Making the OS community visible

[Richard Norris]

Peggy,

What a great probing thought and inquiry.

As a relative newcomer to the listserve (Nov 1999) and to Open Space  I
have found this vehicle to be a wonderful process for enlightenment.  Seems
to be the ideal format and forum for helping folks stay in touch with the
spirit of Open Space and provides a valued source of community maintenance
resources.  In this respect I believe it works wonderfully.

However, I do find it internally focused in terms of visibility as it has
an OS technical/practitioner edge and feel.  I have always felt that
anyone, particularly organizational leadership would benifit greatly from
the discussions that fly across the listserve.  Great opportunies for
reflection.  In this respect I feel it's visibility could be enhanced.  I
was lucky to have stumbled across it in my quest for knowledge, others may
not be so lucky and fortunate. Not sure how to do this type of global
marketing, maybe a banner add on some of the more popular
Ecommerce/Internet provider sites would work to help start the process.

Externally enhancing the visibility does surface several questions.  How
much visibility can the system take without degrading the richness and
value of the listserve to the OS community?  How Open is the community
willing to be or become (beyond what it already is)?  Will the simplicity
of the listseve be the most effiecient way of serving and sustaining the
Openess?

Rich Norris

********************************************************

At 10:44 AM 5/16/00 -0700, you wrote:
>When I left the Open Space on Open Space (OSonOS) in Chicago last year, I
>realized that the OS community is healthy and vibrant.  I also felt that
>people in different parts of the world didn't know a lot about what each
>other were doing.  So I left with the thought that some useful work would be
>to help the community be more aware of itself and what it is doing.
>
>Over the months since OSonOS, as I've thought about how best to do this, it
>dawned on me that this listserv has become the place where the community
>stays in touch with itself, learns together, supporting individual and
>collective needs.  In the spirit of keeping things simple, I now wonder,
>does what we have created here suffice?
>
>I think the answer is yes, but wanted to hear some other reactions to this.
>
>Peggy
>
>
Rich Norris
Satellite Beach, Florida
(407)779-0531
<rnorris at digital.net>