On the Beach!

[Christopher Kloth]

Ralph,
Sounds very potentially fun and productive.  As always, my question in a situation like this is: What outcome does the client hope for or need? The answer to that may lead to some more questions, like:  How important is the documentation? Why?  If it is, what if each convener agreed to arrange for a session scribe who took hand written notes on legal pads and posted them in the bath housed or hotel neare the beach? What if there were computers and scanners so that the hand written notes could be fed into the computer trhough the scanners?  What if they took
notes on the volleyballs with markers?

I recently participated in an open space session with a group from Fetzer Institute. We were at Amelia Island, Florida.  Note taking was optional.  Some groups went out on the beach.  Some of us reported key points from our sessions at the closing circle, including recommendations for Fetzer staff, which they took notes on.  People took responsibility for determining what to do about their passions...including whether or not to document.

As always, trust your gut!

Let me know if you need an assistant "power tanner" on this gig.

Chris

ralphsc wrote:

> Friends,
>
> I've done a lot of open space gigs, but never one quite like this, and I welcome your suggestions:
>
> A corporate client wants its open space meeting of 110 people done on the beach in Florida.  As in: on the beach.  That, of course, means no walls.  None.  I'm thinking: why not just spread out the posters on the sand and let people walk around them.  Anchor them with cocoanuts or some other damn thing.  The more I think about this, the less I'm interested in trucking in bulletin boards, partitions or any other kind of artifical walls.  Just all these folks in sandals or bare feet walking around their own passions carefully laid out on the earth.  Why not?
>
> Another thought would be to get the facility to put up some volleyball nets and post stuff on those.  And if we leave a few actual volleyballs around as well ­ no telling how things might bounce.
>
> So, what would you do if you were asked to open space on a beach?  And what concerns would you have?  Anybody done one on a beach before?  or in a meadow or some other outdoor venue?  All advice welcome.  And thank you.
>
> Ralph Copleman