The innovative workshop design contest

SessionLab is on a mission to showcase what great
workshop design means and YOU can be a part of it by entering
the Innovative Workshop Design Contest 2023!

The contest

SessionLab & NeverDoneBefore are looking for facilitators who can design engaging and impactful workshops that help solve a challenge for participants.

Whether your expertise lies in developing leadership skills, building effective teams, fostering learning and development, or running design sprints, we’d love to see your very best work!

The contest is an opportunity to share your methods and techniques in a well-designed agenda to demonstrate your creative talent and innovative designs! Your designs could catch the eye of potential clients and fellow facilitators, plus you’ll gain valuable feedback from our panel of facilitation experts.

The winning designs will be featured in the SessionLab template library, and you’ll have the chance to present your workshop at a community event!

The SessionLab library is an open-source resource of workshop activities and exercises. Alongside this, we have a curated space of ready-to-use workshop agendas for facilitators!

NeverDoneBefore is a global community of innovative facilitators who gather to explore and grow their skills!

categories & Prizes

Win yearly subscriptions to SessionLab and to the NeverDoneBefore community

First prize

Most innovative workshop design

The first prize will be awarded to the most innovative workshop design as voted for by our expert panel of judges.

The winner will receive an annual subscription to the NeverDoneBefore Community a global online community for facilitators who want to grow their skills to the next level!

The Community Choice Award

The Community Choice Award will be voted for in public voting by SessionLab and Never Done Before Community members.

The winner will receive a one-year SessionLab Pro subscription, the perfect plan for collaborating and delivering your workshop designs!

Best Use of SessionLab

The award for Best Use of SessionLab to design the agenda will be chosen by our panel of judges.

The winner will receive a one-year SessionLab Pro subscription, the ideal plan for collaborating and streamlining your design process!

Beginner-friendly Workshop Design

The award for the ‘Beginner-Friendly’ Workshop Design will be chosen by the expert facilitation panel.

The winner will receive a one-to-one coaching session with Myriam Hadnes to support your facilitation practice and help you thrive!

Best virtual workshop

The award for best design for a Virtual Workshop will be chosen by the judging panel.

The winner will receive a one-year SessionLab Pro subscription, perfect for collaborating and delivering your online workshops!

ENTRY DETAILS

How to enter the contest

Simply submit your workshop design proposal outlining the objectives, activities, and learning outcomes.

The open brief is to: “Design a workshop template that runs for 120 minutes and tackles a challenge or problem.”

Your workshop template should include full instructions for running the 2-hour session, with clear instructions, timings, and the materials needed. Submissions should be written in English.

Showcase your workshop design skills by submitting your entry in this form by April 19th, 2023 23.59pm CET

Important dates

The competition opens on March 14th 2023.
Submit your workshop templates by April 19th 2023 23.59pm CET.

Winners will be contacted within 28 days of the closing date.

Looking for inspiration?

We’ve chosen to keep the brief open to encourage you to choose a facilitation area that you specialize in which expresses your design talent in the best light. As long as you state what the challenge is, and keep the workshop to 120 minutes, the idea is up to you!

Are you stuck for ideas? Explore some of our templates or library exercises for inspiration. The Art of Effective Feedback is a great example of how to teach teams the skills to give and receive feedback in 2-hours. The One-Hour Brain Sprint template gives teams the space to ideate together quickly!

Or try one of these ideas to inspire your brief:

Design a template for a 120-minute long workshop that… helps onboard new team members. helps a leadership team create trust. helps develop effective feedback skills.

Guidelines

How to submit your template

Designs should be submitted in an easy-to-read digital format.
Submissions should be written in English.
Workshop designs should be 120 minutes long.
This can be an online, in-real-life or hybrid session, please state your choice clearly in the workshop description.
The winning workshop templates will appear in the SessionLab template library. If submissions are designed in a format other than SessionLab, winners and the SessionLab team can work together to get it ready for the library.
Intellectual Property rights will remain with the creator, and SessionLab will give credit accordingly.
Submit your designs here!

The competition opens on March 14th 2023.
Submit your workshops templates here by April 19th, 2023 23.59pm CET

panel of judges

A special thanks to our panel of experts who will be judging your entries!

Participate and win a 1-year subscription to the NeverDoneBefore community or a SessionLab Pro account.

Terms & Conditions

Welcome to the Terms and Conditions of The Innovative Workshop Design Contest, a contest organized collaboratively by:

TrainedOn OÜ (a company incorporated in Estonia, operating the services and websites named SessionLab at sessionlab.com, referred to as “SessionLab” from here on) and
Workshops.work B.V. (a company incorporated in The Netherlands, operating the services and websites named Never Done Before at neverdonebefore.org, referred to as “Never Done Before” from here on).

The two parties collectively are referred to as the “Promoters” from here on.

These Terms and Conditions govern participants in The Innovative Workshop Design Contest and by entering this competition, an entrant is indicating their agreement to these terms and conditions.

The competition is open to everyone, regardless of location and residency, aged 18 years or over. Except employees of SessionLab and Never Done Before, their close relatives and anyone otherwise connected with the organization or judging of the competition.
There is no entry fee and no purchase necessary to enter this competition.
Closing date for entry will be April 19th 2023 23.59pm CET. After this date, no further entries to the competition will be accepted.
No responsibility can be accepted for entries not received for whatever reason.
The Promoters reserve the right to cancel or amend the competition and these terms and conditions. Any changes to the competition will be notified to entrants as soon as possible by the promoters.

Now for the prizes! The prizes are as follows:

First prize will be awarded for the most innovative workshop design. The winner will receive an annual subscription to the Never Done Before Community

The Community Choice Award This award will be voted for in public voting in the SessionLab and Never Done Before Communities. The winner will receive a one-year SessionLab Pro subscription.
The award for Best Use of SessionLab to design the agenda will be chosen by a panel of judges. The winner will receive a one-year SessionLab Pro subscription.
The award for the best ‘Beginner-Friendly’ Workshop Design will be chosen by a panel of judges. The winner will receive a one-year SessionLab Pro subscription.
The award for the best Best Virtual Workshop Design will be chosen by a panel of judges. The winner will receive a one-year SessionLab Pro subscription.

The prizes are as stated and no cash or other alternatives will be offered. The prizes are not transferable.

All submitted workshop templates will be considered for publication on SessionLab’s website, with permission and attribution to the designer.

What happens if you win?

The winners’ names will be announced publicly in a community event and in email marketing.
The winner will be notified by email within 28 days of the closing date. The winner will only ever be contacted by email. If the winner can’t be contacted or doesn’t claim their prize within 14 days of notification, we reserve the right pick a replacement winner.
The promoters will notify the winner when and where the prize will be delivered.
The promoter’s decision in respect of all matters to do with the competition will be final and no correspondence will be entered into.
The winner agrees to the use of their name and image in materials related to the contest. Any personal data relating to the winner or any other entrants will be used solely in accordance with current EU data protection legislation and will not be disclosed to a third party without the entrant’s prior consent.