If you are looking for an efficient and effective way to provide facilitation skills training to community citizens, the University of Maine Cooperative Extension has a program for you. Over the past six years, the University of Maine Cooperative Extension has successfully conducted the Strengthening Your Facilitation Skills series for community members in Maine. It was designed for community members who:

* have been placed in a facilitation role and were expected to help the group produce results
* have felt they could use more skills and practice in the art of facilitation
* recognized that being a group facilitator wasn't always easy and facilitation skills aren't routinely learned or practiced
* have experienced needing to help a group deal with conflict, lead a sensitive problem-solving session or help a new team in its start up phase, as well as other group situations

Two faculty members, Jane Haskell and Louise Franck Cyr, and Gabe McPhail, a graduate of the program, have been working to make this curriculum available to other Extension professionals across the country. It will be officially released August 14-17 during a four-day highly experiential train the trainer conference in mid-coast Maine.

This initial training is for any Extension professional interested in providing facilitation skills training in their community.

The website provides additional information about the conference and is now open to the first 50 Extension professionals who want to participate. Early bird registration by April 25 is $325. Registration deadline at $400 is May 28.

If you have specific questions about the train the trainer conference, e-mail either Jane Haskell (jhaskell@umext.maine.edu ) or Louise Franck Cyr (lcyr@umext.maine.edu ).