Relax on Event Day
Divergent Science creates a fully customized experience for every event. Each gathering is unique, and we design the agenda around your ideas and goals. On event day, you can relax knowing that our team has every detail handled.
Process
Large multi-day events typically range from 2-5 days and involve 30-150 participants
Step 1: Agenda Customization
During the agenda customization activity, we schedule regular prep meetings to create, customize, and walk through the agenda. Early meetings will include discussions about what success looks like and the goals of the event. Later meetings may include discussions about specific outcomes/objectives, defining what success looks like, logistics, obtaining background information, timelines, processes, and other topics.
Note: Facilitation literature has found that the best retreats/workshops involve three hours of planning for every hour of facilitation. We will iterate until we get this right.
Step 2: Facilitation:
We believe that facilitation is about creating an equitable process that engages the wisdom, brilliance, and creativity of every group member. We base our work on research from the field of the science of team science (SciTS), yet focus on how you put it into practice and how you bridge the philosophical and theoretical with the practical.
We frequently integrate team science training activities into the event, and we take pride in providing participants with practical recipes that they can tailor to their own needs.
Step 3: Adjourning
The final step in group development is adjourning. We send a final report with all deliverables, including products, evaluation pieces, slides, and recommendations for future events
Optional Additions: Want to see how your network grows over the course of the event? Ask us about Live social network analysis!
Before
After
Testimonials
We have worked with Divergent Science for three multi-day events over the past few years. Our most recent event was a participant-led “un-conference,” which was a complex summit including scientists of different disciplines and career levels coming together to achieve scientific, thematic, and technical goals. We collaborated with DS to meet all of those goals, and they supported us from the beginning to ensure that pre-summit events aligned with what actually happened during the summit. Changes during the planning process and our shifting priorities were always met with a “yes, can do, just let us know what you need” attitude. We felt completely confident in their leadership and direction during the summit itself, and have already invited them to facilitate at next year’s event.
I worked with Divergent Science to plan and facilitate a multi-day event focused on advancing ocean exploration. This event was unique in that we needed many facilitators to assist our break-out groups. DS trained eight early-career researchers in science facilitation and then co-facilitated the event with us. Without their guidance, the goals of our forum could not have been met in their entirety. They helped us write the agenda, gave sound advice when problems arose, and eased any concerns about the event progressing smoothly. They were a joy to work with and we would welcome any opportunity to collaborate again.
Divergent Science’s group formation strategies made it easy for participants to recognize compatible group mates during the summit. By the end of the second day, our group was already beginning data analysis, and had scheduled recurring meetings for the next several months.
Contact us for a customized Scope of work for your team or institution.
We use thoughtful pricing based on your current team needs.
