Featured
New Product: 90-Minute Strategic Planning
Posted by: Kai Degner in Exploring New Options, Featured, Making Decisions, Strategic Planning on December 7th, 2009
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The Community Mediation Center is pleased to announce a new product to serve local business as we transition into 2010:
90-Minute Strategic Planning!
Many businesses understand the value of quality strategic planning but cannot afford the costs of time and money to hire professional facilitators. This new approach combines a staff pre-survey with ONE professionally facilitated meeting to identify and prioritize actions around core challenges and opportunities.
Special Discount!
We understand the difficult economy and so – through January 31 – we are offering a special discounted price of $495. Harrisonburg-Rockingham Chamber of Commerce members receive an additional 15% discount!
Business owners, department managers, church leaders, and others: start 2010 with renewed direction – call us today! (540) 434-0059 or use the contact form.
HR Chamber Members Save 15%!
Posted by: Kai Degner in Featured on June 26th, 2009
The Harrisonburg Rockingham Chamber of Commerce has approved a new member benefit: all members receive 15% off all services provided by the Community Mediation Center. That includes the Bluestone Group!
“This is indicative of the Community Mediation Center’s commitment to strengthen our local business community with professional and affordable facilitation, training, and mediation services,” says Tim Ruebke, Executive Director of the Community Mediation Center.
In addition to staff retreats, strategic planning, and conflict resolution, Chamber members save 15% on the following trainings:
Facilitating Group Decisions and Conflicted Topics
Diversity and Sensitivity Training
Communication and Conflict Styles in the Workplace
Dealing with Intense Emotions
Communication Skills & Difficult Conversations
Sexual Harassment Prevention
Principles and Applications of Restorative Justice
Business Mediation Training
Manager as Mediator
Listening 101
If you are a Chamber member and would like more information, contact Kai Degner at kai@weworkitout.org or 540-434-0059.
Listening 101 for Businesses and Organizations
Posted by: Kai Degner in Better Meetings Ideas, Featured, Managing Conflict on March 9th, 2009
Listening is fundamental to our businesses and organizations, whether as a manager, sales person, or customer service representative. Perhaps you or your organization could benefit from an experience that will leave you with new tools to listen even more effectively. There is an exciting four-week online course available for people, businesses, and organizations: Listening 101.
Members of the Bluestone Group at the Community Mediation Center are pleased to have developed this course to be practical and to immediately have an impact at work and in life. The course is conveniently scheduled, requires no travel, and is designed to let each participant identify ways to become an more consistent and intentional listener.
Discounted group rates are available, so sales teams, managers, boards of directors, or other leadership groups can participate to increase the entire organization’s capacity to effectively listen. Visit www.Listening101.com to learn more!
Success! Harrisonburg Children’s Museum
Posted by: Kai Degner in BG in Action, Featured, Success Stories on March 3rd, 2009
Tim Ruebke of the Bluestone Group facilitated the annual board retreat for the Harrisonburg Children’s Museum. Lisa Shull, the executive director, had the following to say. If your organization or business is planning a retreat, the Bluestone Group is at your service!
“We utilized the CMC’s facilitation services for our annual Board retreat. The staff was extremely knowledgeable and effective in helping us plan activities designed to meet our goals. From pre-planning and survey work to implementation and follow-up, we couldn’t be more pleased with the outcome of our event.
Having an outside facilitator enabled Board members to fully engage in topics of discussion without the added responsibility of managing the session.
We also enjoyed use of the CMC’s meeting room and found the atmosphere and arrangement to be very conducive for both large and small group work. ”
Listen to an Introduction
Posted by: Kai Degner in Featured, Meet the Bluestone Group on March 3rd, 2009
We begun posting better meeting ideas, success stories, and profiles of our roster. Now hear a 90-second introduction to The Bluestone Group:
Success! Massanutten Property Owners Association
Posted by: Kai Degner in Featured, Success Stories on March 2nd, 2009
In February 2009, The Bluestone Group facilitated a planning retreat for the Massanutten Property Owners Association. This is the third MPOA retreat we facilitated, a sign they appreciate our services. But don’t take our word for it – here’s Betty Newell, the President of the MPOA Board of Directors!
February 22, 2009
Dear Paula and Kai,
Just wanted to say “thanks” for helping us have such a productive (and pleasant) board retreat. I think everyone’s expectations were met or exceeded and we definitely will be able to provide some direction to the Long Range Planning Committee.
It is nice to work with the Community Mediation Center again and I know, first hand, what a resource you are to our community! Thanks again for your help in planning our agenda so that we really accomplished what we wanted to do.
Betty Newell
Introducing BluestoneGroup.org
Posted by: Kai Degner in Featured, Meet the Bluestone Group on February 9th, 2009
The Community Mediation Center in Harrisonburg, VA, is proud to introduce the Bluestone Group, a network of professional facilitators who are adept at working with businesses and groups to make meetings effective, efficient, creative, and participatory.
BluestoneGroup.org will catalog innovative meeting techniques. Content will be provided by authors from the Bluestone Group. Over time, this website will become a resource for people and organizations interested in exploring ways to make their organizations thrive with successful events.
The Bluestone Group is also at your service for planning creative, effective, and efficient meetings, retreats, and planning processes for businesses, organizations, teams, and communities.
Meet Timothy J. Ruebke
Posted by: Kai Degner in Featured, Meet the Bluestone Group on February 8th, 2009
Timothy J. Ruebke
Timothy J. Ruebke
Facilitator, Host, Mediator, Moderator, Guide, Event Planner, Listener
Tim’s facilitation experience includes local government, university, and neighborhood relations; nonprofit and for-profit strategic planning; workplace conflict resolution; one-day or two-day retreats; large group dialogues, debates, and forums; team-building; and more. Tim is currently the Executive Director at the Community Mediation Center in Harrisonburg, VA. Currently certified to mentor-mediate civil and family circuit court cases, Tim has worked at CMC since 1992 and has completed 1400 cases in general, family, criminal, and complex organizational /multi-party issues. He is also a certified trainer and has taught ADR courses for James Madison University and Eastern Mennonite University as an adjunct faculty member. He is an advanced practitioner member of the Association for Conflict Resolution (ACR) and a previous board member of the Virginia Mediation Network (VMN) and of the Restorative Justice Association of Virginia (RJAV). Tim has a BS in Social Work and an MA in Conflict Transformation from Eastern Mennonite University.
Ask us now! A free 30-minute consultation
Posted by: Kai Degner in Featured on February 1st, 2009
Planning a meeting, retreat, conference, or strategic planning session?
Take 60 seconds to fill out the form below and a member of the Bluestone Group will contact you within 24 hours to discuss how to make your event successful! The 30-minute consultation is free of charge!
Meet Kai Degner
Posted by: Kai Degner in Featured, Meet the Bluestone Group on February 1st, 2009
Kai
Kai Degner
Kai serves as the Director of Organizational Communication at the Community Mediation Center in Harrisonburg, VA, which houses the Bluestone Group. He currently serves as mayor and city council-member in Harrisonburg, VA.
He brings experience with community dialogues and forums, debates, strategic planning facilitation, retreat and conference design, moderating/emceeing, and using innovative self-organization methods. He was on the steering committee for the 2006 National Conference on Dialogue and Deliberation. He is founder of The OrangeBand Initiative, an event begun at James Madison University to promote civil discourse about issues that matter. He has coordinated over 300 community dialogues and forums, including one on C-SPAN.
Kai is skilled in applying a combination of innovative meeting and conference techniques designed to allow for rich participation, creative exploration, and effective decision-making. These include Open Space Technology, World Cafe, Dynamic Facilitation, and more. He has an undergraduate degree in Integrated Science and Technology and a Masters in Business Administration from James Madison University.
