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Like most of our services, intallact's Virtual Space Conference Hosting Service is another exclusive offering that you probably won't find anywhere else.  No, this concept has nothing to do with computers or the internet — this  "Virtual Space" is a unique and powerful concurrent session learning and discussion format for conferences and large meetings.  The format has it's roots in the better-known Open Space Technology by Harrison Owen (which we also offer).

Check out the benefits that we guarantee:

	Leverage the incredible untapped potential of your unknown 'internal experts'
	Topics precisely match the needs of each and every participant
	Sessions offer alive, immediately relevant, in-the-moment training, specific to your group
	Individuals are dramatically empowered by the process
	Participants easily attain appropriate peer recognition and renewed confidence
	No outside presenters, no high costs, no negative session-content feedback.  Period.

Before we describe how we can promise all of the above, you should first know that Virtual Space is not for everyone.  Your organization needs all of the following characteristics to tap into the awesome power of V-Space:

	A full day or more devoted to concurrent sessions only
	20 to 200 participants and 3 to 8 separate breakout areas or rooms
	Attendees who rarely all get together, all with diverse skills, knowledge, and experience
	Motivated and sharing participants, who are comfortable with peer-to-peer sessions, and willing to take responsibility for their own learning
	A progressive management ready to be on the leading edge of meeting/training tools

If all of the above applies to your organization, we can offer a stunning conference experience that will profoundly increase participant engagement and your expected outcomes - our fee depends on it.  This web page covers several aspects of Virtual Space: How it works, What we offer, History and Testimonials.

How it Works

The Virtual Space concept is based on some key principles:

1. The people of your organization have a vast wealth of untapped knowledge and ideas.
2. They also have an unparalleled understanding of the needs of the organization and themselves.
3. Outcomes rise exponentially when participants are empowered to introduce topics and are given full control about what sessions they choose to participate in.

In a V-Space conference there is no need for 'outside expert presenters' or months of selecting appropriate sessions.  Instead, they are an elegant structure of multiple sessions that combine prepared Presentations, unscripted Discussions, and Workshops that can be created mere hours before they happen.

Ahead of Time

It all starts with a theme that can be has broad or focussed as you choose to make it.  This is a common starting place for many conferences - so far so good.

Participants are then given an opportunity long before your meeting to prepare short 45 to 60 minute Presentations on any topic relevant to the theme that they have significant experience with and that they feel will be of interest to other participants.  These can range anywhere from polished PowerPoints with handouts, to basic research for a moderated discussion.

Conference Time

At the actual conference, we begin with an EMPTY grid of break-out rooms and times.  [This is a scary concept for most conference planners.  Yes, it is different.  No, it is not chaos.  Yes, it really works.  Most people find it difficult to fully understand V-Space until they have been through it once and witnessed its power.]  At the V-Space conference kick-off, the first step is to fully outline the Virtual Space structure: how it works, what its rules are, and what is expected of everyone.

Next, all prepared Presentations are described to the assembled participants by their creators.  The audience members are then given the opportunity to describe additional sessions and learning that THEY are looking for, relevant to the conference theme.  From this sharing of needs and individual interests, each and every participant has the opportunity to create a Workshop to satisfy any of the requests, or to volunteer to moderate a Discussion session on the topic.

We now have sessions, either prepared or based on relevant experience, that are formally negotiated into concurrent sessions on our V-Space grid, based on the ground rules of the process.  When this step is complete (it usually takes 1-2 hours), we have created an entire conference of relevant, timely presentations, workshops, and discussions for everyone to choose from.  Each attendee then selects the session that best fits them for each time slot, and we are off and running.

Why it works

A key characteristic is participants taking full responsibility for their own learning and the growth of the organization.  If a topic that they want is not there, they ask for it.  They select which sessions they will attend.  If a session is not what they wanted, they can (and are expected to) leave and move on to another one.  If two high interest sessions are in the same time slot, there are mechanisms to request rescheduling or repeating sessions.  The results will amaze you and everyone who attends.

What We Offer

Virtual Space (and Open Space) technology requires a skilled guiding hand.  In order to be successful, a delicate balance must be maintained between the fluidity of the session creation process and the rigidity of the structure that keeps it all together.  That's where we can help.  intallact's Virtual Space Conference Hosting Service includes the following:

	Pre-planning with your conference committee to ensure a smooth operation
	Full participant preparation so that everyone has the right information long before the conference begins
	Complete session management, including all resource materials
	Highly experienced host facilitator(s) to make it all happen

This service is provided at a very reasonable cost, allowing you to redeploy your conference budget to other initiatives.  Even then, we recognize that this might be a daring initiative for you, so we back up our promise.  For more information, and to find out if Virtual Space conference sessions are right for you, you can contact us from our home page.  Trust the process.  It really works.

History and Testimonials

intallact is a Canadian pioneer of the Virtual Space concept.  We were originally exposed to this awesome tool by Tom Leahy of Boulder, Colorado, who has used the format to deliver the National Challenge Course Practitioners Symposium for more than a dozen years.  This is how he describes it:

  "Virtual Space is an incredible meeting technology.  Ward Flynn of the Venture Center of Colorado experimented with the "Open Space" concept of Harrison Owens and gave it a very practical twist.  In this evolution, V-Space allows for both traditional prepared workshops and it allows for passion and spontaneity when practitioners come together and realize that a need or opportunity has presented itself.  V-Space creates the structure that allows practitioners to gather what they need when they realize the moment."

intallact adopted the same approach when we created the annual Canadian Experiential Education Practitioners Symposium in 2002.  Our facilitators have now helped to create a number of V-Space conferences, and the format consistently receives rave reviews.  Here is a typical anecdote from a recent CEEPS conference:

  “The most remarkable thing happened.  I saw one participant who came unsure of anything she could offer and wanting just to attend sessions, end up leading an incredible session.  She was fabulous, knowledgeable, insightful, humourous, and just shone.  And to think without the Virtual Space sessions she would not have the opportunity to share in a spur of the moment manner and all who participated would not have been given the opportunity to experience the learning that came out of that session.” - Catherine Kurucz, Thames Valley District School Board

Feel free to visit some of the above symposium web sites for more information and testimonials on Virtual Space, or contact intallact from our home page.

Our Promise

We are so confident that Virtual Space will deliver total satisfaction, we are willing to back up our service with an iron-clad guarantee:

If your organization and gathering meet the criteria outlined above, and we host a Virtual Space Conference for you, our fee will be directly tied to the participant evaluations of the process.  How's that for backing up our promise!

For more information on our Virtual Space hosting, please contact us.

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