Grow your own meeting

This spring my son, who is 10 years old,  started with gardening in school:  his class has a plot and they grow all kinds of things:  beetroot, onions, broad beans, fennel, potatoes, garlic – you name it.

A variety of vegetables that is nurtured with care and eaten with joy – even the things he usually avoids. It seems that being in charge of a vegetable makes all the difference. It is mine, I grew it, I will eat it. All of it. It is good stuff.

For a boy who lives in the city, growing his own food is really magical. And I guess it is true: you are much more likely to try new things if you have some influcence over them.  Participate, engage, facilitate, care.

That made me think: doesn't this apply to events as well? Where attendees are able to plant their own seeds, have a say about the content and then take some of that content back home? An event made by audience participation with attendees as stakeholders, owners almost, instead of buyers who can shop in any store. 

Just wondering: how many events are made this way? With true community participation? And more important: a willingness of the organizer to let attendees look after their own specific part of the overall schedule? Trust them to make it work. To water the plants if needed, so to say, harvest them when it is time, and maybe start new varieties.Crowdsource-style. All in the same plot, at the same event. Watch it grow.

When all participants get a sense of ownership,  an event will have a much bigger part in their professional lives. They made it; they will attend it. Organicly grown, sustainable meetings: what more can you ask for?

Maybe a drop of rain, now and then.