Cafe conversations are informal roundtable discussions where the topics and moderators are not pre-determined, explained Brooke Bode, director of knowledge management for MPI, Dallas. "It allows attendees to learn from their peers," Bode added.
For MPI WEC 2008, six different roundtable discussion themes were identified congress attendees to sign up and/or lead business roundtables, including:
- The green cafe (green meetings)
- Strategy spot cafe (meeting formats and strategic meetings)
- Cafe futura (future trends/technology)
- The bridge cafe (generational/cultural differences)
- Cafe internationale (international meetings)
- Cafe potpourri (miscellaneous topics)
Workshop facilitation is led by attendees, and offer attendees an alternative to the usual format of meeting and seminar sessions.