One of the great things about Banff was the chance to deepen friendships with folks I know almost entirely from blogging.
Patti Digh gave a terrific presentation with her partner, David Robinson. It was very experiential and it’s hard to do it justice in words. They succeeded in bringing a great deal of depth to the issue of diversity and allowed a group of people to create a deep sense of connectedness in a remarkably simple and direct way.
Andrew Rixon was also a delight to meet in person, even though he failed to persuade me to take juggling lessons with him.
Andrew came at the invitation of Viv McWaters who facilitated the Open Space on the last day. I learnt a lot watching Viv who really gets the principle of “one less thing”. I really enjoyed her in warrior facilitator mode, dealing with a question about apparent confusion about spaces with the riposte, “Work it out for yourselves.” It may sound harsh here, but actually, that’s how empowerment works sometimes: smart people rarely need the rescues we’re tempted to offer them.
