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Kati Thompson
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Click here to open an Adobe PDF of my Knowledge Worker Resume. It is loaded with jargon and terms of art; the information below will help if you are not already familiar with the DesignShop® event process.

I have had many questions, from friends, clients, employers, and those who simply stumble across my web page, as to exactly what I DO when I disappear for a week at a time to work at a DesignShop® strategic planning event. I will aim to answer that question here, at least in part.

What is a DesignShop® Event?

The purpose of this page is not to give a complete description of a DesignShop® event--it is a very complex process. Much has been written, including entire books, as to the exact nature of a DesignShop® from a business or client perspective. It is an amazing, intense process which usually spans three 10-12 hour days, bringing together 40-100 stakeholders from all levels of an organization (C-level to mailroom) to collaborate in order to solve complex problems.

The term DesignShop® is proprietary, patented, and is owned by the MG Taylor Corporation. You can find more information on the process itself at these links:

• MG Taylor Website: What is a DesignShop® Event?
• knOwhere (a subsidiary of MG Taylor): DesignShop® Event
• Leaping the Abbyss (a book on MG Taylor and DesignShop® Events which is available in its entirety online or in softcover via Amazon.com.
  

KreW Roles

The purpose of this page is to provide some information about the DesignShop® process from a crew perspective. The people who facilitate the execution of these events refer to ourselves as Knowledge Workers (or KreW). Our mission is to facilitate, or "make easy," every major and minute detail of the DesignShop® event. We aim, for the most part, to be invisible to the participants who have come to solve a particular problem.

The first, and most visible to the client, role is that of the front of the room Facilitator. The person filling that role works with the client, sometimes for months, before, during, and after the event, and leads group sessions from the front of the room.

The other KreW roles sometimes change based on the exact nature, length, and complexity of the event. During the course of any one event, a KreW member may be called upon to fill one or a number of roles (for example, the Graphics lead may also be the Web Journal lead). We have our own jargon for the names of these roles, so I will try to list them here with names more familiar to those coming here for the first time (our terms are listed in parentheses).

• Process Facilitator (PF) - This is the KreW member who leads the rest of the KreW, serving as central point of contact. This role can begin weeks or months in advance of the event, handling details such as KreW selection, hotel arrangements, catering, logistics, etc. During the event, the PF ensures all details of the agenda are carried out at the appropriate time, assignments are delivered, data is collected, notifies KreW of any late breaking changes to the agenda, and fills in any holes that may arise. This role facilitates the work of the KreW so they can more effectively facilitate the experience of the participants.
• Technical Writer and Creative Writer (writing team) - This team works with the Facilitator and client sponsor team to develop assignments targeted specifically toward the particular group and the issues they seek to resolve. This can be intense, as our agenda is flexible; if the output of any one exercise deems it necessary, assignments and even entire day's agendas can be scrapped and recreated at a moment's notice.
• Document Production - This person receives assignments from the writing team, assembles them with themed graphics from the graphics team, and prepares them for delivery to the participants. This role also includes production of team lists, and gathering all the output from the team assignments in order to create a chronological archive of all proceedings of the event.
• Interior Designer (environment)- This team ensures the space in which the event takes place is pristine, and keeps it that way. This is a much bigger job than it sounds; DesignShop® events take place in a very specific type of environment. When the environment is a hotel ballroom, all furniture, library, supplies, etc., are brought in for the event. Here is a tour of an event and the space in which events are held as an example. This is an example of a new, environment just installed in Europe (MG Taylor also builds all the furniture).
• Cartoonist or Graphic Facilitator (scribe) - In most DesignShop® events group sessions, participants are seated by a 40' curved white board. The scribe captures salient points of the discussion via words and graphics to help cement the conversation in the participant's minds (especially important for the ~60% of us who learn visually).
• Graphic Designer (graphics) - Each event has a "theme" to create a cohesive experience for the participants. The person in this role creates graphics for the event which are carried through on walls, all team lists, assignments, Web Journal, and any other products of the event.
• Researcher - Most events are held in a location with a fairly large library available. The researcher looks for appropriate books, passages from books, and uses the Internet to find information to enrich the event or enlighten the participants.
• Transcriptionist (documentator) - This team captures somewhat synthesized (usually not word for word) typed documentation of all group proceedings. This capture is done, for the most part, in real time, though one can return to the tape when necessary. Output is then placed into the Web Journal of the event.
• Disc Jockey and Audio Engineer (music facilitation) - Choose, play, and track music appropriate to the mood of each passing moment of the event. Music is used to open the day, facilitate work, send participants off to work, call them back to the main room, close the day, etc. This person is often called upon to mix audio for the rest of the room microphones as well, when required.
• Videographer and Video Editor (video) - Record details of the event via video. Broadcast multi camera video of group sessions live to large screens so the entire group can see. When there is a multi-camera shoot, another role of Video Mixer is created; that person decides which of the three cameras is broadcast and captured as the session proceeds. Edit captured video into a product to be delivered to the client at the conclusion of the event.
• Photographer and Digital Photography Editor (photos) - Capture participants, the environment, all work created on the walls, etc. Edit and prepare photos (using PhotoShop, White Board Photo, etc.) for use in final printed documents, graphics, or Web Journal.
• Web Designer (web) - Everything produced by the roles above during the course of the event: digital photos, scribed walls, captured text, assignments, team lists, video, etc., are all combined into a single, password protected, web site (Web Journal) and delivered to the client within 48 hours of the conclusion of the event. This work product lives on to help the clients move forward with the work they have crafted during the event.

The KreW arrives at the event location a day or two before the event begins to create all the details of the event. We stay for a couple days afterward to create a Web Journal and other work products to return to the client. As the event begins, the KreW begins work well before the 10-12 hour participant day begins and often stays for hours after they leave, designing and crafting assignments for the following day.

As you can see, this is an intense, complex process. It can be grueling. It's also monumentally rewarding and fun.