Dead Moose Society

[Birgit Bolton]

Sorry if you have already gotten this notice from me electronically and this is a repeat. I have been experimenting with sending out mailings to all of my e-mail contacts in a "mass mailing" and am finding that the system is not working too well yet. A bit of a mess actually. You can imagine--3 e-mails to some, none to others, and a mess up in the data in general. Whew! Actually, for a person that was computer phobic not so long ago, I don't do that badly. Anyhow, here is the invite (maybe again) to the Dead Moose Society Meeting. I am aware that it is scheduled for Thanksgiving USA. And I apologize for not considering this. A number of people have already responded to confirm attendance, and yet others have said they would e-mail a story. I invite you to do either, and hope you will.

Birgitt Bolton

Dear Colleagues and Friends in Open Space,

You are cordially invited to attend
A Special
Meeting of the Dead Moose Society

Date: November 26th, 1998 from 9am to 5pm (or whenever its over, its over)
Place: 55 Ravina Crescent, Ancaster, Ontario, Canada (if numbers warrant, we'll shift to a larger location nearby)
Cost: No monetary cost. The price for attending is to know a Dead Moose Story and to have it recorded in story format in both hard copy and on disk and bring it to the meeting
Participate Long Distance by sending us your Dead Moose Story in a format that lets us share it on the day. Hard copy via "snail mail" or e-mail to us

R.S.V.P. by November 15th to Birgitt Bolton, Diane Brown, Virginia Burt and Michelle Cooper at birgitt at worldchat.com or phone 905-648-5775

History of the Dead Moose Society:  The Dead Moose Society was formally launched in April of 1997 by participants of an Open Space Training event. We came to understand that one of the experiences in Open Space Technology events is that TRUTH that is often unspoken or "under the table" in organizations makes an appearance "on the table".  So, we started speaking of this as the "dead moose under the table" with recognition that they exist in most organizations with everyone knowing that they are there and smelling quite badly, yet no one wanting to admit their presence much less talk about them. If the "dead moose" is finally "on the table", healing and organizational health has a chance to work magic in moving to organizational excellence. Sounds simple.

We formed the Dead Moose Society through both the humour and the seriousness of looking at the Dead Moose (truth or the unmentionable) in organizations and  how to work with the Dead Moose once it is on the table.
(see information about the Dead Moose Society at www.openspacetechnology.com)

It is our intention at this meeting to collect stories from people who have worked with bringing the "dead moose" onto the table, lived to tell the tale and to examine the organizational learning that emerged from the experience. Possibly the collection of stories  and our "learnings" can give "food for thought" to others. We certainly wish to convey a message to practitioners of Open Space Technology that they need to be prepared for the Dead Moose coming onto the table.

At this time we of course have no idea if the results will be publishable, but that is also our intention, with the stories that we have permission to use.

With warm regard,
Birgitt

Birgitt Bolton
Dalar Associates,  55 Ravina Cres., Ancaster, Ontario, Canada L9G 2E8
phone: 905-648-5775        fax: 905-648-2262        e-mail: birgitt at worldchat.com
Learn more about us by visiting us at: www.openspacetechnology.com