A ROOKIE'S FIRST EXPERIENCE!

[Harrison Owen]

At 10:03 AM 4/18/00 -0700, you wrote:
>
> Greetings,
>
> I look forward to sharing Open space experiences with you all.
>
> In years past when working at a conference centre in the interior of British
> Columbia- Sorrento Centre- Open Space was used by programmes that were
> sponsored at our centre. I was not directly involved but was impressed with
> the results, the morale tone and the general method, as I observed it from
> something of a distance.
>
> Earlier this year, the idea of using Open Space came up when I was invited to
> be a speaker/facilitator for a special 1 day youth conference on the subject
> of leadership in the century ahead. I had been asked, because I had been a
> speaker for a session in similar events in the past, but now I was to be
> given responsibility for a full day's event.


**************************************
Congratulations on a job obviously well done. The first time out is always a
WOW -- and it just gets better. I promise. Opening Space for Young Folks is
very special if only because the energy present keeps pushing back the walls,
making that space bigger and bigger. You might be interested to know that the
US Peace Corps used Open Space pretty much all over the world with its Youth
Development programs. Their experience was similar to yours. Also in Sweden, a
group of young, unemployed budding entrepreneurs have jumped in. I will try and
get their mentors online here.

And about the name. Inviting participants to say their name is only partially
about making sure that people know who they are. It is also about commitment.
When you stand up in front of your friends, peers and colleagues and say
something like This is my passion and my name is______ you have placed yourself
on the line. There can be no anonymity in Open Space 'cause it is all about
taking personal responsibility for what you care about. I find that if you make
this link to personal responsibility, any questions about saying one's name
disappear. And when there is hesitance to do that it can mean that the group is
not ready to take the risk of personal responsibility. I don't think for a
minute that was true with your young people -- but it is an area worth
exploration.

Thank you for sharing!

Harrison



Harrison Owen
7808 River Falls Drive
Potomac, MD 20854
USA
phone 301-469-9269
fax 301-983-9314
website
www.mindspring.com/~owenhh
Open Space Institute websites
www.openspaceworld.org
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