Harrison! What a book! (long)

[Elena A. Marchuk]

Dear Harrison !

I know, I'm late in my growing up, as I've just read the book "Expanding our NOW" - just great!

Harrison, you gave me just the right words for things I was thinking about!
Especially when we are going to make a FSC in Rubtsovsk, a city in Altay reigion, which is now on the boarder with Kazahkstan after USSR collapsed and the city lost nearly all production possibilities as that was agricultural machines, which nobody can buy now .... and so on.

So in the situation when nobody know what to do - no jobs, young people leaving, - what to do? - we are providing Future Search Conference "Rubtsovsk in 2005: Search for Future and Strategies".

We (Marina Tyasto and me) know, that we are unforgivable optimists to start such a work, but if not us -who?

We start with FSC as even this type of work is met very hard - A Conference with out speakers and topics and so on, though with some schedule, which they tryed much to specify. No way! Just analyses of past, present tendencies, then focus on the future and OS on projects - what we can do now?

I do remember, Harrison, and loved our discussion more then a half year ago before my first 3 hour OS in June, 29,2000, whether OS can give the strategic plan in the outcome, and whether it is possible to use it in the work with people who are not used to talk and work democratically, and I really believe now that OS can do a lot after providing three of them (not big ones - I'm sorry about that, two were 3 hours and one - a day and nearly a half (but without closing session)

So we start our new FSC on this weekend

Though, we start with FSC - we have OS at the end - not really - on the 3-rd day and I really think that FSC starting part helps our Russian people to start talking democratically with some tasks and define where they come from and what are the tendencies they have  to deal with, and the part of defining the Ideal Future (though we decide we better use the word Desired Future) - to go further with the OS - what they have passion on - helps somehow our people to cover this lack of decades of not speaking at all. We had as we said kitchen talks among family members and friends.

But now, when we are allowed to speak we don't know how to do it! the people in parlarment are crying at each other! what to say about common people?

And you and your book give me the right start with word NOW, so I'm pretty sure, that I need to say more then just 4 principles and 1 law at the beginning of OS!
not much - not to take away the attention from the topic and not to loose the potential force and synergy of the previous days of work, but still ! 

and I wonder, is this the only way to give people knowledge ? - to translate and publish the book (like for example this one - "Expanding our Now" -  and now I have several more!!!   thanks to my OS-friends - Lisa Heft, Birgiitt Williams and you, Harrison!!!! Sorry if I don't know some people who helped me in this also -- I know there was a publisher, who donated a book..., but I don't know the name - thank you, thank you  very much! ) - it take such a long time - to find a publisher who will risk to publish something...., I tried with "Change Handbook" and still wait for the answer, though I translated it in summer last year and gave to Soros Foundation in Septermer and they postponed the competition (for books which they select for publishing) for January and now is March and no answer ...  - years are passing with our way of business (of couse, without just paying money for this like 1,000 dollars....) 

there should be a way, and ....I know it.... - workshops, but people are not ready to go to what they don't know, so we have to start with small portions of information which we can give on workshops we have...

This FSC in Rubtsovsk is sponsored by German orgainization INSTITUTE FUR INTERNATIONALE ZUSAMMENARBEIT, as Altay region has several places where german nationality people are living and the Headquarter of the organization is in S-Petersburg. They were so much interested in the event that they said that they will come themselves (let's see). 

So I'm really trying to use all possibilities to give more information and it looks like we are going forward step by step....thank to our friends !

OK
sorry for the long letter

Best wishes to all OSers

good luck in you life and all startings

Elena Marchuk, Ph.D.
Director of the Regional Development Center "Ceres"
Novosibirsk, Russia
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