Workshop Series:

Better Together

the building blocks of better gatherings, teams and influence change

Three Days -

Oct 5 - Day 1: Foundational*

Oct 6 - Day 2: Teams and Groups*

Oct 7 - Day 3: Influencing Change*

*Required to attend Day 1 to add Day 2 and/or Day 3

Options: attend Oct 5-7; attend Oct 5 only; Oct 5 add-on Oct 6 or 7

What the workshop covers:

• 3-Days = 20+ practical, easy-to-learn methods (as well as redesigns) for engaging groups and getting better results from meetings, planning sessions, and conversations

• How to design sequences of activities that build momentum and lead to real decisions

• How to include everyone — not just the loudest voices — in shaping direction

• (Day 2) How to lead teams through complexity without needing all the answers

• (Day 3) How to work with systems that resist change — and find unexpected leverage points

Who this is for:

• Leaders and managers who want better outcomes from meetings and workshops

• Facilitators, coaches, and consultants looking to expand their toolkit

• Community organizers, educators, and change agents

• Anyone who regularly brings groups of people together and wants those gatherings to actually matter

• Curious people who sense that the way we typically run meetings is broken — and want something better

Why this is different:

• Experiential, not lecture-based — you'll do these methods, not just hear about them

• Immediately applicable — no specialised equipment or lengthy training required

• You'll experience being a participant and practice facilitating

• Small enough to be personal, large enough to be energizing

• Based upon Liberating Structures by Henri Lipmanowicz and Keith McCandless

What’s Included:

• Lunch and snacks and beverage center (bring own soda)

• Toolkit for the 3-day 20+ activities/experiences you will learn and practice (1 day 10+ activities/experiences; 2-day 15+ activities/experiences)

What’s Not Included:

• Transportation to/from retreat center.

• Overnight stay(s) and additional meals at Retreat Center optional - arrange at own cost. Email to arrangements@sienaretreatcenter.org Subject: Better Together workshop(s)

Location: The beautiful Siena Retreat Center. 5637 Erie St, Racine, WI 53402

David Bennett

Leadership coach and facilitator has spent fifteen years working at the intersection of human potential and collective intelligence — guided by a single belief: that when groups are well-designed, ordinary gatherings become the sites of extraordinary change. Holding a master’s degree in Coaching Psychology from the University of Sydney, he learned Liberating Structures experientially with co-founder Keith McCandless. Across his career, he has worked with leaders, teams, and communities spanning government, health, education, and the not-for-profit sector, cultivating environments where every voice contributes and real decisions get made. He is the architect of the Ways of Working Team Coaching Programme and a practitioner of community-led change through his work developing civic leaders in New Zealand.

What to Expect

Day 1 — Foundational (*required to add on Day 2 and/or 3)

The Building Blocks of Brilliant Gatherings

Who this is for: You organize meetings, run workshops, lead community gatherings, or facilitate conversations — and you know they could be better. Maybe people disengage, the same voices dominate, or sessions end without real momentum. You don't need to be an experienced facilitator. You just need to be curious about what becomes possible when everyone in the room is genuinely included.

What you'll walk away with:

• A toolkit of 10+ practical methods you can use immediately — in meetings, workshops, classrooms, or community gatherings

• The ability to design sessions that energise rather than drain

• Confidence to facilitate groups of any size, even if you've never thought of yourself as a facilitator

• A new lens for understanding why some gatherings work — and why so many don't

• Connection with a community of practitioners you can learn with long after the workshop ends

Day 2 — Creating Connections *Requires Day 1 attendance

The Building Blocks of Teams and Groups orLeading Teams That Think for Themselves

Who this is for: You lead a team, manage a group, or are responsible for how people work together inside an organisation. You've probably noticed that the people closest to the work often have the best ideas — but something in how you meet, plan, and decide keeps those ideas from surfacing. This day is for leaders who are ready to shift from being the person with all the answers to being the person who helps everyone's best thinking emerge.

What you'll walk away with:

• Methods for unlocking creativity and problem-solving within your team — without it all depending on you

• Ways to have the honest conversations that teams usually avoid

• A clearer understanding of what's actually getting in the way of your team's potential

• Practical designs for team meetings, planning sessions, and difficult conversations

• Greater confidence navigating complexity and uncertainty alongside your people — rather than pretending you have it figured out

Day 3 — Systems Revelations *Requires Day 1 attendance

The Building Blocks of Influencing Change or  Changing the System from Within

Who this is for: You're working on something bigger than one team or one organisation. Maybe you're trying to shift culture, influence policy, mobilise a community, or address a problem that keeps coming back no matter how many times it's "solved." You understand that real change is slow, messy, and rarely goes where you planned — and you're looking for ways to work with that complexity rather than against it.

What you'll walk away with:

• Tools for mapping and understanding the systems you're trying to influence

• Ways to find unexpected leverage points — the small shifts that create large ripples

• Methods for engaging diverse stakeholders across organisational and community boundaries

• A more realistic — and ultimately more hopeful — picture of how systemic change actually happens

• Strategies for sustaining your own energy and focus in work that unfolds over years, not weeks

Cancellation & Refund Policy

1.1 Participant Cancellation

• Deposit in non-refundable except where organizer cancels the workshop.

• Cancellations made more than 60 days before the Day 1 workshop start date: Organizer will refund amounts paid minus $100 Deposit in full fee and any non-recoverable vendor fees.

• Cancellations made between 60-30 days before the workshop: refund of 50% of amounts paid minus $100 Deposit in full fee and non-recoverable vendor fees.

• Cancellations made less than 30 days before the workshop: no refunds (unless Organizer cancels the workshop).

1.2 Transfer of Registration

• Participant may transfer their registration to another person if Organizer is notified in writing at least 21 days before workshop start date and the transferee signs this Agreement. resonateandthrive@gmail.com

1.3 Organizer Cancellation

• If Organizer cancels the workshop(s) for any reason, participants receive a full refund of amounts paid (excluding optional travel costs paid by Participant). Organizer is not responsible for reimbursing travel, lost wages, or other incidental costs.