Meeting Support Institute

Large Group Interventions are methods used to gather a whole system together to discuss and take action on the target agenda.
That agenda varies from future plans, products, and services, to redesigning work, to discussion of troubling issues and problems.

The Handbook of Large Group Methods takes the next step in demonstrating through a series of cases how Large Group Methods are currently being used to address twenty-first-century challenges in organizations and communities today, including:

Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion Amazon.com Review
Arguably the best book ever on what is increasingly becoming the science of persuasion. Whether you're a mere consumer or someone weaving the web of persuasion to urge others to buy or vote for your product, this is an essential book for understanding the psychological foundations of marketing. Recommended.

Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology
The materials in Cialdini's Influence is a proverbial gold mine.

Book Description   Influence: Science and Practice is an examination of the psychology of compliance (i.e. uncovering which factors cause a person to say “yes” to another's request). Written in a narrative style combined with scholarly research, Cialdini combines evidence from experimental work with the techniques and strategies he gathered while working as a salesperson, fundraiser, advertiser, and in other positions inside organizations that commonly use compliance tactics to get us to say “yes.” Widely used in classes, as well as sold to people operating successfully in the business world, the eagerly awaited revision of Influence reminds the reader of the power of persuasion.

  The dutch translation of
  'The Learning Meeting and conference in Practice'




  (Politeia, 2008)

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MEETING ARCHITECTURE 

Manifesto for a new profession 1.The meeting industry
In 2007, the meeting industry is a Multi billion dollar industry that exists around the outside of meetings, the shell, and not it’s inside. The destination and venue take all the space as a natural consequence of an industry that resides inside the tourism (and hospitality) industry. This is a fact, not a judgment. This is a great and well organized industry of large and multinational corporations that work very professionally and lay out the foundations on which meetings can take place.

Extreme Facilitation picks up where other books on the topic leave off to present a revolutionary method that helps large, unwieldy, adversarial, and apparently dysfunctional groups achieve consensus and reach objectives on divisive and contentious issues no matter how long the group has been struggling. Throughout the book, expert facilitator Suzanne Ghais shows how extreme facilitation - which puts on the emphasis on creativity, flexibility, and customization - can change how group members interact with one another and how participants view the issues even in the most challenging and exceptionally difficult situations. Extreme Facilitation covers the preparatory phases of the process, including assessment, convening, and contracting. Ghais also offers vital information on process design and tips for handling situations that many facilitators find particularly challenging.

"Let's Connect!" is a practical guide for networking on events and on the web for every professional whether you're in sales or not. You will get insights in the dynamics of networking and how to network more effectively, efficiently and with more fun!
Ask your FREE light version of the book and read chapter 5.
Every week Jan Vermeiren gives some tips for better networking.
Check them out here.

 Using Microsoft PowerPoint to Create Presentations That Inform, Motivate, and Inspire. Cliff Atkinson is an acclaimed writer, popular keynote speaker, and an independent consultant to leading attorneys and Fortune 500 companies. He designed the presentations that helped persuade a jury to award a $253 million verdict to the plaintiff in the nation's first Vioxx trial in 2005, which Fortune magazine called "frighteningly powerful." Cliff’s book Beyond Bullet Points (Microsoft Press, 2005) is an Amazon.com Top 5 bestseller that expands on a communications approach he has taught at many of the country's top law firms, government agencies, business schools and corporations, including Sony, Toyota, Nestlé, Amgen, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Intel and Microsoft.
 

In this fascinating book, New Yorker business columnist James Surowiecki explores a deceptively simple idea: Large groups of people are smarter than an elite few, no matter how brilliant–better at solving problems, fostering innovation, coming to wise decisions, even predicting the future.

"Every meeting planner should read this book in order to understand the potential of bottom up learning: how an organization can learn from its members, how a sales meeting can learn from it's participants."

Maarten Vanneste