What if there was a way to easily gather the right group of people,
for whatever peer learning event you can imagine?
This is a platform designed to streamline the process of offering and attending Trainers’ Meetings (TRAMs). We’re here to make it easier for trainers, facilitators, teachers and educators to connect, exchange knowledge, and launch awesome projects đ !
A Trainers’ Meeting (TRAM) is a casual, light-weight, low-budget, non-profit/for-purpose, peer learning event for trainers, by trainers.
It can be about whatever you (and the people attending) shape it to be. Broadly speaking, it is intended to gather people who are willing to explore to a certain focus question, topic or purpose.
Generally, TRAMs tend to be more informal gatherings of a smaller group over the weekend with a general focus and an organic schedule.
But thereâs nothing in the way if youâd like to make it more structured, invite a big group of participants, and dive deep into whatever the TRAM is focused on for as long as is needed.The canvas is yours to paint…
The focus: Whatever question, topic or purpose you would like to invite others to join you around.
The time and place: The dates, times and location the TRAM would happen (the exact location is reserved for the people actually attending).
The venue and accommodation:Â A place for the âworkâ and for the âfun and/or sleepingâ parts (can be in the same place).
The capacity and materials:Â An upper and lower limit of people that the TRAM is designed for and whatever (training) materials might be needed, along with a participation fee and what it covers (if any).
The target group:Â A basic description of what kind of people would you like to invite to attend the TRAM (could be as open or as specific as you think fits the focus best).
TRAMs are like colourful puzzles and are shaped very organically. Whatever piece you can bring (however small it might seem to you), thereâs likely to be someone out there who could bring just whatâs missing!
To offer a TRAM means to play (at least) one of the following roles:
In the TRAM Marketplace below, you can explore a) whoâs willing to host, but is looking for someone with a TRAM focus, and b) who’s offering a TRAM focus and is looking for someone to host. Weâre sure youâll find the piece youâre looking for soon enough đ
Wonderful, we’re looking forward to help make it happen! These are the steps ahead of you:
1. Fill out the “Offer a TRAM form“. This will guide you through the process of crafting the core of your TRAM. Your answers will be composed into a draft description of your TRAM offer, that you will be able to modify, before it will be published on this website.
2. Customise and confirm:Â After you submit your offer, weâll get back to you as soon as possible, by sending an email with a link to the draft description of your TRAM, as well as a Drive folder with plug-and-play templates that you can use to set up the TRAM (e.g. application and evaluation forms as well as a document to support the participants before, during and after the TRAM). When youâve customised these files and the TRAM description, to best fit it’s focus, we’ll update your TRAM offer.
3. Publish and promote: When you confirm that you’re happy with everything, we’ll publish the dedicated page of your TRAM offer. To help launch the promotional of your TRAM and find the best participants possible, weâll share your invitation across our channels. With this kick-start, and equipped with everything you need, we wish you all the best with your TRAM!
4. Select and prepare:Â After you have received enough applications and have selected the final participants, respond to everyone who applied and share all relevant information with the final participants, and start whatever preparatory process you have in mind for the TRAM (if any).
5. Host and enjoy: To ensure the best experience possible, arrange whatever you think is needed before the people arrive (e.g. venue, accommodation, training materials, thinking about food optionsâŚ). Have fun and dive deep into the topic đ !
6. Harvest and evaluate: In the final step, make sure you ask each participant to note down whatever is valuable for them during the TRAM. After the event is over, share the evaluation form with participants, through which they will be able to upload their individual harvest, along with their impressions of the TRAM. Finally, we will upload this harvest to your TRAM’s page, so it can be safely archived for the benefit of the broader training community.
P.S.: The TRAMs with the best evaluations will be immortalised on the “TRAM Hall of fame” below đ
Personal mentoring: There will be always someone from the TRAM Station team available to you in any step of the process, if you get stuck or have any questions đ
Website:Â A dedicated page will be created on this website just for your TRAM, that you can use not only to promote it and find participants, but also as a space to experiment with before, during and after the TRAM for whatever purposes you might have in mind. It could also provide a window across space and time to interact with those that really wanted to join, but couldnât, so they can be a part of the action.
Harvesting:Â Given the amazing experiences, ideas, insights and projects, that inevitably pop up during TRAMs, weâre very excited about finding ways to harvest this collective wisdom and share it with the broader training community! Whatever the people attending the TRAM will produce, gather and share, will be uploaded on your TRAM page after the event.
Templates:Â Weâve prepared some templates that will (hopefully) save you much of the âboringâ work, and allow you as much time for focusing on the juicy parts of your TRAM as possible. From participant and evaluation forms to structured digital handouts that that can help everyone attending to get the most out of the experience. If you have any other ideas or needs, let us know, and weâll see what we can come up with đ
Promotion:Â Using the communication and network channels Trainersâ Forum has available, we can share your invitation where your ideal participants are likely to see it.
Although TRAMs are really easy and simple to organise, we would still kindly ask you to do your best to uphold the following principles:
1. Reliability: Assure the TRAM will happen at the time, place and in whatever conditions specified in the description of the event (and if anything changes, letting us know as soon as possible).
2. Responsiveness: Stay in touch with the TRAM Station team, actively promote your TRAM offer and take care of communication with applicants and participants before, during and after the event.
3. Ownership: Do your best to fulfil whatever role (host, convener, and/or contributor) you have offered to play đ
4. Harvesting: Encourage everyone attending to gather a personal harvest during the TRAM (notes about valuable content, insights, ideas, projects, questionsâŚ).
5. Evaluation: Share the evaluation form with participants after the TRAM, fill it in yourself, and encourage everyone attending to do so as well.
It’s very simple! Check out the calendar below to find the TRAM that best fits your needs, interests, and schedule (if there are none, or you don’t have the time to travel, we invite you to consider offering your own đ ).
Get to know about each TRAM and feel free to reach out to the person (or people) offering it, if you have any questions or suggestions. Youâll find everything you need to know about in the description of the TRAM.
After youâve applied, the host will get back to you as soon as possible with all relevant information on how to proceed.
Yes! Have fun, enjoy the process, show up with your best self, bring and ask your burning questions, expand your network, contribute generously and explore with courage đ !
In addition, to ensure a smooth and valuable experience for everyone involved, we have created a simple and powerful document that can support you before, during and after a TRAM, which will be provided when your participation is confirmed.
Before:
During:
After:
Itâs still pretty hard to be at two places in the same time đ
Here you can browse the TRAMs that you really wanted to attend, or those you might have missed.
Not only can you find what the TRAM was about and who was there, but you can also explore the harvest participants wanted to share with the broader training community! Who knows, there might be a project proposal or an invitation just a few clicks away, waiting for the gifts and networks a person like you might have đ
You can find the most legendary, crazy, fun, insightful, impactful and/or creative TRAMs (based on evaluations of participants), highlighted below:
If you have any question, message, idea or suggestion on how to improve, and/or want to get involved in the backstage of the TsF TRAM Station, youâre more than welcome to contact us on tram.station@trainersforum.org and weâll find a way to make it work đ
We’re the dwarfs and fairies in the backstage, making sure everything is running smoothly and doing our best to discover and realise whatever potential the TRAM Station service holds, so it could best serve the broader training community đ
To be announced soon đ
The TsF TRAM Station is a service provided by Trainers’ Forum, and overseen by the TsF TRAM Station team. Our main purpose is to connect the people who are offering a TRAM with the people who want to attend it – once this link is made, any design, preparation, hosting and follow-up related to the TRAM is ultimately up to the people attending it.
You are free to organise TRAMs on your own in whatever way feels right, without making use of TsF TRAM Station services/support. Weâre here simply to help make it easier.
For the benefit of the broader training community, weâre offering to safely archive and transparently organise whatever outcomes, notes and/or invitations, that people attending a TRAM are willing to share (we call it âharvestingâ đ ), even if it was not organised with the help of the TSF TRAM Station.
All data gathered and generated for the purposes of promoting, coordinating, and archiving TRAMs is stored and used as described here.