The format for facilitating ourselves was originated by CB facilitator Mike Roth and grew out of a desire to experience a deeper level of community building experience than could be expected from a two or three day workshop. It has the following eight aspects:
ONE: Six day residential event.
Event participants live together for six days sharing ordinary and extraordinary activities. This gives greater time and proximity with others in which deeper relationships are formed and nurtured.
TWO: Facilitating ourselves.
Mike was also clear, from the start, that he wished to participate fully in the event. He may have originated an event format, but this was a format designed to meet his needs as well as the needs of others attracted to the event idea. If everyone was to participate, then the event could not rely on named facilitators to hold it together. If all were to participate, all must, to some degree, facilitate. Whoever organised such an event would have to turn over their exclusive pre-event facilitation hat to the whole group at the start of the event. In order to allow all to participate, the group would have to aspire to being the group of all leaders alluded to by Scott Peck in The Different Drum.
THREE: Low fees.
It was important that the event should be accessible to as many people as possible. Facilitating ourselves meant no team of facilitators to be paid for their professional skills. This enabled costs to be kept down. All four events so far have been well-attended, successful and viable, with fees between £100 and £150.