“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” Margaret Mead
If you have ever hosted an event before and not had as many people as you would like show up, you may have felt the event had less impact or meaning. This story is a reminder that small gatherings can have big results. The ripple effect of the smallest actions has the potential to create massive waves.
Anna Gallman & Lynn Darnton – El Segundo Ca
What follows is the account of how a big frustration led to a big ripple effect spreading the ATD Symposium message beyond anyone’s expectations. Facilitators Anna Gallman and Lynn Darton share their stories in hopes of reminding you that there is no such thing as a small Symposium and you never know what will come out of even the smallest audience.
The Hosting Facilitator – Anna Gallman
The ATD Symposium was to be a big event where veteran facilitators Anita Sanchez and Kit Tennis were going to fly in to facilitate. I had a hotel rented and big plans were underway.
The first challenge was that our symposium fell during a long holiday weekend with people going away with their families, so we faced ZERO registrations a week before the event! Needless to say, Kit & Anita's trip had to be postponed to a future date. I decided then to cancel the hotel, and still hold the symposium and simply use my friend's house instead. We had just 6 people show up.
I was going to present all by myself but then Alexandra Mason showed up and I proposed that she present with me right there and then. I was just flowing with things and adjusting everything as the Universe presented "signs".
One of the people who showed up unexpectedly was a woman that lived only a few blocks away from the house and had found the Symposium on the events map on the Awakening the Dreamer web site. She later went on to get trained as a Symposium facilitator and then brought the Symposium to her employer, a fortune 50 defense contractor with 120,000 employees world wide!
Imagine that!
The Ripple Effect – Lynn Darnton
As luck would have it, a home symposium was offered within walking distance of my home. It was a small simple symposium with only 5-6 guests, but it convinced me that the Symposium carried a message I could bring to my workplace. So I sent an email about the Pachamama Alliance to the Vice President of Corporate Responsibility at my employer, a fortune 50 defense contractor, with whom I had a relationship through my work as an Organization Development Consultant, but did not hear a word in response.
I signed up for the next facilitator training, which was offered several months later in Ojai, CA.
The week before the training, the VP suggested we meet to discuss the possibility of bringing a conversation about the state of our world to our employees. Perfect timing!
I suggested we meet after I had attended the facilitator training. I had the privilege of being trained by Joanna Macy of The Work That Reconnects, and Ruel Walker along with other Pachamama leaders, which was an extraordinary gift.
The following week, I drove up to the corporate offices and met with the VP and the head of our Greening initiatives. It was a wide ranging conversation, covering the possibilities and risks.
At the end of the meeting, we decided to proceed. The VP even had the idea that we could bring Lynne Twist to our campus as a keynote speaker for our Women’s History Month activities, and use that as an opportunity for some advance PR for the Symposium.
Since then we've gone ahead with the keynote which had great success, and what's even more is two Symposiums beamed to several of the company's sites across the United States on Earth Day. The response was wonderful! Time will tell what will come from the 2 hour Symposium, but the journey has touched many already. Colleagues of mine want to share the message with others and have started taking action in their own lives. We can now look into the possibility of sharing this message with other companies!
And as for the symposium I attended, you never know what will come of it!
