The Circle Project

2007 Retreat Series Open for Registration

Registration is now open for our 2007 Retreat Series. Our course catalog and registration materials are now online; feel free to contact us with questions you might have about any of the retreats planned for this year:

April 13-15
Exploring the Power of Metaphor: Accessing deeper personal and organizational wisdom

May 14-17
Training at the Edge: Experiential Tools for Transformational Learning
[A Train-the-Trainer Intensive]

September 28-30
Mind the Gap: The Power of Personal Stories [A 37days Retreat]

October 26-28
Wicked Problems & Tame Solutions: Navigating Complexity in Organizations and Communities

Each of our 2007 retreats can accommodate between 14-16 participants only; they will be held at the beautiful Bend of Ivy Lodge near Asheville, North Carolina.

You'll find course descriptions and logistical information in the brochure (PDF). We would welcome your participation and engagement and insights. Please join us if you can.

Exploring the Power of Metaphor: A Circle Project Retreat

We sometimes overlook the tools we have at hand, those that are the most potent.

One of those is metaphor. As we've explored learning and organizational culture and story, we've come to appreciate the power of metaphor. Emerson has said, "The world is emblematic. Parts of speech are metaphors, because the whole of nature is a metaphor of the human mind."

 We've become enamored of metaphors such as "desire lines" and "dorodango" and want to explore further how the metaphors we use both illuminate and obscure, how they help and how they hinder, both personally and organizationally.

This weekend retreat, "Desire Lines: Exploring the Power of Metaphor," will start that exploration. We'll make use of a beautiful space and place to explore metaphors of those same concepts, applying our learning to the organizational universes and systems in which we find ourselves. Come, join us!

Details follow...

Train the Trainer Intensive Retreat set for May 2007

Since we began our work, participants have expressed a desire to learn how to create experiential learning processes. This intensive "train-the-trainer" retreat is designed to explore learning and help participants "explode" their current training curricula by creating transformative, experiential processes that will come closer to what learning really is--a process that leaves us changed.

Come join us! This retreat, "Training at the Edge: Experiential Tools for Transformational Learning", is limited to 14 participants to allow for in-depth work for each person. It is appropriate for people who work in a wide variety of disciplines and types of organizations.

We will have online registration up and running soon; in the meantime, if you'd like to reserve a spot, let's do it the old-fashioned way: just email and let us know of your interest and we'll go from there. Details are below...

What's coming in 2007?

As we finalize plans for public seminars in 2007, we'll post them here.

January 23, 2007
Seattle, Washington - Northwest Diversity Learning Series

April 13-15, 2007
Asheville, NC -  "Exploring the Power of Metaphor: Accessing Deeper Personal and Organizational Wisdom" (PDF)

May 14-17, 2007
Asheville, NC - "Training at the Edge: Experiential Tools for Transformational Learning" (PDF)- Four-day Intensive Train-the-Trainer Retreat for Trainers/Facilitators/Learners

July 11-13, 2007
Portland, OR - "Humor and Play as Intercultural Tools" (Patti Digh & Todd Conklin)
Summer Institute for Intercultural Communication (SIIC)

July 16-20, 2007
Portland, OR - "Training at the Edge: Experiential Tools for Intercultural Learning" (Patti Digh & David Robinson)
Summer Institute for Intercultural Communication (SIIC)

July 23-27, 2007
Portland, OR - "Using Storytelling to Lead Change and Diversity Efforts" (Patti Digh & Kichiro Hayashi)
Summer Institute for Intercultural Communication (SIIC)

September 27, 2007
Asheville, NC - Keynote Address - NC SHRM State Conference

September 28-30, 2007
Asheville, NC - "Mind the Gap: The Power of Personal Stories," (PDF) - A 37days Retreat

October 26-28, 2007
Asheville, NC - "Wicked Problems and Tame Solutions: Complexity and Simplicity in Communities and Organizations"