This training is organized by a non-profit team of volunteer dedicated to the calling and we wish to make this training accessible to as many people as possible. In line with the spirit of transparency and open sharing, this page is dedicated to sharing with the public the reasoning behind the economy aspect of the training. We wish to provide the training at the lowest cost possible while still maintaining a high level of quality staying true to Art of Hosting standard worldwide.
Our hope is to grow a community in Vietnam, that will be able to deliver future Art of Hosting training without having to invite hosts from abroad - and making thus the price lower for future training. We are aware of the high barrier that this can be for some people wanting to join as individuals and we wish to let the door open for them. We invite you to reach out to us if this is your case, and we will do our best to make it happen.
This training focuses on participation and collaboration. This training really invite participants into new ways of thinking and working together. The worldview and skills that support collaboration must be experienced and practiced. And our relationship to money is one place to start. The Core Team that has called and is hosting this training is working to be conscious and transparent in how we deal with all aspects of the training including the financial. So, we would like to offer some of the thinking that has gone into establishing the price of the training. In offering this, we are inviting you to be a participant in this learning by joining us in exploring what it means to consciously deal with money.
Our financial decisions have been based upon some basic principles and values that we share:
Quality: We are offering a quality practice and learning opportunity that requires a team of experienced hosts. Bringing a team of people is expensive and the travel costs are a major component of the budget.
Honor contribution and expertise: The hosting team brings many years of experience and we would like to honor this by compensating them accordingly. The reality is that they are offering their service at a fraction of what they get paid elsewhere in the world.
Diversity: These trainings benefit greatly from the diversity among participants. It is important to have students, social entrepreneurs, activists and other less well-paid participants in addition to participants from the business world.
Inclusion: We would like to see everyone who feels called to be able to attend this training regardless of their financial situation.
Transparency: Everyone involved with this event is welcome to all information related to the economy of the training.
In attempting to practice these values and principles, we have worked to develop the most reasonably priced training possible while still providing comfortable conditions for learning. We have priced the registration fee as low as possible with the expectation that this will attract more participants to cover the costs.
Most of all, this work is grounded in the practice of ‘asking for what you need and offering what you can’. Please, if you need assistance, ask. If you are able to contribute your support in any way, please offer. Together, we are confident that we will become a community that learns to practice collaboration, even in how we deal with money.
Community Support and Donation
In Southeast Asia, there is a hunger among the new generation of emerging leaders to learn the practices for creating a different future. In 2016, over 30 people participated in the first Art of Hosting training held in Vietnam focused on the calling question of ‘how can we create engaging and supportive learning environments?’. Enthusiasm was high following the training and within a few months there was a recognition of how difficult it is to sustain change in existing systems and to invite in new, participatory practices. This led to the calling of a second Art of Hosting training in Vietnam scheduled for November 2017 exploring the question of ‘how can we create collaborative working cultures were people and business can thrive?’.
The skills of collaboration are essential in our complex modern world. People everywhere seem to be talking about the need for collaboration and innovation but few organizations seem to know how to practice it. These needs are particularly acute in cultures that are rapidly modernizing and struggling to discover how to embrace the modern world without losing traditional values. In such times and situations, there is a need for turning to one another in conversation and learning to create the conditions for new answers to emerge.
Participatory leadership (aka the Art of Hosting Conversations that Matter) provides a worldview, a set of practices and an experience in collaborative work and learning. Over the past decade and a half, hundreds of trainings have been held in many parts of the world with tens of thousands of practitioners having been trained. The effects are being seen in community engagement, new organizational structures and practices and in a new form of emerging leadership and governance.
There is a high level of interest in this November training with around 50 participants expected. Already in the first month, over 20 people from at least 10 countries have registered to attend. Unfortunately, the cost of the training is a major barrier for most participants. Travel expenses, venue rental and even a very minimal honorarium for trainers requires charging a fee of $530 for the three-day residential training. This cost is beyond the means of most people in Vietnam living on an average monthly income of barely more than $500 per month or Cambodia where the monthly average is less than $100.
The team that is organizing and hosting this training has a deep commitment to building the hosting capacity in the region by making this training available to anyone who wants to attend regardless of ability to pay. The team also has a commitment to consciousness in dealing with money. It has been an act of faith to allow everyone to determine how much they can afford and to offer ‘scholarships’ to cover the difference, especially since the actual funds for scholarships is only about $400 paid forward by the last training.
We have been actively practicing the principle of ‘offer what you can and ask for what you need’. To date, 48% of participants have asked for scholarships with the average request being about $300. If this trend continues and we reach our goal of 50 participants, there will be a need for about $6,000 in scholarship funds.
This training is not an end in itself. It is part of a longer term vision of building a community of hosting practitioners in Southeast Asia that will be able to host conversations and offer Art of Hosting trainings in the local language. Toward this end, a volunteer steward from the Art of Hosting community has been working intensely with the local organizing team in Hanoi for three months prior to the training, co-hosting conversations for community organizations and building the capacity of local practitioners. Five local apprentices have been selected to be part of the hosting team for the November training. And it is anticipated that a next Art of Hosting training may be called in the region in 2018. All of the efforts in this fundraising campaign and in preparation for the November are aligned with this larger purpose of creating regional capacity and an vibrant community of practice.
The introduction of participatory leadership practices into social enterprises, community development, alternative education and business has the potential to transform systems and to unleash the potential of collaboration. Please help us reach this vision by contributing to our capacity building scholarship fund.