RIVERHEAD The Art of Gathering: How We Meet and Why It Matters

100 pages of reading to get to a single suggestion "define the purpose of your gathering". In all honesty, I've struggled to continue reading this book as a result of the amount of non-relevant information that is mostly anecdotal, and frankly feels made up, that is supposed to provide 'evidence' that you should actually put some thought into planning your gatherings. I think what's missing is good story telling. Anyway, the one idea from this book that is appealing is the idea of engaging an experienced coach to guide you through planning complex gatherings until you learn the process.Keep in mind this is an interim review and once I've finished reading the book I'll come back and update the review. Maybe it will get better :)

A book full of 'Ah-ha!' moments and easy to follow strategies to make your next gathering more purposeful. Whether it is a dinner with friends, a company meeting, a classroom lesson, a large party, a wedding, or a picnic in the park. Learn about the importance of purpose, including vs excluding people, the invitation (once it is given the gathering has begun, so make use of this time), alternative worlds and pop-up rules, the importance of being to be a generous authority and why closing a gathering is just as important as opening it. Definitely a book to re-read.

This is at times a bit challenging to get through as there is some repetition, however it really changed the way I looked at gathering (even dinner with my parents) for work, play and otherwise. I would recommend this as I think it provides interesting perspective through which we can add purpose to gathering.

Was ich an diesem Buch mag: es geht zwar um Moderation, aber die zahlreichen Beispiele zeigen, wie sehr Moderation mehr ist als Workshops und Meetings! Auch in Familien oder im Gerichtssaal kann man mit der richtigen Haltung so viel für ein besseres und verständnisvolles Miteinander tun!

The stories as live examples of the concepts are brilliant!! Lovely written!!