an open space for around 1500 people ?
Harrison Owen
owenhh at mindspring.com
Thu Nov 15 06:44:39 PST 2001
At 09:40 AM 11/15/01 +0100, you wrote:
>I have had a couple of enqueries about doing an open space for around
>1500 people - that will be a first time - if it wants to happen..any
>reflections learnings, ideas, warnings, stories that any of you
>want to share with me on OST that size, will be greatly appreciated.
Go for it! Actually, Open Spaces in the 1000+ range, while not common, are
certainly not unknown. My "personal best" was about 1100, and I have done
several more in the 950+ range. I have some friends in the Episcopal Church
who claim 1200, and of course there is good old Christopher Schoch (an
American, but living in Paris) referred to by Michael P. The interesting
thing to me is that there is precious little difference between a group of
100 and 1000 in terms of the process itself. In fact I find the business of
working with a very large group to be easier in many ways.
There are, however, some things to watch out for. First -- just remember
that you have a lot of bodies who require a lot of space, particularly when
it comes to The Wall. My rule of thumb is 2-3 inches per participant. So a
1000 people would require minimum 2000 inches or 166 feet of Wall (somebody
please convert to meters) and more if you can do it. Second -- Don't let
the folks bunch at the wall while issues are being posted. They start to
talk, and nobody can hear as the new issues are announced. So right from
the beginning, and as often as it takes, I say something like "Post and
Go." Thirdly, you will, of course, need sufficient breakout spaces/rooms
(about 5 per 100) -- but don't worry about things like matching group size
to room size. It never works,and the effort required is considerable. But
most of all the folks will do it all by themselves, and LEARN in the
process. Maps of the facility posted in prominent places help, but at the
end of the day, people help people -- which I think is what it is all about.
Other than that -- it's business as usual. Have fun.
Harrison
Harrison Owen
7808 River Falls Drive
Potomac, MD 20854 USA
phone 301-469-9269
Open Space Training www.openspaceworld.com
Open Space Institute www.openspaceworld.org
Personal website www.mindspring.com/~owenhh
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