SPONSOR For This Conference	This Facilities for the 31st Midwest Facilitation Conference are provided by the Summit Executive Centre, 205 N Michigan Ave, South Tower - 10th Floor, Chicago, IL 60601, http://www.summitchicago.com
SPONSOR: Nightingale Conant	Since 1993, Nightingale-Conant (Niles, Illinois) has been a most significant contributing sponsor to MFN providing the vast majority of door prizes. Nightingale-Conant is the largest producer and distributor of instructional and motivational audio and video tapes for Personal and Business Development, Wealth Building, Sales, Mind Technology, Health & Wellness and Spiritual Growth. Nightingale-Conant also provides Coaching Services and has a full-service Speakers' Bureau. Please visit their website at: http://www.nightingale.com
SPONSOR: University Associates	Since 1993, University Associates, has been another significant sponsor and supporter of MFN activities, providing products and a number of high-value door prizes, such as tuition-free seats in their workshops. Please visit their website at: http://www.universityassociates.com
Conference Fees	$100.00 per participant on or before January 6th (Early Registration Discount) $120.00 per participant after January 6th $120.00 per participant at the door (no guarantee of availability) Fee includes Conference, Materials, Continental Breakfast & Lunch.  Fee Does NOT include Lodging (see suggestions below). Cancellations after January 6th or no shows may be assessed a cancellation fee
5 Ways to Register	Click Here to go to Registration Information Page Phone: (773)-463-2288 - During the recording press the "2" key. Please announce 'MFN Conference Registration', your company name, and the name, phone # and payment information of each registrant. Fax: (773)-463-9322 - Fax completed registration form with payment information for each registrant. E-Mail: register@midwest-facilitators.net - E-mail completed registration form with payment information and subject: 'MFN Conference Registration'. Snail-mail: Mail completed registration form with payment information to: MFN c/o Jordan-Webb, 2656 W Montrose Ave,  Suite 110, Chicago, IL 60618. On-Site: Registration and payment ($120.00) on-site is subject to availability. No guarantee without pre-registration.
On-Line Information	Chicago, IL Information Websites: Weather Information - http://www.weather.com/weather/local/60601 City of Chicago - http://www.cityofchicago.org  or  http://www.ci.chi.il.us City Search for Chicago - http://www.chicago.citysearch.com  World Web Travel Guide - http://www.chicago.worldweb.com Chicago Convention and Tourism Bureau - http://www.choosechicago.com All About Chicago - http://www.allabout-chicago.com AreaGuides.Net - http://chicago.areaguides.net Chicago Tribune - http://www.chicagotribune.com Chicago Sun-Times - http://www.suntimes.com Chicago Reader - http://www.chireader.com Navy Pier - http://www.navypier.com Wendella Boat Rides - http://www.wendellaboats.com Mercury Boat Cruises - http://centerstage.net/other/mercury-boat-cruises.html Daily Herald - http://www.dailyherald.com Chicago Public Library - http://cpl.lib.uic.edu Fun Places to Go With Kids - http://www.FunPlacesToGoWithKids.com Ken Schessler's America/Chicago Tours - http://members.aol.com/KSchessler/wizzk.html Palmer's Walking Guide - http://www.palmersguide.com/chicago Sears Tower - http://www.searstower.com Museum of Science & Industry - http://www.msichicago.org Field Museum of Natural History - http://www.fmnh.org Shedd Aquarium - http://www.sheddnet.org Adler Planetarium & Astronomy Museum - http://www.adlerplanetarium.org Art Institute of Chicago - http://www.artic.edu Museum of Contemporary Art - http://www.mcachicago.org Chicago Historical Society - http://www.chicagohs.org Chicago Children's Museum - http://www.chichildrensmuseum.org Morton Arboretum - http://www.mortonarb.org Chicago Botanic Garden - http://www.chicago-botanic.org Chicago Architecture - http://www.yelodog.com Chicago's Greektown - http://www.chicagosgreektown.com Chicago's Chinatown - http://www.chicagochinatown.net Musicals - http://dir.yahoo.com/Arts/Performing_Arts/Theater/Musicals/Shows/Chicago Theater - http://dir.yahoo.com/Regional/U_S__States/Illinois/Cities/Chicago/Entertainment_and_Arts/Theater Chicago White Sox - http://chicago.whitesox.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/cws/homepage/cws_homepage.jsp Chicago Cubs - http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/chc/homepage/chc_homepage.jsp
Meals	Continental breakfast, lunch and afternoon snack are included in the Conference fee.  Participants with special dietary needs contact Linda Romansic: (847)-566-0644 or  romansicl@aol.com
Dress Code	Business Casual.

Friday, January 10, 2003

Companies can distinguish themselves from their competition through extraordinary customer service.  Increasingly, customer focused work teams are emerging as a key strategy of leading-edged companies who want to create this differentiation.  In this highly interactive session, participants will learn the following:
 
• Tools and techniques with which to build customer focused work groups;
• Exercises and data that help build awareness and enthusiasm regarding customer focus and service;
• Models and methods for groups to design, implement and monitor their own strategies for improving customer service.


There is a lot of talk about the importance of customer service.  There is a lot of rhetoric on the subject.  The challenge is to actually deliver extraordinary customer service on a consistent basis.  For many growth- oriented companies, delivering good customer service is where "the rubber meets the road".    This is not your ordinary session.  It is very interactive, engaging and based on proven methods.  Participants will leave with very applicable and relevant tools and techniques.  These can be used to build customer focused teams in the work place.

Bruce Hodes CMI

Bruce Hodes, founder and head coach of CMI, works with business executives and teams allowing them to focus and generate action. He works with firms in the areas of strategic business planning, team building, team implementation and culture shifts.   Bruce has given presentations at numerous conferences. Some of these include: Uniform and Textile Services Association, Independent Textile Services Association, Dust Control Association, the International Kitchen Exhaust Cleaners Association, The National Association of Computer Consultant Businesses Conference and The American Society for Training and Development. Bruce has also facilitated workshops for many CEO groups and has presented at numerous conferences and workshops both nationally and internationally.  Bruce is the author of the following articles: Inc. Magazine Complete Guide to Superior Customer Service, 1994. Hodes has also published The Coach's Handbook.  Some of CMI's clients include: Bell & Howell, Motorola China Operations, Allstate Insurance, the UIC MBA Program, and Market Day. CMI has been involved with international projects in China and Canada.  Mr. Hodes is a graduate of the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, from which he has earned a Masters in Management degree. He also has a Masters in Social Work from George Williams College.

Visit CMI's website at: http://www.cmiteamwork.com
 

To maintain a quality of work, you need to learn, grow, get feedback, and be honest with yourself.  This session focuses on staying successful by continuing in business. To succeed in that way, you need a plan. A plan is not a static document. It is a process whereby you continuously look at who you are, where you are going, and how you'll get there. You need to know and plan out where you are going and how you'll get there both personally and professionally - or you go wherever someone else dictates. Developing a plan for yourself forces you to think through: who you are; what you're good at; to whom you want to sell; and how you'll attract your customers.

This interactive workshop will have participants develop their own plan for success, based on the issues raised in the article "Being Successful", in Gary Rush's lastest FAST Newsletter.  Having been in business for 17 1/2 years and a successful facilitator for over 19 years, Gary will share some of what he has learned and observed.  This is a timely issue since there seems to be an increase in the use of facilitators - some who remain in companies and some who venture out on their own.   This session will help participants examine two different measures of success:

• Your quality of work - i.e., how good are you as a facilitator; and
• Your continued tenure in business - i.e., how long do you remain in business or working as a facilitator.

Both measures are important and often related.  The first measure defines whether you are a good facilitator or not. Do clients ask for you to return? Are the clients satisfied with your work?  Did the workshops succeed?  These are the questions that define the quality of your work.  If the answers are "yes", then you are doing a job that the clients view as quality. You will also learn to ask yourself, "Am I satisfied with my work?"  This helps define quality from both your client's eyes as well as yours.   The second measure - are you still in business - is a little different. Why do some good facilitators fail in business and some poor ones succeed?  Facilitation skills and business skills are not the same. Quality work, alone, does not keep you in business. Staying in business requires that clients - internal or external - hire you. That requires a plan.  To maintain a quality of work, you need to learn, grow, get feedback, and be honest with yourself.  In order to focus on staying successful by continuing in business, you will need a plan. A plan is not a static document. It is a process whereby you continuously look at who you are, where you are going, and how you'll get there. You need to know and plan out where you are going and how you'll get there both personally and professionally - or you go wherever someone else dictates. Developing a plan for yourself forces you to think through: who you are; what you're good at; to whom you want to sell; how you'll attract your customers.   This plan needs to be done for yourself and for your role as a facilitator - in other words "As a person, my mission is to.." and "As a facilitator, my mission is to.." As a facilitator, look at:

• What niche do you fill? Business? IT? Both? Process focus or relationship focus?
• Who are your target customers? Corporate? Government? Non-Profit?
• How do you reach your customers? Advertising? Seminars? Telephone? Internet?
• What do you want to provide? Consulting? Facilitating? Project Management?
• What do you want to get in return? Do you want to grow a business? How much do you want to make? How long do you want to do this?


The critical elements of the plan are: Your Mission - who you are; Your Vision - where you are going; Your Values - what you believe in and how you'll behave; Your Objectives - targets to achieve; Your Strategies - what you'll do to reach your targets/objectives.  From these elements, you can plan tactical work - projects, advertising, seminars, education, etc. - to implement the strategies. These tactical efforts define your annual budget. These tactical efforts also feed back to your plan to help you decide if it's working or if you need to change it.

This session will help you understand how and when to review this plan with colleagues, friends, and family and how to get their input, and will help you understand why you need to make the plan public so that it keeps you in focus and helps you avoid efforts that distract you from what you want to accomplish.  Gary has used plans for many years.  First he developed a plan for MG Rush Systems, Inc. and largely achieved it.  Lately, Gary, developed a plan for a restaurant - named Miracles, which he will implement in the future.  Both of these plans help guide him, yet both plans have changed over time - and will continue to change as life, the economy, and other factors dictate.  Change is ever-present.  The plan is not static.  Review it periodically. Don't be afraid to revise it to keep it alive and current.  Remember, if you fail to plan, you plan to fail.

Click Here for a Mind Map of Gary's Session

 

Gary Rush MG Rush Systems, Inc

Gary Rush is president and founder of MG Rush Systems, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in the finest facilitation services.  MG Rush Systems was formed in 1985 to offer consulting, training, and facilitator services.  Prior to starting MG Rush Systems, Gary worked in the insurance and the oil and gas industries.  After extensive research into interactive design ("JAD") techniques and over 3000 hours of experi-ence leading sessions, Mr. Rush created a proprietary facilitation process called FAST.  Since developing FAST in 1985, Mr. Rush has trained over 2500 people in 200+ companies in 18 countries.  Each year, Gary teaches between 20 and 30 6-day facilitation classes, numerous 3-day facilitation classes, and data modeling classes.  He also facilitates critical workshops for companies on a regular basis.  Mr. Rush has helped implement FAST at numerous companies, including some of the largest in the world.  He is widely published and is a recognized leader in the movement towards using facilitated workshops.

Visit MG Rush Systems' website at: http://www.mgrush.com

This session is based on the premise that when organizations need to create and implement significant changes quickly, they have to use methods that involve everyone who is impacted by the desired outcome.  The session focuses on the principles, methods, and benefits underlying whole systems change, with a focus on the facilitation methods and considerations when working with large groups of participants in order to create rapid change.  Over the last 14 years, Drew has helped corporations & not-for-profit organizations use this approach to create new visions, overcome key differences, gain alignment around strategies, and create new organizational communication structures. Participants will be challenged to examine and discuss their assumptions about how they plan for and implement change in their organization.  They will discuss the effectiveness and limitations of traditional strategic planning and other change methodologies.   During the session, participants will have the opportunity to identify applications for the principles in their own organizations, and they will work as a large group to build a "mind map" that addresses a current issue, challenge, or event.  This session is intended for those facilitators, managers, human resources professionals, and others who are responsible for creating, considering, implementing, or producing significant changes or visions for departments or organizations.  Relying on his experience in designing and implementing system changes using the Future Search model (Weisbord & Janoff) as well as other whole system planning and change methods, Drew will help participants understand the key consideration and benefits of a whole systems approach when creating and implementing significant change.

From this session, participants will learn:

• The key components to consider when using a whole systems approach,
• What kinds of outcomes are possible when using Future Search and other whole system planning and change methods,
• The strategic issues you can control and those you can't when using a whole systems approach,
• How this method can help large groups of people quickly identify and address critical organizational challenges and opportunities,
• How to use "differentiation and integration" techniques to establish common ground among people with widely divergent viewpoints or opinions.

Session Outline

• A short history on the Change in organizations
• Principles underlying Future Search and other whole systems change or visioning methods
• Stages of the Process
• Tools & Methods (Interactive)
• Implementation
• Q&A

Drew Howick & Jeff Hanan Howick Associates

Drew Howick is the co-founder and Managing Partner of Howick Associates, a Madison, WI based organizational development and management consulting firm. With more than 20 years of experience in the field, Drew focuses on designing and facilitating group discussions that enable the participants to solve a problem or advance an issue. He works with groups of all sizes to see that the conversation that needs to happen does happen.thereby releasing the potential of the group.  Drew also collaborates with clients to develop meaningful learning experiences for adult audiences. For example, Drew worked with a team of corporate executives to design a week-long conference for senior managers worldwide. By using a variety of learning experiences and creative meeting designs, HOWICK ASSOCIATES enabled the participants to truly understand the organization's new strategic direction.  Participants were also equipped with tools and techniques for communicating this strategy to their respective organizations.  Drew's consulting and training experience is international in scope; he has worked with groups in Egypt, South Africa, England, Venezuela, Spain, France, Germany, Greece and Cyprus.  He is also co-author and publisher of the book, The New Compleat Facilitator: a handbook for facilitators.

Jeff Hanan works with senior and mid-level managers at a diverse range of organizations to develop organizational, team and individual improvement strategies and interventions.  He has designed and facilitated strategic planning sessions, designed and conducted organizational climate and multi-rater assessments and developed data collection strategies to improve customer satisfaction or support process reform. Jeff has also collaborated with clients to introduce innovations such as learning maps, balanced scorecards and system diagrams.  Jeff was also part of the team that wrote the book, The New Compleat Facilitator:  a handbook for facilitators.

Visit Howick Associates' website at: http://www.howickassociates.com

This session provides an entertaining look back at the 1990s, technology's golden era, and three important (and controversial) trends that Alex sees taking shape in the world of business technology. This lively, interactive program will examine the latest technology trends and their effects on the audience's lives, work, and companies.  Topics to be discussed in the program include: why IT professionals (both internal and outsourced) need to be as good with people as they are with technology; and why technology has been equal parts a bane and a boon despite the media's daily reports to the contrary.

In this session, Alex will discuss:
 
• Why Microsoft will gradually lose market share over the next few years and what it means to the audience.
• Why you should not upgrade your hardware and software  99 percent of the time.
• Why your I.T. professionals (both internal and outsourced) better be as good with people as they are with technology.
• Why technology has been equal parts a bane and a boon despite the media's daily reports to the contrary.

Visit Strategic Consulting's website at: http://www.StrategicGrp.com and tekTOUR's website at: http://www.tekTOUR.com