This year I decided to treat myself with a conference I always wanted to go ... well I had in wish list attend a conference of Sivasailam Thiagarajan (a.k.a. Thiagi). I have been following his newsletters and activities in www.thiagi.com since 1998.Attending to this year NASAGA conference (originally in my quest to listen to Thiagi live!) exceeded my expectations. All the professionals (speakers and attendees) were very enthusiastic about sharing ideas. This conference not only filled my mind but also my soul ...
... and empty my pockets in an auction ;-P to provide scholarships to first time attendees to the next year event (just kidding I gladly contributed).
NAGASA 2008 was a truly open & honest collaboration space ... tossing and getting ideas in each session, break and presentation. An experience very far from these places where everybody is trying to sell their products.
All the ideas in the sessions had a lot of applicability in training and facilitation. In fact I had the chance to know about a game called "The beer game" that reproduce a supply chain for my logistics courses.
And the Aha! of the conference for me was the "debrief" and techniques to enhance it.
The title GAS: Games, Activities & Simulations, was more than appropriate considering that the conference was in Indianapolis !
I recommend you NASAGA conferences. The next one will be on October 2009 in Washington D.C.
Stay tuned, visiting their website for more info: www.nasaga.org
