"F.U.N.N. - Functional Understanding Not Necessary"
                                                       ~Karl Rohnke

 

Wheel of a Deal Wednesday

The Spokesperson E-Newsletter
Renovations and Restorations
Michelle & Karl Hello Facilitator Friends,

The world is a little less Funn this week... I am sad to report the passing of Karl Rohnke.  It's hard to find words that describe who this amazing man was, and all that he did for experiential facilitators around the world.  Even if you haven't heard his name before, if you have ever facilitated or participated in activities such as Group Juggle, Hoop Pass, Mine Field and countless others, his work has influenced yours.  He was one of the founding fathers of adventure education as a profession, and really paved the way for people like me to have an intentionally full and successful career in experiential facilitation.

My Facebook feed this week has been flooded with fellow facilitator friends sharing amazing stories about Karl, and how he influenced everyone's life.  I have thoroughly enjoyed reading all of them and the comments that follow.  

Karl and I have written letters back and forth to each other for years.  The first Karl Rohnke workshop I ever attended was at an ACA conference. It was before I started Training Wheels, and it was the first camp conference I had ever attended. I remember thinking, 'oh my gosh, I can actually have a career teaching games to others!' after seeing him and Faith Evans present their workshop.  Afterwards I mailed him a Paper Beach Ball and shared with him how we were using it in our adventure therapy program.  I knew he'd be able to see 10+ other ways to use it.  I was FLOORED when he wrote me back.  I mean, he was this big author-dude who was famous in my eyes, and he took the time to hand-write me a letter back.  He was approachable, authentic and genuinely cared about others.  We exchanged letters back and forth for decades...  I will miss writing letters back and forth brainstorming games, sending each other fun finds and props, talking business and hearing all of his amazing stories. He was a mentor and friend like no other. I will miss him so incredibly much. I have no doubt that he is already enjoying his new adventure. They have no idea how much Funn they are about to have!  So Play on, Karl... I love you and all that you are to the experiential community.
Best wishes for an intentionally F.U.N.N. week. 

Have fun out there, 
Michelle        
Michelle Cummings
Owner/Trainer/Big Wheel
Training Wheels  

Co-Founder and Chief Creative Officer
Personify Leadership
www.PersonifyLeadership.com
New Podcast Episode!

Last week Chris Cavert and I met up to record a few more episodes of our podcast,
'Ask Michelle & Chris About Team Building This week's timely question is: "Team Builders, What Have you Been Doing Face-To-Face While Physically Distancing? with special guests Deb Kulcsar and David Darst"  and  "Do You Have Any Additional Ideas for Physically Distancing Participants?"  You can listen to, download and access the show notes to this episode and all available episodes at this link.
Important Training Wheels Info

Wheel of a Deal:  On Sale this Week...

Paper Beach Balls

The Paper Beach Ball can be a fun addition to the facilitator bag of tricks.  Use it to talk about how delicate trust and integrity are, and how the slightest mis-handle or bobble can damage a relationship or someone's character.

One dozen paper beach balls in each set. 

Regular:  $12.99  On Sale:  $10.99

Segmented Hula Hoops

Every portable program needs these sectional hula hoops. Each section is approximately 2 feet long. There are 18 sections in a set. You can adjust the size of the hoops from small to medium to large based on the number of segments you put in each hoop. Very light weight and portable!

Click through for instructions for an activity called Hoop Pass.

Regular:  $34.99  On Sale:  $27.99

Team Building and Leadership Virtual Scavenger Hunt

I'm excited to share a new Virtual Scavenger Hunt we have built out  I have had a lot of requests from small teams that want to participate in one of our Virtual Scavenger Hunts, but didn't want to have one custom-built for them.  We designed one with a Teamwork and Leadership Theme, that can be done in a 60-minute time frame.  It's so fun!  We intentionally built it utilizing different clues than I used in my other two Facilitator Virtual Scavenger Hunts, so in case you participated in either of those and are looking for new clues, you could get some new ideas for your own Virtual Scavenger Hunts.  I am not including the full asset package with this hunt, however it would be very easy to replicate the clues (and you are welcome to do so!)  Plus, another bonus, you and your team could go through the hunt to do a little team building for your team.  As facilitators, we don't often get the opportunity (or don't make time) to play or work on our own teams, so this could be a great team bonding event for your staff.

How it works:  Click on this link and select the number of people who will participate in the hunt. You can choose from 1-200, and prices start at $25 per person. Upon check out you will receive an automatic download that will provide instructions and a tutorial video to share with your participants before the hunt begins.  Happy hunting!

Also, if you are interested in Licensing this Scavenger Hunt for your organization and use it and sell it to your own client base, please send me an email and we can chat.  We can customize it with your company logo

Starting at:  $25 per person

Register for the Experiential Facilitation 101 Course

We are still planning on hosting our in-person Experiential Facilitation 101 course in October here in Colorado.  This training is an introductory class for the team building facilitator.  This three-day training provides an important first step in building the foundational skills necessary to lead experiential programs.

Date:  October 6-8, 2020
Date:  December 15-17, 2020
Location:  Hampton Inn, Littleton, CO
Time:  9:00am-4:30pm,  Breakfast & Lunch included!
Price:  $975  (On sale today for $899!)
Includes instruction manual and $50 credit towards Training Wheels gear.

Open Enrollment: $975  On Sale:  $899

We also offer a Certification in this Course, so you can teach it to others!  Certification is $3500 and includes four days of training, instruction manual, classroom giveaways, a Facilitator Kit full of all the materials needed to teach the class, including a Facilitator Manual, power point slide deck, and your first 20 Participant Kits to run your first class (valued at $150 each).  


A Course on Experiential Facilitation: What You Get
A Course on Experiential Facilitation: What You Get


Social Media Sites
Social Media icons
Make sure to 'Like' us on Facebook!  We post coupons, activity ideas and other fun things each week.  You can also interact with other Facilitators!
 
Connect with me on Linked In!  
Training Wheels Linked In Company Profile:  Training Wheels Group LLC
Personify Leadership Linked In Company Profile:  Personify Leadership
 
Follow me on Twitter!  @TrainingWheels1     @PersonifyLeader   @MichelleCSocial
Where In the World is Michelle?
Upcoming Conferences and Workshops where Michelle is presenting:  
biking backpackers
Want to participate in one of Michelle's workshops?  Is she near you?  Piggy back a training for your organization when she is traveling near you.  Here's a link to our event calendar as well.

Sept 22, Virtual Keynote for BAM Conference

Sept 26, Virtual Keynote for National 4H Youth Leadership Conference

Oct 1, Virtual Keynote for IA After School Alliance Conference

October 6-8, Experiential Facilitation 101, Littleton, CO


October 20, Virtual Scavenger Hunt for ISEEN

October 27, AORE presentation:  Teambuilding From the Toy Aisle

October 28, AORE presentation:  Effective Debriefing Tools
I can't believe you made it all the way to the bottom of this email! Kudos!