or institution that could be affected and whose interests should therefore be considered.
graphic recording
Capturing the critical concepts and remarks from a dialogue in real time using an artful combination of images and words.
template
A big piece of paper (often the size of a table top) that serves as a worksheet for guiding conversation in small breakout groups and capturing the output.
hashtag
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A short word inserted into a tweet that starts with a pound sign, such as #rockfound, used to identify that tweet as being related to a certain topic, organization, or event.
Appendix
Resources: an annotated bibliography

GENERAL RESOURCES
Art of Convening, The

Book by Craig and Patricia Neal, February 2011. Provides in-depth guidance to the convener on how to attend to the overall emotional and psychological subtleties of the participants experiencebefore, during, and after the event.
Handbook of Large Group Methods, The

Book by Barbara Bunker and Benedict Alban, June 2006. Methods for facilitating interactive conversation in groups of hundreds or thousands, illustrated with in-depth case studies.
Back of the Napkin, The

Book by Dan Roam, March 2008. How to think and problem-solve using simple sketches.
Interaction Associates
The leading instructors in facilitation tradecraft, who offer both public seminars and private training sessions. Website: www.interactionassociates.com.
Building Communities from the Inside Out

John Kretzmann and John McKnight, 1993. Explains the theory of asset-based community development: that convening and other forms of network-weaving can help communities support themselves through mutual aid.
International Association of Facilitators

The IAF offers a public Methods Database at http://www.iafmethods.org/methods, which contains over 500 user-contributed group process methods. They also offer a limited directory of facilitators who hold IAF certification at http://bit.ly/vAeAob. However, note that this and any other directory should be used as a supplement to trusted recommendations.
Catalyzing Networks for Social Change: A Funder's Guide

Monitor Institute and Grantmakers for Effective Organizations, October 2011. Describes the work that funders are doing to catalyze networks and new opportunities for harnessing network potential, in which convenings play an integral part.
International Forum of Visual Practitioners

A global community of graphic recorders and other types of visual practitioners, including a directory for finding one nearby. Website: http://ifvp.org/.
Change Handbook, The

Book by Peggy Holman et al., 2006. Over 60 tools for facilitating group process for a wide range of goals, many of which span a full convening. Includes the key methods of appreciative inquiry, community summits, dynamic planning, open space, scenario planning, and world caf.
Kantor Institute
Trainers and consultants in a unique and powerful method for overcoming the most challenging group dynamics. Website: www.kantorinstitute.com.
Facilitator's Guide to Participatory DecisionMaking
Power and Love: A Theory and Practice of Social Change

Book by Adam Kahane, January 2010. Reflections from a veteran practitioner of multi-stakeholder dialogue, arguing that achieving change requires harnessing and balancing the positive sides of two drives: the drive for power (progress) and the drive for love (unity).
67
Book by Sam Kaner et al., 2007. Describes the overall process stages from divergence to convergence, with specific process tools and facilitation tips for guiding each stage, along with additional guidance on the craft of facilitation.
Appendix
Resources: an annotated bibliography

GENERAL RESOURCES PROCESS TOOLS
Presence: Human Purpose and the Field of the Future

Book by Peter Senge, C. Otto Scharmer, Joseph Jaworski, and Betty Sue Flowers, 2004. A philosophy and methodology for (re)connecting any shared project to its deeper underlying role in social progress, and for mapping the areas where progress is most needed.
Human Spectogram
Page from The Knowledge Sharing Toolkit. http://bit.ly/rFkmYM. Instructions on how to use this opening exercise.
Introduction to Systems Mapping

Video by Innate Strategies. http://bit.ly/sO25EF. A brief step-bystep overview of what systems mapping is, the process it requires, and the ways it can be used.
Visual Teams: Graphic Tools for Commitment, Innovation, and High Performance
Book by David Sibbet, October 2011. Instructions on the use of graphic recording and visual facilitation for high-productivity teamwork, written by the fields pioneer.
Open Space Technology: A Users Guide.

Book by Harrison Owen, 2008. A complete guide to how open space can be used as a process tool in convening.
PROCESS TOOLS
Rapid Prototyping in Philanthropy

Part of the Monitor Institute innovation toolkit for creating new solutions in a foundation context: http://bit.ly/w4Guww. Contains process instructions, templates, and examples for stimulating conversation.
A Hidden Wholeness: The Journey Toward an Undivided Life

Book by Parker Palmer, June 2009. Describes the use of circles of trust where open sharing in an uncritical setting is used to lay the foundation for finding the way forward in difficult situations.
Stand Up Sit Down

Article in Teampedia: http://bit.ly/rHkUQf. Instructions on how to use this opening exercise .
Enduring Ideas: The Three Horizons of Growth

Article in McKinsey Quarterly, December 2009. http://bit.ly/tMDmcT. Describes the concept of separating a groups proposals between current work, emerging possibilities, and whitespace experiments, so that each can be handled accordingly.
What If? The Art of Scenario Thinking for Nonprofits

Book by Diana Scearce, Katherine Fulton, and the Global Business Network Community. 2004. Available for download at: http://bit.ly/rDRiGz. A guide to the use of scenario planning for creating strategy in social-sector organizations.
How Networked Nonprofits Visualize Their Networks
World Caf, The

Book by Juanita Brown and David Isaacs, 2005. Details on how to use the World Caf as a facilitation tool for a wide range of purposes in a convening.
68
Blog post on Beths Blog, January 2011. http://bit.ly/u3oM0i. Provides a basic introduction to the tools and process of network mapping, both inside and outside of a convening.
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The Art and Science of Effective Convenings

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The Art and Science of Effective Convenings

A Rockefeller Foundation Guidebook

THE ART AND SCIENCE OF EFFECTIVE CONVENINGS

Our problems are increasingly interdependent.

People are more connected than they ever have been.

Yet, theres a growing tendency toward fragmentation.

Rockefellers rich convening legacy

2005-2008: Unified New Orleans Plan convenings following Hurricane Katrina

Shaping the agenda

ASSESSING AND LEARNING FROM CONVENINGS

TO CONVENE OR NOT TO CONVENE

Understanding the issue and 25 creating a shared knowledge base

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Sample production worksheets

Curating the experience

Engagement and communications Logistics

Defining the purpose

Typical short-term roles

When and how do I use graphic recording?

Internal study findings

Mapping stakeholders and engaging participants

Perceived structural barriers 63 to effective convenings at RF

Framing historical Rockefeller convenings 49 50 Glossary Resources: an annotated bibliography

Assessing group dynamics (Continued)

THE ART AND SCIENCE OF EFFECTIVE CONVENINGS

THE ART AND SCIENCE OF EFFECTIVE CONVENINGS

The guidebook: whats in it and how to use it

I think of a convening as a kind of 21st-century community organizing.

Regular, internal meetings

Convening dos and donts

DO draw on the participants for information, perspectives, and ideas

THE ART AND SCIENCE OF EFFECTIVE CONVENINGS

To convene or not to convene

To convene or not to convene

What outcomes can benefit from convenings

Align and act

To convene or not to convene

Is convening the right tool for your work?

Can the purpose/opportunity be clearly articulated?

Can the critical stakeholders be assembled?

Does the purpose/opportunity call for collective intelligence?

Is an extended block of time essential to doing the work?

Do you need to be the primary convener?

THE ART AND SCIENCE OF EFFECTIVE CONVENINGS

The five components of convening design Defining the purpose

Mapping stakeholders and engaging participants

Assessing group dynamics Shaping the agenda

Understanding the issue and creating a shared knowledge base

Curating the experience

The five components of convening design

The Art of Convening. Craig and Patricia Neal, February 2011.

Assessing Group Dynamics & Shaping the Agenda

Defining the Purpose

Curating the Experience

Understanding the Issue & Creating a Shared Knowledge Base

Designing a convening DEFINING THE PURPOSE

Defining the purpose

Influence AS THE PRIMARY PURPOSE:

Develop foresight AS THE PRIMARY PURPOSE:

Innovate AS THE PRIMARY PURPOSE:

Align and act AS THE PRIMARY PURPOSE:

Build networks AS THE PRIMARY PURPOSE:

Share learning AS THE PRIMARY PURPOSE: