The Women's Group Guide, Part 3: Preparation

Priming the canvas of connection

Well hello, readers.

In our last episodes, we covered the first two aspects of creating a women’s group.

Part 1 was on Formation: different ways groups can start, best and worst practices for organizing, how to hold a group together, and what to do if it falls apart.

Part 2 was on Invitation: ideal group size, the benefits of closed vs open groups, who I DON’T invite, and how to elegantly disinvite.

Next week we’ll get into the meat of things. What are the most fun, valuable, connective, inspiring things to do at a women’s group event or retreat?

We have one more piece to cover before that. Why? Well…envision the following scenarios:

You are hosting a women’s group. You’re very excited. You’ve invited all your friends. They show up at the door, chattering and nervous. You welcome them into your normal-looking house with its well-lit living room, cookies and a pot of coffee on the table, your son in the kitchen grabbing a snack. Everyone mills around awkwardly. By the time you settle down, nobody is really settled.

In an alternate universe, you are organizing a women’s retreat. It’s not a paid thing, but you do weeks of work to set it up. You don’t want to ask too much of the other ladies. You find the venue, plan the meals, go grocery shopping, set up the space. By the time everyone arrives, you’re exhausted and vaguely resentful. You’ve set the physical container, but everyone has to expend emotional energy taking care of you afterwards.

The first is a case of perhaps too little preparation, and the second a case of too much (by one person). In the first case, you may find yourself holding a lot of energetic space for the gathering, having to use facilitated activities, time, and your own presence to ground everyone. In the second case, you may end up with all the logistical burden, needing to run around and look after things the whole time. In either case, you end up so exhausted from holding things together that you can’t even enjoy the activities. Everyone gets value from the gathering…except for you.

A little forethought can help you have a way better experience.

In this article, we’ll cover the preparation, organization, and logistics for a fantastic women’s event. We’ll get into:

• Aesthetics

• Choosing a space

• Dividing up responsibility

• Pre-framing expectations

…and more! Probably. I haven’t written it yet. *Editor’s note: replace this sentence before publication. Author’s note: hire an editor.

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