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• (Members Only) Rockville/Bethesda MAFN Salon

  • When
    07/06/2026
  •  
    10:00 AM - 11:30 AM
  • Location
    Java Nation 11120 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 20852
  • Spaces left
    0

  Registration is closed

  Topic:

  Open Space

  Description:

  Come with a topic, idea, or concern that you’d like to workshop with the group.

  Please note that this is for MAFN members only and there is limited space, so please register early.

  Our guiding principles are:

  ● Connection + Conversation + Community = Salon

  ● Come open to listening and sharing

  Salon REMINDERS

  ● If you register and cannot attend, please cancel to allow someone else to come.

  ● Registration closes at midnight 2 days before the event.

  ● Registered participants will receive instructions with any additional details 1 day in advance and the morning of the event. Please be sure to check your email.

  ● Salon discussions are live events and are not recorded.

  ● For membership questions contact info@mafn.org.

  Show details
• (Members Only) MAFN In Person Salon: Vienna

  • When
    07/20/2026
  •  
    11:30 AM - 12:30 PM
  • Location
    “Bear Cage” room at Bear Branch Tavern (133 Maple Ave E, Vienna, VA 22180)
  • Spaces left
    11

  Register

  Come join us Monday, July 20th, 2026 from 11:30 AM - 12:30 PM EST with optional lunch afterward, for our monthly Vienna MAFN Salon!

  Each month, we will have a topic or theme as well as open time for networking and sharing challenges and best practices in our facilitation. 

  TOPIC:

  Engaging with New Clients

  DESCRIPTION:

  The salon will discuss this question: What are some effective ways to find and engage potential new clients for facilitation-related services? We will choose from this selection of prompts for small group conversations:

  • Where do your best clients typically come from?
  • What outreach approaches have worked well (or poorly)?
  • How do you explain the value of facilitation to prospective clients?
  • What role do referrals, partnerships, and networking play?
  • How do you maintain relationships with potential clients over time?

  Afterwards, those who are available are invited to stay and share community over lunch. 

  Please note that this is for MAFN members only and there is limited space, so please register early. 

  
  

  Our guiding principles are:

  • Connection + Conversation + Community = Salon

  • Come open to listening and sharing

  
  

  Salon REMINDERS

  • If you register and cannot attend, please cancel to allow someone else to come. 

  • Registration closes at midnight 2 days before the event.

  • Registered participants will receive instructions with any additional details 1 day in advance of the event. Please be sure to check your email.

  • Salon discussions are live events and are not recorded.

  • For membership questions contact info@mafn.org

  Show details
• (Members Only) MAFN CoP: Conversations about Facilitation in Training

  • When
    07/28/2026
  •  
    5:00 PM - 6:15 PM
  • Location
    Online using Zoom

  Register

  Duration: Each session is 75 minutes 

  Interested in participating in lively conversations with your peers about where our professional practices intersect?  What can we learn from each other's professional experience, knowledge, skills and abilities?  The MAFN Conversations About Facilitation in Training community of practice explores intersections of three separate but compatible practices of MAFN members: facilitation, coaching, training.  In small-group topic-based breakout-room conversations led by rotating volunteer practitioners, we share best practices, challenges and strategies to stimulate new insight and expand our individual practices.  Topic suggestions and volunteers are always welcome. Come with curiosity; participate with passion; leave with new learning.  MAFN CoPs are member-only forums, a benefit of MAFN membership.

  You are welcome to attend as many meetings in the series as your schedule allows. They will not build on each other. Once you register for the series, you will receive a notification for each meeting.

  Please note that this is for MAFN members only. These sessions will not be recorded.

  Recipient of the inaugural 2024 NYS Justice Peer Initiative Impact Award in Training & Development, Ruth Riddick, CARC-RCP/f, is a coach and trainer with a specialization in addiction recovery and a 20-year practice at Sobriety Together.  She is co-founder and program manager of the New York Certification Board Trainer Registry, an organization of professional trainers enhancing standards in non-clinical role training.  As a curriculum developer, she has contributed to role training for Veteran Supported Recovery, CRPA-Family and CRPA-Youth trainings for professional certifications.  She serves on the Board of the New York Association of Treatment Court Professionals.  She has been widely honored for her work.

  Our guiding principles are:

  • Come open to learning

  • Bring your questions, share your expertise

  • Don’t expect closure - our shared learning is a process!

  ONLINE CoP Discussion REMINDERS

  • If you register and cannot attend, please cancel to allow someone else to come. 

  • Registration closes at midnight the day before the discussion group.

  • Registered participants will receive instructions for joining the live session and any additional details 1 day in advance and the morning of the event. Please be sure to look for the link in your email.

  • MAFN CoP discussions will not be recorded in order to support space for learning.

  • For registration or membership questions contact info@mafn.org

  Show details
• (Members Only) Rockville/Bethesda MAFN Salon

  • When
    08/03/2026
  •  
    10:00 AM - 11:30 AM
  • Location
    Java Nation 11120 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 20852
  • Spaces left
    12

  Register

  Topic:

  The Hard Stuff: Lessons From Your Toughest Facilitation Experiences

  Description:

  Some of the most important growth happens after a difficult session, a challenging client, or a moment you wish had gone differently. This discussion creates space to reflect on the hard lessons,unexpected insights, and professional growth that come from facilitation under pressure.

  Please note that this is for MAFN members only and there is limited space, so please register early.

  Our guiding principles are:

  ● Connection + Conversation + Community = Salon

  ● Come open to listening and sharing

  Salon REMINDERS

  ● If you register and cannot attend, please cancel to allow someone else to come.

  ● Registration closes at midnight 2 days before the event.

  ● Registered participants will receive instructions with any additional details 1 day in advance and the morning of the event. Please be sure to check your email.

  ● Salon discussions are live events and are not recorded.

  ● For membership questions contact info@mafn.org.

  Show details
• (Sponsor Event) Lizard Brain: August Think With Ink in Guam

  • Start
    08/10/2026
  • End
    08/11/2026
  • Location
    Hilton Resort & Spa GUAM

  
  

  August 10-11, 2026

  Hilton Resort & Spa GUAM

  Click here for more information and to register. 

  If you have ever sat through a meeting where the conversation went in circles, a few voices dominated the room, and everyone left without clear decisions or next steps, you know how frustrating bad meetings can be.

  Think with Ink™ Guam is a 2-day interactive workshop helping facilitators, consultants, and team leaders integrate visuals into group processes, so you walk into a meeting with the skills to help you and your team make better decisions.

  Day 1: The Visual Fundamentals

  Drawing skills not required!

  You’ll learn techniques to start building your visual skills, including lettering, drawing, using color in a meaningful way, organizing levels of information, and how to listen for synthesis.

  You’ll also get the materials you’ll need to start implementing your new skills right away and tips on how to use them.

  Your visual facilitation starter kit includes a textbook, a large-format sketchbook, sketchnoting materials, large sticky notes, tape, handouts including visual templates and explainers, markers, a paper-cutter, and a 25-yard roll of paper.

  Day 2: Facilitation Models, Methods & Tools

  You’ll walk away with frameworks you can use immediately in workshops, strategy sessions, and client meetings.

  Learn about:

  Visual energizers and icebreakers to support your session,

  Meeting principles and ground rules to use in every meeting,

  Visual tools for brainstorming, comparing ideas, and collaboratively deciding on a way forward.  

  Please note: this is a 2-day version of our usual 3-day workshop.

  Register here

  Show details
• (Sponsor Event) Lizard Brain: September Think With Ink in Herndon, VA

  • Start
    09/09/2026
  • End
    09/11/2026
  • Location
    Trajectory Event Center 13665 Dulles Technology Drive, Suite 150, Herndon, VA

  September 09-11, 2026 9AM - 5 PM

  Trajectory Event Center 13665 Dulles Technology Drive, Suite 150, Herndon, VA

  Click here for more information and to register. 

  If you have ever sat through a meeting where the conversation went in circles, a few voices dominated the room, and everyone left without clear decisions or next steps, you know how frustrating bad meetings can be.

  There is a better way.

  Think With Ink™ is an interactive visual facilitation workshop from Lizard Brain designed to help facilitators, consultants, coaches, team leaders, and visual thinkers make meetings more focused, collaborative, and productive.

  In this hands-on workshop, you will learn how to use simple visuals, structured facilitation methods, and participatory tools to help groups see what they mean, organize ideas, make decisions, and move forward with confidence.

  And no, you do not need to be an artist. Drawing skills are not required.

  Over the course of the workshop, you will practice practical techniques for lettering, drawing, using color, organizing information, listening for synthesis, creating visual templates, designing agendas, and leading visual facilitation experiences. You will also walk away with materials and frameworks you can use immediately in workshops, strategy sessions, client meetings, and team conversations.

  The workshop is led by Brian Tarallo, Managing Director of Lizard Brain, author of Surviving the Horror of Online Meetings, Certified Master Facilitator, Certified Master Visual Practitioner, and recipient of an IAF Facilitation Impact Award.

  If you are ready to stop surviving bad meetings and start leading sessions that make ideas visible, engage more people, and help teams make better decisions, this is your opportunity.

  Space is limited to 24 participants, which means you will receive individual feedback, support, and plenty of hands-on practice.

  Register here

  Your next meeting does not have to be another hour of circling the same problem. Learn how to make the work visible, guide the conversation, and help your group move forward.
  

  Show details
• (Members Only) Rockville/Bethesda MAFN Salon

  • When
    09/14/2026
  •  
    10:00 AM - 11:30 AM
  • Location
    Java Nation 11120 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 20852
  • Spaces left
    13

  Register

  Topic:

  Use AI Smarter: Practical and Ethical Ways Facilitators Can Work Better

  Description:

  AI can be a powerful thought partner for facilitators, helping with agendas, discussion guides, debrief questions, and more. In this conversation, we’ll explore how to use AI in ways that are efficient, thoughtful, and responsible, including where it adds real value and where facilitators still need strong judgment, discretion, and care.

  Please note that this is for MAFN members only and there is limited space, so please register early.

  Our guiding principles are:

  ● Connection + Conversation + Community = Salon

  ● Come open to listening and sharing

  Salon REMINDERS

  ● If you register and cannot attend, please cancel to allow someone else to come.

  ● Registration closes at midnight 2 days before the event.

  ● Registered participants will receive instructions with any additional details 1 day in advance and the morning of the event. Please be sure to check your email.

  ● Salon discussions are live events and are not recorded.

  ● For membership questions contact info@mafn.org.

  Show details
• (Members Only) MAFN CoP: Conversations about Facilitation in Training

  • When
    09/29/2026
  •  
    5:00 PM - 6:15 PM
  • Location
    Online using Zoom

  Register

  Duration: Each session is 75 minutes 

  Interested in participating in lively conversations with your peers about where our professional practices intersect?  What can we learn from each other's professional experience, knowledge, skills and abilities?  The MAFN Conversations About Facilitation in Training community of practice explores intersections of three separate but compatible practices of MAFN members: facilitation, coaching, training.  In small-group topic-based breakout-room conversations led by rotating volunteer practitioners, we share best practices, challenges and strategies to stimulate new insight and expand our individual practices.  Topic suggestions and volunteers are always welcome. Come with curiosity; participate with passion; leave with new learning.  MAFN CoPs are member-only forums, a benefit of MAFN membership.

  You are welcome to attend as many meetings in the series as your schedule allows. They will not build on each other. Once you register for the series, you will receive a notification for each meeting.

  Please note that this is for MAFN members only. These sessions will not be recorded.

  Recipient of the inaugural 2024 NYS Justice Peer Initiative Impact Award in Training & Development, Ruth Riddick, CARC-RCP/f, is a coach and trainer with a specialization in addiction recovery and a 20-year practice at Sobriety Together.  She is co-founder and program manager of the New York Certification Board Trainer Registry, an organization of professional trainers enhancing standards in non-clinical role training.  As a curriculum developer, she has contributed to role training for Veteran Supported Recovery, CRPA-Family and CRPA-Youth trainings for professional certifications.  She serves on the Board of the New York Association of Treatment Court Professionals.  She has been widely honored for her work.

  Our guiding principles are:

  • Come open to learning

  • Bring your questions, share your expertise

  • Don’t expect closure - our shared learning is a process!

  ONLINE CoP Discussion REMINDERS

  • If you register and cannot attend, please cancel to allow someone else to come. 

  • Registration closes at midnight the day before the discussion group.

  • Registered participants will receive instructions for joining the live session and any additional details 1 day in advance and the morning of the event. Please be sure to look for the link in your email.

  • MAFN CoP discussions will not be recorded in order to support space for learning.

  • For registration or membership questions contact info@mafn.org

  Show details
• (Members Only) MAFN CoP: Conversations about Facilitation in Training

  • When
    11/24/2026
  •  
    5:00 PM - 6:15 PM
  • Location
    Online using Zoom

  Register

  Duration: Each session is 75 minutes 

  Interested in participating in lively conversations with your peers about where our professional practices intersect?  What can we learn from each other's professional experience, knowledge, skills and abilities?  The MAFN Conversations About Facilitation in Training community of practice explores intersections of three separate but compatible practices of MAFN members: facilitation, coaching, training.  In small-group topic-based breakout-room conversations led by rotating volunteer practitioners, we share best practices, challenges and strategies to stimulate new insight and expand our individual practices.  Topic suggestions and volunteers are always welcome. Come with curiosity; participate with passion; leave with new learning.  MAFN CoPs are member-only forums, a benefit of MAFN membership.

  You are welcome to attend as many meetings in the series as your schedule allows. They will not build on each other. Once you register for the series, you will receive a notification for each meeting.

  Please note that this is for MAFN members only. These sessions will not be recorded.

  Recipient of the inaugural 2024 NYS Justice Peer Initiative Impact Award in Training & Development, Ruth Riddick, CARC-RCP/f, is a coach and trainer with a specialization in addiction recovery and a 20-year practice at Sobriety Together.  She is co-founder and program manager of the New York Certification Board Trainer Registry, an organization of professional trainers enhancing standards in non-clinical role training.  As a curriculum developer, she has contributed to role training for Veteran Supported Recovery, CRPA-Family and CRPA-Youth trainings for professional certifications.  She serves on the Board of the New York Association of Treatment Court Professionals.  She has been widely honored for her work.

  Our guiding principles are:

  • Come open to learning

  • Bring your questions, share your expertise

  • Don’t expect closure - our shared learning is a process!

  ONLINE CoP Discussion REMINDERS

  • If you register and cannot attend, please cancel to allow someone else to come. 

  • Registration closes at midnight the day before the discussion group.

  • Registered participants will receive instructions for joining the live session and any additional details 1 day in advance and the morning of the event. Please be sure to look for the link in your email.

  • MAFN CoP discussions will not be recorded in order to support space for learning.

  • For registration or membership questions contact info@mafn.org

  Show details
• (Members Only) MAFN CoP: Conversations about Facilitation in Training

  • When
    01/26/2027
  •  
    5:00 PM - 6:15 PM
  • Location
    Online using Zoom

  Register

  Duration: Each session is 75 minutes 

  Interested in participating in lively conversations with your peers about where our professional practices intersect?  What can we learn from each other's professional experience, knowledge, skills and abilities?  The MAFN Conversations About Facilitation in Training community of practice explores intersections of three separate but compatible practices of MAFN members: facilitation, coaching, training.  In small-group topic-based breakout-room conversations led by rotating volunteer practitioners, we share best practices, challenges and strategies to stimulate new insight and expand our individual practices.  Topic suggestions and volunteers are always welcome. Come with curiosity; participate with passion; leave with new learning.  MAFN CoPs are member-only forums, a benefit of MAFN membership.

  You are welcome to attend as many meetings in the series as your schedule allows. They will not build on each other. Once you register for the series, you will receive a notification for each meeting.

  Please note that this is for MAFN members only. These sessions will not be recorded.

  Recipient of the inaugural 2024 NYS Justice Peer Initiative Impact Award in Training & Development, Ruth Riddick, CARC-RCP/f, is a coach and trainer with a specialization in addiction recovery and a 20-year practice at Sobriety Together.  She is co-founder and program manager of the New York Certification Board Trainer Registry, an organization of professional trainers enhancing standards in non-clinical role training.  As a curriculum developer, she has contributed to role training for Veteran Supported Recovery, CRPA-Family and CRPA-Youth trainings for professional certifications.  She serves on the Board of the New York Association of Treatment Court Professionals.  She has been widely honored for her work.

  Our guiding principles are:

  • Come open to learning

  • Bring your questions, share your expertise

  • Don’t expect closure - our shared learning is a process!

  ONLINE CoP Discussion REMINDERS

  • If you register and cannot attend, please cancel to allow someone else to come. 

  • Registration closes at midnight the day before the discussion group.

  • Registered participants will receive instructions for joining the live session and any additional details 1 day in advance and the morning of the event. Please be sure to look for the link in your email.

  • MAFN CoP discussions will not be recorded in order to support space for learning.

  • For registration or membership questions contact info@mafn.org

  Show details
• (Members Only) MAFN CoP: Conversations about Facilitation in Training

  • When
    03/30/2027
  •  
    5:00 PM - 6:15 PM
  • Location
    Online using Zoom

  Register

  Duration: Each session is 75 minutes 

  Interested in participating in lively conversations with your peers about where our professional practices intersect?  What can we learn from each other's professional experience, knowledge, skills and abilities?  The MAFN Conversations About Facilitation in Training community of practice explores intersections of three separate but compatible practices of MAFN members: facilitation, coaching, training.  In small-group topic-based breakout-room conversations led by rotating volunteer practitioners, we share best practices, challenges and strategies to stimulate new insight and expand our individual practices.  Topic suggestions and volunteers are always welcome. Come with curiosity; participate with passion; leave with new learning.  MAFN CoPs are member-only forums, a benefit of MAFN membership.

  You are welcome to attend as many meetings in the series as your schedule allows. They will not build on each other. Once you register for the series, you will receive a notification for each meeting.

  Please note that this is for MAFN members only. These sessions will not be recorded.

  Recipient of the inaugural 2024 NYS Justice Peer Initiative Impact Award in Training & Development, Ruth Riddick, CARC-RCP/f, is a coach and trainer with a specialization in addiction recovery and a 20-year practice at Sobriety Together.  She is co-founder and program manager of the New York Certification Board Trainer Registry, an organization of professional trainers enhancing standards in non-clinical role training.  As a curriculum developer, she has contributed to role training for Veteran Supported Recovery, CRPA-Family and CRPA-Youth trainings for professional certifications.  She serves on the Board of the New York Association of Treatment Court Professionals.  She has been widely honored for her work.

  Our guiding principles are:

  • Come open to learning

  • Bring your questions, share your expertise

  • Don’t expect closure - our shared learning is a process!

  ONLINE CoP Discussion REMINDERS

  • If you register and cannot attend, please cancel to allow someone else to come. 

  • Registration closes at midnight the day before the discussion group.

  • Registered participants will receive instructions for joining the live session and any additional details 1 day in advance and the morning of the event. Please be sure to look for the link in your email.

  • MAFN CoP discussions will not be recorded in order to support space for learning.

  • For registration or membership questions contact info@mafn.org

  Show details