Last Tuesday, 21 September 2004, I co-facilitated a one-day workshop for educators networking with industry. Participants at the workshop were reporting on their networking projects, at the mid-way point in a six month period.

I commonly facilitate these types of workshops, but this particular workshop stands out as exceptional, in terms of the quality and depth of conceptual insights tabled on the day. The written evaluations at the end of the day confirmed that the participants also found it exceptional.

On reflection, I believe that the reasons why this workshop was a stand-out are many, some of which included the following:

• the numbers were modest, with around 20 people seated at four round tables, creating an intimate environment
• the participants came well prepared to make a seven minute presentation on their networks, covering three specific topics (agreed goals; achievements; next steps)
• one of the participants, attending as an observer, has undertaken postgraduate courses in fine aspects of networking (e.g. he is an expert on Actor Network Theory), and he had agreed to my request that I would use him as a resource during the day
• three other participants who were there as observers had extensive systemic knowledge of their State training jurisdictions in terms of networks.

The day started well, with the first participant to give his seven minute address deciding to construct his presentation around the information I had set out earlier on two whiteboards. On one whiteboard I had drawn two interlocking circles, with one labeled ‘Providers’ and the other labeled ‘Industry’. On the other whiteboard I had listed five findings from earlier research I had conducted on industry training networks, viz:

• The need for industry training networks is increasing, as VET organizations become more aware of their dependency on relationships
• Open or loosely structured networks suit the diverse and dispersed membership of many industry training networks
• Building industry training networks is made challenging by factors such as inexperience in networking and limited resources of small business to participate
• Efficient information sharing processes help industry training networks function effectively
• Networks can be sustained by continually responding to members’ changing goals and to changing external conditions.

The first participant to make a presentation described his network in terms of the diagram of interlocking circles and analysed his network in terms of the above five features of networks. We then decided to use the diagram of interlocking circles as the focal point for each of the subsequent twelve presentations.

The simple diagram of interlocking circles encouraged much theorizing during the workshop, such as:

• The concept of space and how networks create new spaces for relationships and interactions
• The concept of boundaries and how networks often stretch or explore new boundaries
• The concept of the skilled intermediary, operating between the two worlds of providers and industry
• The concept that we live and work within networks and that, for most of us, these networks are more important than organisations.

The workshop generated multiple insights about the nature of networks and the complex activity of networking, providing the participants with new ways of understanding their current practice. Networking emerges from this workshop as an essential activity and vital skill area for contemporary educators.