Differences in OS

[Viv McWaters]

Hi all

I've just completed three very different OS events in seven days. Apart
from the fact that I wouldn't recommend this sort of schedule, it's been
interesting to note the differences in each event.

The first was a one-day community meeting about child care services with
about 30 participants. 29 topics were posted - quite elaborate explanations
were written and stated - and a great amount of 'clumping' of topics
occurred. There were three sessions during the day and they had two topics
per session. This made the convergence quite different to what I had
anticipated because somehow they seemed to have done their own convergence.
However, I suspect that some creativity and goods ideas were lost as a
result.

The second event was a two-day one for a State Govt that wanted to attract
more young people to make a career in the public service. There were around
100 participants. I learnt most from this event, and I would probably
regard it as the most satisfying of the three (from my own perspective of
course :-) Maybe my level of satisfaction is linked to my own learning.

Two unusual things happened - most people entered the circle (throughout
the event) from behind the chairs, they seemed quite reluctant to walk into
the circle. And when the topics were announced, they all listened intently
and then politely clapped - each time! And this from a group in their late
teens, early 20s.

Throughout this event I wondered what sort of experience people were
having. The venue was large and people were scattered everywhere so I had
little sense of what the mood was. But the convergence and closing circle
allayed all my fears - they really got the concept of passion and
responsibility.

(As this is an international list and I'm writing from 'downunder' I must
add a little footnote here. I just looked up from my keyboard to gaze out
the window and ponder what I'd write next when a couple of kangaroos hopped
by. Really! They're now grazing about 50 metres away)

Finally was a two-day community conference with the theme of creating
vibrant communities. There was about 50 people at this one and an enormous
buzz as well as great diversity of topics. This event seemed to generate
some real passion for ongoing community connectedness and participation.

(At this event a participant sought me out to say his boss had arranged an
open space meeting later in the week with a chap called Brian Bainbridge
and did I know him - it IS a very small world indeed!)

And to my learnings:
- it may only take one person to open the space but someone to help with
the proceedings is, I think, absolutely necessary
- yesterday I ran out of time to collate the proceedings so I set the pages
out around the circle and got people to collate their own - it worked
really well, took the pressure off and gave me a bit of breathing space
before the convergence. The moral: don't be afraid to try something new or
different
- you can't (or I can't) guage the quality of people's experience or
learning from their behaviour - I am ALWAYS surprised by what people say in
the closing circle
- I always tend to underestimate the number of topics that will be posted
- the hardest part of the process for me is opening the marketplace, so I
usually take myself physically away (but what happens if a space invader
invades?)

Cheers

Viv

Please note NEW telephone number

Viv McWaters
Beyond the Edge Pty Ltd
PO Box 665, Torquay 3228
Victoria Australia
Ph/Fax: 61 3 5261 9498
Mobile 0417 135 406

"Thus the task is not so much to see what no-one yet has seen, but to think
what nobody yet has thought about that which everyone sees." Schopenhauer

*
*
==========================================================
OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
------------------------------
To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options,
view the archives of oslist at listserv.boisestate.edu,
Visit:

http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html