Electronic follow up

[Birgitt Bolton]

Hi Koos,
picking up some threads from your e-mail. Yes, we are in Open Space and
exercising our communication electronically. I find that electronic medium
is good for the long term in building community only if there are occasional
face to face meetings. There is a lot of research about this, including how
men do this differently than women :-) I think we do currently have
opportunity to meet face to face annually on two occasions and would
encourage all on the list to do so---the Organizational Transformation
Symposium (this year held June 29-July 3 in Oregon) and the Open Space on
Open Space (this year held Sept 26,27 in Chicago).  Information about both
is on the websites including mine under training/special events. I see both
events as a chance for real professional development in Open Space, whatever
that may mean. For me it means opportunities to do great learning and to
test what I believe and listen to what others believe. Great fun too!

And there is a fun story on my website about people who met on the internet
and then gathered together in an Open Space done by Barry Owen. He and I had
the fun of watching the people meet each other for the first time (great
intimacies had been shared by e-mail amongst the people who never thought
they would meet, so it was like watching a soap opera unfold as people now
had to be face to face).

Warmest regards,
Birgitt

Birgitt Bolton of Dalar Associates
www.openspacetechnology.com
55 Ravina Cres., Ancaster, Ontario, Canada
 L9G 2E8
phone: 905-648-5775  fax: 905-648-2262

-----Original Message-----
From: OSLIST [mailto:OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU]On Behalf Of koos de
heer
Sent: Friday, June 18, 1999 6:23 PM
To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
Subject: Electronic follow up


At 09:28 18-06-1999 -0400, Steve wrote:
>As for electronic follow-up, I don't think it has as much to do about skill
>or confidence but lack of intimacy. On-line web sites are a far cry from
>intense face to face interaction.

I think both are true. A few thoughts that I have been thinking
about this:
- This mailing list is a great example of an electronic Open Space.
  The exchange that takes place here is almost always interesting
  and very often inspiring.  Sometimes the intimacy of the things
  people share here is moving me.  And when a topic does not
  interest me and/or I do not feel I can contribute, I follow the
  law of two feet and ignore it.  The people on the list are always
  the right people, and so on... both in form and in content, it
  resembles Open Space closely.
- There are also great differences. The whole dynamics of being
  together, the sharing of coffee and meals, the listening and
  speaking to each other in person, the process of determining the
  schedule for the day, etc. all add to the OS experience and we
  don't have any of that on line. I have been trying to imagine what
  it would be like to get the people on this list together physically
  in a real OS. To add the power of the personal encounter to the power
  already there. Wouldn't that be great?
- It might not be. Because the power of this list could just lie in
  its occasional character, its loose structure, its almost anonimous
  bumblebee-like atmosphere. Or maybe partly. I have had experiences
  with people I knew through email and chat and who felt close to me
  in the electronic communication, while the friendship did not work
  at all after we met in person. It would certainly be an interesting
  experiment with this group.
- In order to share personal experiences and stories through a certain
  means of communication, one has to be reasonably familiar with annd
  have a certain amount of trust in that means of communication. When
  you are not comfortable with internet, you will not easily use it
  for sharing. It might even be awkward to read other people's personal
  stories when for you it would not feel right to communicate similar
  things in that same way.
- I think for an OS event to have an electronic follow up (maybe
  combined with an electronic exchange beforehand), it is also necessary
  to create a connection between the real and the virtual part of the
  conference. I think that could be done by:
  - making the virtual conference part of the invitation - it has to be
    an integral part of the whole project;
  - letting the electronic conference run continuously from before the
    physical conference, during it and a while afterwards;
  - having internet computers available at the meeting site(s) so that
    participants in the physical conference can communicate with those
    not physically present and the proceedings of the physical conference
    can be shared with the electronic participants;
  - putting pictures of the physical conference on the internet site of
    the electronic conference, both for those not present to get a visual
    impression and for those present to view afterward, maybe even have
    one or two webcams in the main meeting room;
  - and maybe more (ideas welcome).
Those are my thougts at this moment. Any comments, experiences, or
invitations to discuss trial projects welcome ;-)

Koos

------------
koos de heer
auryn management advies
utrecht, netherlands
mailto:koosdhr at auryn.nl
http://www.auryn.nl/