The Workshop Workshop
Collaborative Working Sessions that WORK
Workshops are a powerful tool. They can be used for getting teams to agree on a common direction to move forward to align on a strategy. They can be used to uncover tensions and needs across departments, customers, and audiences. They can be an incredibly efficient use of time and resources. When they go badly, they are worse than a waste of time: they suck the energy out of your teams and create division where it didn’t exist.
And in our new world of online collaboration, they’ve become both increasingly important and increasingly difficult to do.
In this highly interactive “meta workshop”, you’ll learn how to plan, structure, and run an online or in-person working session that results in outputs you can actually use.
Who is this for?
Strategists who want to run the best brand or strategy workshops
Agency account teams who need help planning, structuring, and executing working sessions
Marketers wanting to get better at planning with their teams and agency partners
Anyone who wants to get better at managing productive meetings, either in-person or online
What will I get out of this?
Practical advice on how to plan and structure a collaborative workshop
Hands-on experience creating and running your own workshop components
An understanding of how to better facilitate a collaborative session
An introduction into the different tools to use for running workshops, including the best ways to use Zoom, JamBoard, and other collaborative tools
Tips and tactics for both online workshops and in-person workshops
Who’s running this thing?
Hi. I’m Parker Mason, a brand and digital strategist with 15+ years of experience working on a mix of local companies, global brands, and start-ups in Toronto, Auckland, Sydney, Tokyo, and Vancouver.
I’m an active member of the Account Planning Group of Canada, host one of Western Canada’s largest science-fiction book clubs, and run roleplaying games via Zoom. I’ve also spent the last few years planning and moderating countless brand discovery and content planning workshops for clients.
Connect with me on LinkedIn, Twitter or via the form below if you want to talk.
“We brought Parker in to help us tackle one of the most complex clients our agency has ever worked with. He helped us run a series of workshops that were hugely helpful in understanding the depth and breadth of the project, achieving alignment, and uncovering meaningful insights. The work we accomplished in the workshops laid a really important foundation for the overall success of the project. ”
“The Account Planning Group of Canada teamed up with Parker to run an online, creative brief writing webinar for our Vancouver chapter. And we’re glad we did. It was his involvement that elevated it from being an expected, one way knowledge-download into a unique, exercise-rich, interactive workshop. He helped focus the content for the audience, adapt our exercises to work online and organized the necessary virtual breakout rooms and materials. We were impressed by his hands-on workshop smarts and loved the “yes, we can” enthusiasm he brought to the initiative. Definite two thumbs up!”
“We brought Parker in on numerous occasions to help us lead collaborative working sessions with clients and to develop a proprietary brand workshop approach that our agency still uses today. I’d definitely recommend his unique way of running these kinds of sessions.”