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What is MiniCamp?

You’ve probably heard of Consultants’ Camp, a weeklong, self-organizing conference of Satir-aware consultants. Camp has met annually since 1988 (except one year for

COVID). Recently, interest in a shorter, more Satir-focused version has been growing. So a few of us have offered to host MiniCamp 2026. It will be the fifth MiniCamp, and the first with a strong Satir focus. May 14-17, at the Residence Inn in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

A different kind of conference

MiniCamp is unique. PowerPoint is nearly absent. We do something unusual for conferences: we confer. MiniCamp supports actively collaborative inquiry. Sessions are three to 20 people in size. Format can be tutorial, discussion, or experiential. Other sessions can be fun: a fireworks demo or a pizza making class. Discussion is spirited, respectful, and incisive.

Who Attends?

Participation in MiniCamp, like Consultants’ Camp, is by invitation. Any Camper can invite you. Campers and MiniCampers are a varied group of consultants interested in learning and improving our consulting using

Satir concepts and methods. MiniCampers respect and appreciate people and the interaction between people and the technologies with which they work.

What’s the Program?

Campers explore issues in business, organizational development, psychology, and consulting. The first session identifies session topics, and the week’s agenda evolves to address those topics. The program has always been outstanding. We’ve all come away with invaluable learnings.

MiniCamp begins with supper at 6:00 PM on Thursday, May 14. It ends at noon Sunday. Two-hour sessions are held in mornings, afternoons, and evenings, with ample time for reflection, conversations, or recreation.

Sessions are of three kinds. Tutorials are energetic exchanges guided by a session leader. Reverse tutorials are like Tutorials, except that attendees guide the leader to provide access to the experience and insight of some of the world’s top consultants. Simulations are enactments or metaphors of real situations to uncover choices that otherwise might have remained undiscovered. Some possible sessions:

  • Exploring family-of-origin experiences and their relationship to our current behavioral patterns

  • Using the Ingredients of an Interaction to Resolve Text-Based Flame Wars

  • Too Much Change at Once: When the Transforming Idea Is Also a Foreign Element

  • Managing Toxic Conflict Between Human and Artificially-Intelligent (AI) Team Members

  • Placating Bullies: Costs and Consequences

  • Finding Elephants in the Room: Using Temperature Readings to Uncover Hidden Risks in Projects

  • Transforming Organizational Survival Rules

  • How the Presence of an AI Team Member Affects a Team’s Development Through Tuckman’s Stages Compassionate, Empathic Listening in Business

Because campers design the program, we get what we need most.

Accommodations

Where is MiniCamp held?
Residence Inn Chapel Hill (Marriott)
101 Erwin Road; Chapel Hill, NC 27514

Where to Stay
Call for reservations: 919-933-4848
Reference “Consultants’ Camp” or “Consultants’ Camp Mini Camp Satir”. Rate is $175 per day plus tax. Checkin starts at 3:00 PM, and checkout is 11:00 AM. Free wireless Internet is available throughout the property. There is a 24-hour market for snacks.

How to Get There
By Air: Raleigh-Durham Airport (RDU)
Directions from Google. 17 miles (28 km). 20-30 minutes by car. Uber or Lyft: ~$30.00

About the weather
Usually springlike. High 70s, Low 60s, 25% chance of rain. Northerners will likely find the weather comfortably warm during the day, a bit chilly at night.

What to wear
Comfortable, casual clothes—jeans, long pants, various shirts, and a sweatshirt or light jacket. It is usually spring-like. Bring a rain jacket or umbrella.

Recreation
There is lovely suburban walking around the hotel. There is a small fitness center, and an outdoor pool, which probably will not be warm enough for swimming in May. Coker Arboretum, Duke University, Morehead Planetarium, North Carolina Botanical Garden, Streets at Southpoint Mall and more are

About Meals

Breakfast is included with our rooms at Residence Inn. Satir MiniCamp organizes an informal “lunch club” staffed by volunteers who stock our kitchen with cold lunch items and snacks. Participation is voluntary for a nominal fee to cover costs. Friday and Saturday dinner is at local restaurants in table-sized groups.

Special dietary requirements
Kitchen is not certified Kosher. Each room has a kitchen with refrigerator and stovetop. Grocery stores:

  • Wegman’s, 1810 Fordham Blvd., Chapel Hill, NC 27514

  • Whole Foods, 81 S. Elliott Rd., Chapel Hill, NC 27514

  • Harris Teeter, 1800 MLK Jr. Blvd., Chapel Hill, NC 27514

Schedule

On Thursday evening, we’ll be working out the schedule for the weekend. The schedule below is based on past MiniCamps, and it’s probably a good approximation to what will actually develop for this MiniCamp:

Thursday, May 14th

  • 6:00 - 7:00 PM - Arrive, welcoming supper

  • 7:00 - 9:30 PM - Organizing, scheduling

Friday, May 15th

  • 8:30 - 10:30 AM - Intro to Satir Model, Part 1

  • 12:00 - 1:30 PM - Lunch

  • 1:30 - 3:30 PM - Session 1

  • 7:30 - 9:30 PM - Session 2

Saturday, May 16th

  • 8:30 - 10:30 AM - Intro to Satir Model, Part 2

  • 12:00 - 1:30 PM - Lunch

  • 1:30 - 3:30 PM - Session 3

  • 7:30 - 9:30 PM - Session 4

Sunday, May 17th

  • 8:30 - 10:30 AM - Session 5

  • 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM - Closing

Registration Checklist

  • Complete and submit a registration form.

  • Receive an invoice/acknowledgment via PayPal

  • Pay the invoice (credit/debit card or check)

  • Reserve a room at Residence Inn Chapel Hill

  • Pick up a COVID test kit at your pharmacy

Questions?

Please let me know us know at minicamp-info@ConsultantsCamp.org if you have any questions or if you have a clear interest in attending or not attending Camp 2025.

Respectfully,

Sharon Marsh Roberts &
The organizing team of Satir MiniCamp

Matters of Public Health

Based on the success of the Health Policy for Camp 2025, and on the previous failure of 2024, as health leader of Satir MiniCamp, I request:

General guidelines for protecting your health and others are listed below:

Reference: https://www.cdc.gov/covid/prevention/index.html

We recommend that each person attending Satir MiniCamp obtain test kits that test for at least COVID, but preferably for COVID / Flu A / Flu B. These are obtained easily through pharmacies and/or Amazon.

Campers, family members and guests of campers will test on arrival at Camp, proffering to the Social Director or the Director’s designee (Test Monitor) a test result strip showing negative test result before entry.

CDC advises that you stay home and away from others (including people you live with who are not sick) if you have respiratory virus symptoms that aren't better explained by another cause. These symptoms can include fever, chills, fatigue, cough, runny nose, and headache, among others.*

Given the length of Satir MiniCamp, if a Camper or associate either develops symptoms of a respiratory virus (not limited to COVID / RSV / flu), then they will not be able to participate in any further Satir MiniCamp sessions, meals or celebrations.

Please note that masking might not provide sufficient protection, especially for those with immune-compromised systems. We want to protect those around us. Campers and family members/guests will withdraw from meals – because masking is impossible while you eat.

If a participant in Satir MiniCamp becomes ill and is unable to attend meals, a member of the organizing team will ensure that this person gets meals provided to their room.

If a Camper or associate tests positive for COVID or Flu in the initial test, their fee for participation will be refunded.