Fa·cil·i·ta·tion – To facilitate is to make possible, to ease, to assist.

We provide strategic facilitation services to help you articulate a more realistic and exciting future or solve a specific organizational problem or question with client-centric events and processes.

Members of: 

Boston Facilitators Roundtable

What we are up to


Jumping on the event app bandwagon

Event apps have truly enhanced the attendee experience by putting everything at their fingertips, literally. We are jumping on that bandwagon and after much research have selected Attendify for IMBC.  As an event coordinators we have also found the app as a valuable tool in planning and being able to see the event come together in real time.  It has also been a huge help in keeping all the moving parts organized in one place.   We are excited to see what the response will be from the attendees and are hopeful we can get everyone to download it and use it for all that it offer for enhancing the personal experience.

As we explored our options, we found this article from our friends at biznessapps a a useful source of information.

When was the last time you assessed your company’s audience? 

We have recently completed a marketing and branding assessment with one of our association clients.  We hired a consultant, collected data, surveyed the membership and conducted focus-groups.  We learned a lot, both about our brand but also about what our customers were looking for from the association.  And what they didn’t like.  The information we learned and the feedback we received will re-shape the association. It will redefine how the company presents itself and what it delivers.

But our biggest ah-ha lesson was the importance, the critical importance of looking at the company through the lens of the customer.  What do they want and how do they want it?  Once this is understood, it is easier to expand your market and reach new customers.  Once this is understood, it become easier to grow and connect to new markets and members.   Here are some tips that we learned that are summarized nicely by our friends at Forbes.

  1. Understand the landscape – What sparks this new audience’s interest?
  2. Redefine the product- “One size fits all” does not apply to every audience.
  3. Involve the audience- Get the new audience members to be part of your brand and product

https://www.forbes.com/sites/serenitygibbons/2019/10/17/how-to-grow-your-brand-by-thinking-bigger-about-your-audience/#442f069d5909

Struggling to communicate the value of your work? You are not alone.

Th team at Lighthouse is always looking for new facilitation tools and techniques.  This one helps us help our clients talk about their successes!

When given the opportunity to demonstrate the value of their work, team, or organization, many people try to capture for the grandest, most important, or most nuanced impact possible. The issue is that telling that a story of that magnitude is a daunting task. Without the right tools, the pressure and complexity often results stories are wordy, inexact, and unclear. That is if the success is ever communicated at all.

If you find yourself in such a situation — reaching for the most impressive story you can tell and getting nowhere fast — we recommend taking a step back to consider the power of simple discreet successes. Sometimes the best story isn’t the biggest, it is the most easily understood.

NOAA Sea Grant has developed a “value chain” model that is a useful tool for thinking about and communicating those discreet successes (see below). It can be used to ground your thinking when the prospect of communicating your value gets overwhelming. By filling in each of the five bubbles you either create a coherent narrative or identify gaps in your perceived success that can be filled.

 

Source: United States, Congress, “Economic Valuation Methodology Guides.” Economic Valuation Methodology Guides, NOAA, 11 July 2019. https://seagrant.noaa.gov/Portals/1/Network Resoruces/Economic valuation guides/All Methodology Guides.pdf?ver=2019-07-11-133941-713. [PDF]