"Hosts of all kinds, this is a must-read!" --Chris Anderson, owner and curator of TED From the host of the New York Times podcast Together Apart, an exciting new approach to how we gather that will transform the ways we spend our time together—at home, at work, in our communities, and beyond. In The Art of Gathering, Priya Parker argues that the gatherings in our lives are lackluster and unproductive--which they don't have to be. We rely too much on routine and the conventions of gatherings when we should focus on distinctiveness and the people involved. At a time when coming together is more important than ever, Parker sets forth a human-centered approach to gathering that will help everyone create meaningful, memorable experiences, large and small, for work and for play. Drawing on her expertise as a facilitator of high-powered gatherings around the world, Parker takes us inside events of all kinds to show what works, what doesn't, and why. She investigates a wide array of gatherings--conferences, meetings, a courtroom, a flash-mob party, an Arab-Israeli summer camp--and explains how simple, specific changes can invigorate any group experience. The result is a book that's both journey and guide, full of exciting ideas with real-world applications. The Art of Gathering will forever alter the way you look at your next meeting, industry conference, dinner party, and backyard barbecue--and how you host and attend them.

A modern roadmap to true connection—first by showing up for yourself and then for others If you’re having trouble connecting with those around you, know that you’re not the only one. Adult friendships are tricky!!! Part manifesto, part guide, The Art of Showing Up is soul medicine for our modern, tech-mediated age. Rachel Wilkerson Miller charts a course to kinder, more thoughtful, and more fulfilling relationships—and, crucially, she reminds us that “you can’t show up for others if you aren’t showing up for yourself first.” Learn to fearlessly . . . define your needs, reclaim your time, and commit to self-care ask for backup when times are tough—and take action when others are in crisis meet and care for new friends, and gently end toxic friendships help your people feel more seen (and more OK) overall!

Create a Culture of Belonging! Strong cultures help people support one another, share their passions, and achieve big goals. And such cultures of belonging aren't just happy accidents - they can be purposefully cultivated, whether they're in a company, a faith institution or among friends and enthusiasts. Drawing on 3,000 years of history and his personal experience, Charles Vogl lays out seven time-tested principles for growing enduring, effective and connected communities. He provides hands-on tools for creatively adapting these principles to any group—formal or informal, mission driven or social, physical or virtual. This book is a guide for leaders seeking to build a vibrant, living culture that will enrich lives. Winner of the Nautilus Silver Book Award in the Business and Leadership Category.

An Invitation to Community and Models for Connection After almost every presentation activist and writer Mia Birdsong gives to executives, think tanks, and policy makers, one of those leaders quietly confesses how much they long for the profound community she describes. They have family, friends, and colleagues, yet they still feel like they're standing alone. They're "winning" at the American Dream, but they're lonely, disconnected, and unsatisfied. It seems counterintuitive that living the "good life"--the well-paying job, the nuclear family, the upward mobility--can make us feel isolated and unhappy. But in a divided America, where only a quarter of us know our neighbors and everyone is either a winner or a loser, we've forgotten the key element that helped us make progress in the first place: community. In this provocative, groundbreaking work, Mia Birdsong shows that what separates us isn't only the ever-present injustices built around race, class, gender, values, and beliefs, but also our denial of our interdependence and need for belonging. In response to the fear and discomfort we feel, we've built walls, and instead of leaning on each other, we find ourselves leaning on concrete. Through research, interviews, and stories of lived experience, How We Show Up returns us to our inherent connectedness where we find strength, safety, and support in vulnerability and generosity, in asking for help, and in being accountable. Showing up--literally and figuratively--points us toward the promise of our collective vitality and leads us to the liberated well-being we all want.

Maximize Your Team Meetings Creating great sales meetings week in and week out is challenging, but in Three Word Meetings, Lisa Thal helps provide some fun and interesting options to get your sales team motivated and inspired. By providing a full year of simple three-word topics that can be discussed at each weekly meeting, the author has created an actionable plan for improving the much-maligned gatherings. She has done the work for you—just add or adjust content as you see fit. No matter what industry you’re in, you will benefit from the author’s knowledge and expertise.

"Meetings are a waste of time," is a sentiment many of us share, which is tragic, because meetings bring us together as human beings. To achieve the kind of meaning or breakthrough results most of us really year for when we gather, the key quality needed is authentic engagement: a genuine expression of what is true for us, and an attentive listening to what is true for others. Why it so often eludes us can be a matter of habit, distrust, lack of attention, or fear. As co-founder of Heartland Inc., Craig and Patricia Neal have led over 170 of their acclaimed Thought Leader Gatherings with leaders from over 800 diverse organizations. Their new book shares for the first time the unique and powerful Art of Convening model -- developed in these gatherings and refined over six years of intensive trainings -- that brings authentic engagement and meaning to any group brought together for any purpose. Convening goes beyond facilitating. Convening creates an environment in which all voices are heard, profound exchanges take place, and transformative action results. The heart of this book is the Convening Wheel -- a series of nine steps, or Aspects, that bring the practices and principles needed for authentic engagement together as a whole. The book provides exercises, stories, and questions to help you master both the inner and outer dimensions of this work -- because, in convening, the state of the Convener is equally as important as the physical preparations. Convening works in any setting and can be adapted to virtually any group process. With this book you have all the tools you need to develop this essential life and leadership skill, one that will lead to improved outcomes in your organization, community, family, and relationships.

Summary: Into the Heart of Meetings defines meetings as a form of communication. It describes the characteristic processes of meetings and how to influence them through Meeting Design. Based on many years of working together as professional Meeting Designers, the authors provide an array of tools that enable meeting organisers to obtain the best outcomes from their meetings as measured by their business value. Into the Heart of Meetings is also the first book ever about Meeting Design. Through their company MindMeeting, over the past 10-20 years the authors have given shape to this new profession. They introduce the principles underlying Meeting Design, as well as the main practical issues that Meeting Designers face and need to solve. The authors use countless examples, connecting their writing to daily working practice. Thus Into the Heart of Meetings is an explorative study, a textbook and a practical guide in one. Further details: Meetings - conferences, conventions, seminars, workshops, etc. - are an integral part of daily life in organisations. In this book, the authors argue that the potential of such meetings is severely under-utilised for a number of reasons. One of these is that the organisation of meetings is conceived mainly as a logistical operation. Into the Heart of Meetings shows that this approach misses the point with regard to the communicative value and power of meetings. The power of meetings depends on the human dynamics they are capable of unleashing. To accomplish that effectively requires a new paradigm for the way in which meeting programmes are conceived and executed. Meeting Design provides that new paradigm and the authors discuss all the basic knowledge a Meeting Designer needs to possess. Hence the book's subtitle Basic Principles of Meeting Design. The book combines a theoretical framework with a great many examples and practical tools. As a result, it is not only useful for professionals in the Meetings Industry, but also for managers and consultants who use meetings as a means to achieve their goals. Areas where the book's subject matter is particularly pertinent include strategic and change management, Human Resources management, knowledge management, innovation and business communications. The relatively informal style and the numerous cases make Into the Heart of Meetings an easy read. The iconic illustrations underline the authors' messages admirably. At the end of each chapter the preceding content is approached from a different angle in a - fictitious - conversation between the authors and a "sceptic", thus underlining the practical implications of the topic treated in the previous pages. In the absence of any formal educational curricula on Meeting Design, Into the Heart of Meetings yet provides ample material for university and professional training courses in such fields as communications, event management and organisation, conference and meeting management and organisation and facilitation. Also trainers in adult education and organisational change agents will find many useful insights. The lecturers for the minor event management (part of a degree in Communications at NHL in the Netherlands) have already adopted the book as compulsory reading material for their students, while two more educational institutions have also expressed an interest in doing so even before the book has been published.