Setting a Congress Crafting Goal

Dr Maggie van den Heuvel

Assistant Professor, University of Amsterdam, Founder Art of Work

Rob Baker

Founder and Chief Positive Deviant, Tailored Thinking

What is Congress Crafting?

At the 2022 European Positive Psychology Conference in Iceland we introduced the concept of "Conference Crafting" as part of our pre-conference job crafting masterclass.

Building on some of the ideas from our "job crafting" workshops, we encouraged participants to set a small personal conference goal in the same way we encouraged people to craft their jobs.

We got some fantastic feedback from participants - they told us that setting an intentional goal at the start of the conference allowed them to get the most from their time in Iceland. We also learned that people enjoyed sharing their personal goals and their experiences with each other over the course of the conference - it gave them a point of shared connection and discussion.

We're delighted to be sharing this idea with you all at this year's IPPA World Congress on Positive Psychology and to invite you all to set a "congress crafting" goal this year to get the most out of your time in Vancouver.

Watch the video below to find out more!

5 Ways to Craft Your Congress Experience

1. Task Crafting

Shaping how you undertake activities at the Congress (e.g. how you take notes, present, plan your Congress sessions)

To search the interactive online program, utilise the “Find Presentations” to search presentations relating to keywords, and the “Find Presenting Author” search field to search for specific presenters. Both search fields are accessible in the left menu of the interactive program here: http://ippa-wc-2022.m.asnevents.com.au/schedule

2. Skill Crafting

Crafting your learning experiences at the Congress (e.g. deliberately deepening your knowledge by focussing on a specific topic, or broaden your knowledge by attending a range of different sessions)

3. Relationship Crafting

Shaping how you interact with others at the Congress (e.g. finding ways to make new connections, finding time to develop an existing relationship further, finding ways to value and thank volunteers)

4. Purpose Crafting

Personalising your Congress experience so it feels meaningful and purposeful (e.g. taking time to reflect on how the field of positive psychology is impacting on others, how you can use the knowledge you have developed to have a meaningful impact, connecting and learning more about Vancouver and the surrounding area)

5. Wellbeing Crafting

Crafting your Congress experience so that it positively influences your mental and / or physical health (e.g. taking breaks to get outside everyday, finding time to be alone so that you don't feel overloaded, walking to the conference venue)