This section of the Electronic Emissary site is designed to inform new facilitators (or those of you interested in facilitating a project of your own design) about elements of facilitation that encourage success, including techniques, skills, plus tips/hints from experienced facilitators.

As you read through this section, you will notice that we have chosen to compare the facilitator's role in the learning process to that of a tour guide or event organizer, comparable to those guides who accompanied guests as they traveled with the elegant Orient Express tour trains. Many of the tasks a tour guide performs ensures that customers are provided with special tour opportunities and an interesting and worthwhile itinerary. The tasks a facilitator performs during the learning journey serve to attain the same outcome--a memorable and educational learning experience. The successful facilitator is truly one who can:

• Establish special tour opportunities and get tour members on board (in the form of setting up accounts with Subject Matter Experts),
• Help each group have a successful and enjoyable journey by accommodating participant needs,
• And, finally, when the trip nears the end (as the semester concludes), helping participants ready themselves for "last call" or departure from the program by gathering final summaries and evaluations from participants and Subject Matter Experts.

To read more about the process of facilitation with the Electronic Emissary:

• Select Get a Ticket to learn more about how the Electronic Emissary Project actually works at the University of Texas, plus other background information.
• Select Get on Board which explains how to get your projects "on board" the Emissary (including an overview of the procedures for establishing project accounts).
• Select Keep on Track for tips and suggestions to keep your participants "on track" (including procedural hints for project management).
• Select Enjoy the Ride for suggestions that relate to the personal side of facilitating project matches.
• Select Last Call for procedures necessary for bringing closure to the project (or just wrapping up the learning experience).
• Select Technical Tangles for specifics on the "nuts and bolts" for setting up an e-mail management program and tracking system.