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Scaling Intimacy

An Experience Design Training to Create Connection at Virtual and In-person Events

Upcoming Offerings

Learn how to strategically weave connection into the fabric of your events with an easy-to-apply template.

This proven template will help you design transformative events with exponential impact, in less time than ever before.

About Scaling Intimacy

In this highly experiential four-week intensive training and design sprint, you will learn how to design both in-person and virtual experiences that maximize the impact for attendees, so that participants walk away feeling transformed, inspired, and part of a community.

We will work with the Dramatic Arc Event Template, which will shave years off of trial and error in your event planning process and give you confidence to deliver an outstanding experience every time.

During the training, you will be taken through a quick, iterative process for each of the essential elements of an event of your choosing. You will learn about the framework, brainstorm high-level elements of your event through sample exercises, and receive invaluable peer feedback. You will leave with a clear outline of a transformative experience, ready to hit the ground running!

Our Clients

What a journey! The last three days attending the Scaling Intimacy School of Experience Design intensive not only taught me so much about how to level up my experience design through empathy, connection, and structure . . . it also provided me with a learning experience unlike anything I’ve experienced before! Thank you to the facilitation team, much appreciation to the awesome tech crew, gratitude to my fantastic home group, and, of course, massive shout out to founder Jenny Sauer-Klein for the incredible experience!

Valery Navarrete, Onboarding Specialist, Asana

I’d heard a lot about this course and had been looking forward to it for months. All I can say is it did not disappoint! I loved every moment, every interaction and activity. An experience that will change the way I work!

Lian Passmore, Engagement and Wellbeing Manager, Northpower

Scaling Intimacy is something I would recommend to anyone who is accountable for building an experience in any context. The amount of a-ha moments I had in such a short period and being able to practically apply my learnings in the moment was so so valuable. Could not recommend this course enough!

Mika McKeany, Learning Experience Partner, Mitre 10 (N.Z.) Ltd.

Scaling Intimacy is a must-attend for anyone building community and/or creating experiential workshops. Jenny and her team of capable facilitators make events of 300 seem like 30. Such an amazing wealth of experience!

Carlo Delumpa, Leadership and Executive Coach, Hive Leadership Coaching and Consulting

I run an agency of 60+ consultants and am in my third trimester with Baby #3, and the two days were well spent here with this group, going through an experience that showcased and demonstrated the power and potential of really intentional experience design. I will be able to apply principles here to my client work, my teambuilding work, and the work I’m planning for the world. Thank you Jenny and team!

Brea Starmer, Founder/President, Lions + Tigers

I’m based in Asia so the timezone difference was initially a barrier for me to apply but I’m so glad I did, it was well worth staying up the entire to go through this with an amazing group of strangers-to-friends! The facilitators were so mindful and welcoming, and I would definitely recommend this to anyone that’s designing an event.

Eddie Chan, Head of Product, NewCampus

This training far exceeded my expectations. I walk into it thinking I would gain some “tricks and tips” to add toll my tool chest. Instead, I walked away knowing how to weave tools together in an intentional way to create an experience where participants walk away positively changed.

Sesha Yalamanchili, President, On the Mark Consulting

Scaling Intimacy was able to open my eyes to see that the experience of an event trumps the “content is king” narrative. I expected to walk away with insights and enjoy the course, but what I received was much more than that. I left feeling confident that I could design both experiences AND content to meet the needs of my audience, forged friendships and connections, and was hit with a wave of emotion and outpouring of support that honestly surprised and delighted me.

Beki Winchel, Learning Content & Research Developer, PCMA

YOU WILL LEARN HOW TO
  • Design curriculum that takes participants on a transformative journey
  • ​Make a group of 300 feel like a gathering of 30
  • Turn abstract concepts into direct experiences
  • Design a debrief process that makes the learning actionable and relevant
  • Balance having a plan with being spontaneous
  • Integrate playful exercises to get a group to connect and drop in quickly
  • Use the experiential learning model to create events that are engaging and interactive
OUR LIVE SESSIONS INCLUDE

Main Intensive Sessions
12 hours

3-hour weekly design sprints including interactive exercises, peer coaching, brainstorming and feedback

Reunion Call
1.5 hours

re-connect with your cohort, celebrate wins and continue the learning

SPACE

Essential Training

$1250

REGISTER HERE

SAVE $100 IF YOU REGISTER BY THE EARLY-BIRD DEADLINE

UPCOMING OFFERINGS

FALL 2023 DATES ARE IN FOR THIS TRAINING!

4 Tuesdays, October 17 – November 7, 2023

9am – 12pm PST | 12pm – 3pm EST

Interested in coming to the Fall session?

Sign up below to be notified when registration is open!

SIGN UP HERE TO BE NOTIFIED

Registration Includes

  • The Dramatic Arc Template
    to streamline the planning process for every event you ever create
  • Virtual Games + Icebreakers
    you can use immediately in your own video calls to create connection and community
  • Certificate of Completion
    signifying 13.5 hours of experience design training (given to those who complete all parts of the program live).
  • Pre-recorded videos
    that introduce the major frameworks and principles of experience design
  • Comprehensive Workbook + Slide Deck PDFs
    to get familiar and interact with the course content
  • Curated Spotify Playlist
    that can be used as your own event soundtrack
  • Handouts + Worksheets to reinforce your learning experience
  • Participant Profiles
    to get to know and stay connected with your cohort

Experience Design Diversity Initiative

Significant financial assistance available to support
BIPOC to participate in Scaling Intimacy.

Find out more + apply now


As part of our commitment to dismantling racism through experience
design, $25 from your registration will be donated to an organization of
your choosing working to advance racial justice.

Play on Purpose Add-On Available!

Get 50% off a Lifetime Membership $99.50 (Regularly $199)

Play on Purpose is our ultimate video resource library that instantly expands your repertoire of meaningful games and exercises. This curated library will help you to engage groups with confidence.

There are 80+ in-person and virtual games available for you to learn today, and start leading tomorrow. We offer video tutorials, sample debriefs, trainers’ tips, and more for each and every game. Learn more about how it all works with our behind-the-scenes tour video
.

Add on the Play on Purpose when you sign up for Facilitation Finesse and you will receive 50% off a Lifetime Membership to Play on Purpose. Add it to your cart below to sign up. 

Scaling Intimacy was truly top notch. I’ve been facilitating for two decades, and this was a) incredibly well facilitated and b) a truly enlightening experience! I now have a clearer framework I can use again and again to make really transformational events, and the folks at Scaling Intimacy and the community of experience designers we met really pushed my thinking and helped me grow my toolkit of resources for gathering others. Plus, I had fun, was engaged the whole time, and got to apply my learnings real time. Plus, I made new friends. Highly recommend this incredible opportunity!

Lia Izenberg, Principal and Owner, Lia Izenberg Coaching + Consulting

I was anxious going in not knowing what to expect and dedicating that much brainpower in a concentrated amount of time. I came out transformed, confident, and ready to take on the world! You could easily read the materials about Scaling Intimacy but to experience it is a gamechanger! Really helped create lasting impact for current and future programs. I also love the connections I made in my home group. Truly experienced intimacy at scale!

Claudio Castro, Design Program Manager, Klaviyo

This was by far the best virtual training I’ve ever experienced. The professionalism and quality of the team was incredible and I stayed more than engaged the entire time. I found myself looking forward to the sessions with pure excitement. What’s more, the value I received was immediate and will have lasting changes on how I deliver transformative experiences in the future. I thought I was advanced in my facilitation techniques, but this just took me to an entirely new level. Thank you!

Christine Kern, Head of People and Culture, SAP

Not only did I learn the ‘how to do’, it was woven into a fundamental tapestry of ‘how to be’, which I so appreciate. Thank you for a challenging, fun, and wholehearted experience.

Rick Thomas, Chief Inspiration Officer, Ambient Consulting

I was blown away by the training with Scaling Intimacy. I’ve been teaching in the virtual space in 1:1 and group programs for 5 years, but wouldn’t consider myself an experience designer. Before COVID hit, it was possible to teach for an hour on Zoom and have my students retain the information. But, what I found, is that now, my students need more interaction and thought out design. Scaling Intimacy has given me immediate skills that I used within 24 hours of learning them to better facilitate my online teaching. I would highly recommend learning from Jenny and her team.

Kathleen Cutler, CEO, Kathleen Cutler Strategy

Who is this training for?
Organizational Leaders
Including HR, Learning + Development, DEI professionals looking to up-level your internal trainings and offsites
Coaches + Consultants
Looking to bring more expertise to the experiences you design for your clients
Entrepreneurs + Founders
Looking to engage your audience in new, experiential ways
Educators
Looking for new tools to engage your students with meaning

Or Anyone Who…

  • Is creating a new event from scratch or re-designing an existing event.
  • Finds the event planning process daunting, frustrating, confusing or overwhelming.
  • Is looking to develop your confidence leading groups in live events, programs and trainings.
  • Wants a safe space to practice honing your craft with a group of high caliber peers who will help you grow.
  • Wants to move away from lectures and slideshows and move towards experiential learning models.
  • Believes learning experiences can be fun, and can create lasting transformation for attendees.
OUR FACILITATORS
Jenny Sauer-Klein
Founder & CEO
Scaling Intimacy School of Experience Design
Jenny Sauer-Klein
Founder & CEO
Scaling Intimacy School of Experience Design

Jenny Sauer-Klein is passionate about designing transformational experiences that prioritize connection over content, and regularly consults for organizations like Google, Airbnb, Dropbox and the Haas School of Business. She is the founder and CEO of the Scaling Intimacy School of Experience Design, which trains event leaders to strategically weave connection into the fabric of their events. She created Play On Purpose, a video tutorial library with over 80 of her best virtual and in-person team building games, to support facilitators to confidently engage and connect groups and teams.

Joanna Miller
Senior Facilitator & Executive Coach
Website
Joanna Miller
Senior Facilitator & Executive Coach
Website

Joanna Miller is facilitator, executive coach, and experience designer with 15 years of experience creating and leading talent development programs for global companies including Asana, Slack and Levi Strauss & Co. Her goal as a leader, coach and facilitator is to design experiences that inspire deeper curiosity, connection and clarity of purpose.

Julia Winston
Senior Facilitator
Coach, Facilitator & Experience Designer
www.juliawinston.com
Julia Winston
Senior Facilitator
Coach, Facilitator & Experience Designer
www.juliawinston.com

Julia Winston is an Executive Coach, Experience Designer and Facilitator based in Oakland, California. With a background in community building and corporate leadership, most recently as the Chief Culture Officer of Alpine Investors, Julia works with leaders, teams and organizations around the world to bring people together in meaningful ways as they aspire to accomplish amazing things. She is also a writer, hiker, yoga & meditation teacher, and Shabbat dinner host extraordinaire!

Adam Rosendahl
Senior Facilitator
Founder, Late Nite Art
www.lateniteart.com
Adam Rosendahl
Senior Facilitator
Founder, Late Nite Art
www.lateniteart.com

Adam Rosendahl is a facilitator, experience designer, and the Founder of LATE NITE ART®, a creative learning and development lab. Through his experiential workshops and trainings, he fuses art, music, and dialogue as a vehicle to breathe imagination and connection into teams, organizations, and conferences across the globe.

SIGN UP HERE

As an experienced coach and facilitator, I took Scaling Intimacy looking for new ways to spice my workshop. What I received is a completely disrupted way to create connection, intimacy, and psychological safety in any environment. The experience of the course was breathtaking. I felt empowered, refresh and energize after each module.

Javier Llerena, Founder, Re-Invent Coaching

The 2 days flew by in a heartbeat and the content was immediately applicable and super connecting. I appreciated how practical it was as we could learn and develop our own program at the same time. The team does such a great job of keeping things interactive and balanced both the theory and experience!

Hong Nguyen-Phuong, Silicon Valley Alliances, Silicon Valley Alliances

Feeling connected in an online workshop might feel like a far stretch but it’s not! We learned a replicable process along with useful tools to create intimate, transformative experiences online. I was able to put what I learned into action the very next day! This was definitely one of the best workshops I’ve ever taken.

Carolyn Swora, Owner, Pinnacle Culture

Can’t attend this training? Sign up here to be the first to be notified when registration is open!

FALL 2023 DATES

4 Tuesdays, October 17 – November 7, 2023

9am – 12pm PST | 12pm – 3pm EST

SIGN UP HERE TO BE NOTIFIED

FAQ

What is your cancellation/transfer policy?

Registration for the course is non-refundable, but is transferable. If you are unable to attend, you can transfer your registration to one of the next two offerings of Scaling Intimacy. You may transfer your registration only one time, if you cancel a second time, your registration will be forfeited. If you request a transfer less than 10 days before the Main Intensive, a $100 transfer fee will apply.

What is experience design?

Experience Design is the empathetic and strategic process of creating transformational experiences built on meaningful connections and collaborative learning. If you are gathering friends, strangers, colleagues or clients together to participate in meaningful events then you are an Experience Designer! 

What is the time commitment for this workshop?

The Scaling Intimacy workshop has 3 parts:
Main Sessions (4 days, 3 hours each day, including breaks)
Reunion Call (1.5 Hours)
In addition, you should expect to do about 20-30 minutes of pre-work to prepare each main intensive session.

Are there any discounts available?

We offer a 20% discount for groups of 5 or more. Please email connect@scalingintimacy.com with the names and emails of your participants and we will send you a custom discount code to register! We have limited financial assistance available for those from under represented communities and non-profit leaders. Please reach out to connect@scalingintimacy.com to discuss available options!

Will this approach only for big groups?

The frameworks and principles shared in this training can work for any size group, big or small. Some of the ice-breakers and games that we will play are more suited for medium to large size groups, but these can also be modified to suit the size of your group.

Will there be time to actually design my event during the training?

Yes! After understanding the theory behind this approach, we will dive into actually applying it to a specific event of your choosing. You will have a chance to ideate and get feedback from your peers in small group, and you will leave with the most significant pieces of your curriculum already planned.

What kinds of groups and events are the best fit for this training?

This methodology can apply to any kind of facilitated experience virtual or in-person. So it’s not ideal for an experience that has no structure like a cocktail party or a casual picnic. It works especially well for any kind of learning experience like a workshop, training or conference. We’ve had people design all kinds of events using this methodology from holistic wellness retreats to corporate onboarding programs, to team building workshops, to quarterly all-hands meetings.

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Development Alchemy + Aim