Description

We spend our lives gathering – first in classrooms and then in meetings, weddings, conferences and away days. Yet so many of us spend this time in underwhelming moments that fail to engage us, inspire us, or connect us. We’ve all sat in meetings where people talk past each other or go through the motions and others which galvanize a team and remind everyone why they first took the job. We’ve been to weddings that were deeply moving and others that were run-of-the-mill and simply faded away.Why do some moments take off and others fizzle? What’s the difference between the gatherings that inspire you and the ones that don’t?In The Art of Gathering, Priya Parker gets to the heart of these questions and reveals how to design a transformative gathering. An expert on organizing successful gatherings whether in conference centres or her living room, Parker shows us how to create moving, magical, mind-changing experiences – even in spaces where we’ve come to expect little.Editorial ReviewsReview’Priya Parker has created both an art and science to gathering in a way that can bring joy and fulfillment to any meeting’ — Deepak Chopra MD * author of The Healing Self * Priya Parker’s The Art of Gathering is brilliant. The book is a timely reminder: It’s our human-to-human links that make the most meaningful moments of our lives. Parker offers a decoder ring for the secret forces at work when we gather for business, crises or celebration. What to leave out, where to meet, how to charm-it’s all here, explained with unforgettable stories and clever tips. You’ll only put this book down because it will make you so hungry for a gathering of your own — Joshua Cooper Ramo * author of The Seventh Sense and The Age of the Unthinkable * A brilliant and eminently practical guide! The Art of Gathering will open your eyes to just how often we gather – and how we can turn those mundane events into dazzling opportunities for meaning, dreaming, and doing. This book should be mandatory reading for everyone from the business executive to the community activist; the conflict resolution specialist to the dinner host. Concrete advice that will forever change the way you gather — Daniel L. Shapiro Ph.D., Founder and Director, Harvard International Negotiation Program and author * Negotiating the Nonnegotiable * This clear and engaging book sets down many things you thought you knew, until you find yourself remembering that you did not attend to its simple rules at the last significant event you hosted…. A passion for successful encounters enlivens every page — Sherry Turkle * author of Reclaiming Conversation: The Power of Talk in a Digital Age and Alone Together * Don’t read this book alone. Read it at a gathering of friends, in a book club, with a team of colleagues, or on a family reunion. But read it-for its wisdom, its charm, its insight, and its ability to make every encounter with others more meaningful and enjoyable. The Art of Gathering is a book long overdue, and just in time — Bruce Feiler * bestselling author of The Secrets of Happy Families and Walking the Bible * Many of the best things in life happen when people gather. So it’s remarkable how little conscious intent goes into planning such moments. Thank goodness for this book. It opens up new ways of thinking about wonderful gatherings with a delicious confection of smartly-defined concepts and detailed examples. Hosts of all kinds, this is a must-read! — Chris Anderson * owner and curator of TED * A brilliant and eminently practical guide! The Art of Gathering will open your eyes to just how often we gather – and how we can turn those mundane events into dazzling opportunities for meaning, dreaming, and doing. This book should be mandatory reading for everyone from the business executive to the community activist; the conflict resolution specialist to the dinner host. Concrete advice that will forever change the way you gather — Daniel L. Shapiro Ph.D., Founder and Director, Harvard International Negotiation Program and author * Negotiating the Nonnegotiable *About the AuthorPriya Parker is a strategic facilitator with a background in conflict resolution. Her company, Thrive Labs, has worked with organizations as varied as the MoMA in New York, the World Economic Forum and the International Finance Corporation on strategy, vision and purpose. Parker was a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council in 2013 and a member of the New Models of Leadership’s Council on Values. Her TEDxHasselt has been viewed over 900,000 times and she has been covered by a range of media outlets which include CNN, the Harvard Kennedy School Review, NPR’s Morning Edition, Inc. magazine, Entrepreneur magazine and Forbes magazine.File Size: 2379 KBPrint Length: 320 pagesPublisher: Portfolio Penguin (May 15, 2018)http://www.amazon.com/Art-Gathering-Transformative-Meetings-…