In September I am co-hosting the Mediation Business Summit with Tammy Lenski . We are really looking forward to it. We have some great small business coaches and consultants lined up to help conflict resolution professionals take their business to the next level.

I'm not very technical...

Since we announced the telesummit we have had a lot of questions about how it will work over the three days and some questions about using the teleseminar format. So we have decided to run a free demo and Q&A session on Wednesday 4th August where you can try it out and ask questions about the event.

Tammy and I think it will be a great opportunity to connect with anyone attending and anyone thinking about attending.

So head over to the Mediation Business Summit site to register for the free teleseminar.

We have just 250 tickets for the first ever business summit tailored specifically for conflict resolution professionals and registration is now open.

This is a not-to-be-missed marketing and business development event which is innovative and affordable fits the bill perfectly for those who wish to refocus or kick-start their ADR practice.

11 remarkable speakers have been carefully selected by Tammy and me for their engaging style, knowledge and experience which, from our experience, we believe is directly relevant to building a strong business in our field.

When I started my full-time mediation practice in the mid 90’s, I wish there had been this kind of resource to get me going; to challenge and support my thinking about how, what and why. It is great to be a pioneer but sometimes it is equally rewarding to build on what others have done and miss out on the not so great learning experiences!

This is a unique opportunity to hear what other pioneers have done and take the best and most relevant advice to build your own unique brand and business which speaks to your own strengths.

Do join us and register now. On completing your sign-up you will receive a fantastic collection of bonus gifts from our speakers to introduce you to their great advice and perspective on building a business in a digital world.

Thanks to Paul Holmes (and @tpholmes) for flagging on his site this video as one of his favourites. It was too good for just a link…

Chuck – the rapping SEO guru

The popular mediator breakfast club hosted by Michael Cover and David Richbell will meet on Tuesday, 19 January 2009 with guest Nathan Murphy of Alloyfish

Time: 0845

Venue: The Punch Tavern, Fleet Street, London EC4Y 1DE

Cost: £5.00 to include, tea, coffee, juices, pastries and fruit. The full Punch breakfast menu will be available for those who would like to order it and pay for it separately.

Guest:  Nathan Murphy of Alloyfish, who will say a few words about branding and developing business in professional services around the internet. Nathan has his own business in this area; he also has an interest in prison design and correction systems and is an accomplished mountaineer.

Theme: Developing our practices as mediators and developing the overall market.

Please complete the form below:

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Readers of my blog and articles will know that I mediate and train from a “strengths” perspective. This is the joy of mediation: we can each operate as a mediator in a way that uses the best of our talents and experience and the outcomes are good and different. It is also the reason why I write so frequently about not putting mediation skills into a box too early in the development of the profession. I know 25 years might seem a long time but in truth it is a nanosecond in terms of understanding what we do and how we do it well. I am reminded of something that made a great impression on me when I learned it:  95% of our understanding of the brain has come from research undertaken in the last 10 years. Positive psychology is a result of that research.

What “working from strengths” means to my practice is that I try and find the strengths of all the people in the mediation room and support them in doing what they can do best so they can win. Winning means different things to different people.

One of the leaders in the field of strengths is Dr Alex Linley. he has developed a new and very entertaining test to decide your Pleasure Quotient.  Magnum Ice Cream have packaged the test into an interactive web site experience. It is fun, the site is visually gorgeous and the test is based on pioneering research. FAB. Don’t be taken in by the fun element. This is a serious piece of work and I find it very clever indeed. See what you think.  Off to buy my Magnum now… and then I’ll tell you why I think strengths are so important for your business.

My thanks to Des O’Dowd for sharing the link.