VOSONVOS

[JayWV at aol.com]

Well, list here it is - an invitation to the world's first Virtual Open Space
on Virtual Open Space.  We hope you like it.  We hope you join us!
Jay Vogt, for the Design Team, Advisory Team, Open Space Institute, and Big
Mind Media

A WORLDWIDE
VIRTUAL OPEN SPACE ON VIRTUAL OPEN SPACE
What are the issues and opportunities for online gatherings in Open Space?

May 13 - June 19, 2002
www.bigmindmedia.com/vosonvos

Quick Picture
WHAT: VOSONVOS is an online conference about the issues and opportunities for
online gatherings in Open Space. This Open Space is not held in an auditorium
or a meeting center but in a "collaborative online space" accessible anywhere
in the world at any time.  In some ways it’s the ultimate open space!

WHERE: ONLINE! Through an Internet connection and a web browser, people
connect to VOSONVOS at times and from places convenient to them.  Once
online, they view and may contribute to a record of conversation and
activity.  In consideration of those who do not yet enjoy affordable access
to the Internet and time online, there will be provisions to participate via
email.  Occasional real-time chats may also be offered.

WHEN: May 13 - June 19

WHO: This OS is open to anyone across the world with Internet access.

You are invited to join hundreds, if not thousands, of your colleagues from
around the world in the first worldwide Virtual Open Space on Virtual Open
Space (VOSONVOS) from May 13 - June 19, 2002, online.

Who should attend?
We envision a fruitful collaboration between regular inhabitants of two
worlds - the strong and distributed worldwide network of Open Space
Technology facilitators who primarily lead meetings face to face, with or
without an online component; and the emerging network of online facilitators
who primarily work with online interactions, with or without the intentional
use of Open Space principles.  No doubt each has much to learn from the
other.  And each has much to learn about the experience of Open Space online.


Why a worldwide Virtual Open Space on Virtual Open Space?
For many years the worldwide community of Open Space facilitators has met
face to face annually for an Open Space on Open Space (OSONOS) - in other
words, a gathering using Open Space to examine the topic of Open Space.  This
will happen again this fall in Australia
(http://www.openspaceworld.org/osonos.html).  Past OSonOS events have been
held in Monterey California, USA, Chicago Illinois, USA, Berlin, Germany,
Vancouver BC, and Canada


As more distributed groups turn to online interaction to join them in common
work, they seek strong, participatory techniques to guide their processes.
Open Space seems to have a natural connection to the distributed,
self-organizing potential of online interaction. It seeks to focus attention
where there is passion -- another common attribute of the Internet. So what
is the intersection?

In VOSONVOS, we extend the congenial spirit of Open Space to the online
world.  What does it mean to come together using Open Space principles
online?  What is the experience like for participants and facilitators?  How
is it similar to face to face Open Space, and how is it different?  What must
we change, as facilitators, to make the transition, and what must we retain?
How can we use online meetings in Open Space to extend or even replace our
face to face meetings?  What can experienced facilitators in Open Space learn
from their experienced counterparts in online space, and vice versa? How can
we effectively manage cultural differences?  How can we "level the playing
field" with participants from the Two-Thirds World?


In keeping with these questions, our theme will be:
What are the issues and opportunities of online gatherings in Open Space?

Why virtual?
We all know that travel, while exciting, is expensive, time consuming, risky,
and tiring.  VOSONVOS is an opportunity for the world wide community of Open
Space facilitators, and their online facilitator counterparts, to come
together in a fruitful exchange without the cost and stress of travel.  The
dialogue of experienced practitioners limited only by their imaginations, not
by their travel budgets will enrich us all.  And we’ll learn together by
using the medium that is the focus of our deliberations.  Join us for an
historic gathering from the comfort of your own computer!

Why worldwide?
Open Space is increasingly a worldwide phenomenon.  Books and trainings have
seeded facilitators in the East, West, North, and South.  Communities of
practice have been established and are emerging all around the globe.  There
is no host country for Open Space any more - it is everywhere!  New and
diverse challenges are being faced in Open Space.  New and diverse languages
are being spoken in Open Space.  New and diverse cultures are expressing
themselves in Open Space.

And of course the Internet, and its associated technologies, is worldwide as
well. New software for online collaborative conferencing makes practical the
bringing together of people and organizations from everywhere, all at once.
We can now enter the deep and truly worldwide conversations about
facilitation and practice that we have only tasted at past face to face
gatherings.

What will a Virtual Open Space on Virtual Open Space be like?
We don’t know!  Join us and find out.  But we can promise you this.  We will
engage in meaningful conversation about the issues and opportunities which
you care passionately about.  We will attract the most diverse collection of
experienced and newly learning Open Space and online facilitation
practitioners that have ever assembled, bar none.  Very likely it will also
be the largest such collection.  While past OSONOSes attracted from sixty to
one hundred souls, there is no limit on how many may show up for a VOSONVOS.
And of course, no issue will be denied.

How does it work?
If you don’t know, that’s reason enough to join in.  Online collaborative
conferencing is the wave of the present.  It is an increasingly widespread
medium for human interaction that moves conversation from a room to the
globe.  We all need to learn better how to navigate the online collaborative
conferencing sea.  Future face to face forums in Open Space will be preceded
by online conversation, accompanied by online conversation, and followed by
online conversation.  And of course some future face to face forums will be
supplanted by online conversation.  This is very relevant for groups who do
not have the ability or luxury to be face to face and for people who seek to
join hands across all types of borders to work for a common cause. This is a
medium for our time, and we need to know it.

No, really, how does it work?
The VOSONVOS will be hosted by BigMindMedia using their collaborative
workspace software, BigMind Catalyst.  When you register you’ll receive a web
site location and a password.  You will gather with other online participants
and have an opportunity to post topics for primarily asynchronous discussion
(we all don't have to be online at the same time and you log on at your
convenience).  Should you convene a session in cyberspace, you will be
responsible for moderating the discussion among participants over the period
of the conference. If Internet access is expensive in your corner of the
world, you may also choose to participate via email. New material will be
emailed to you so you can read and compose responses offline.

And, by the way, what does it cost?
You pay what you can afford, with a minimum registration of US$35.  We have
deliberately set the minimum fee very low to encourage widespread
participation, and to keep money from being a reason not to play.
Contributions above the minimum of $5, $50, $500, or whatever you are
inspired to give will support an Access Fund to provide assistance where
needed. You will find all this information within the registration form
online.

OK, I’m in.  How do I register?
Go to http://bigmindmedia.com/vosonvos and click "Register" to sign up.
And while you’re at it, send the link to a couple folks who might be
interested, telling them where you’ll be between May 13 and June 19, and why.



It will be great to meet you at VOSONVOS!

The VOSONVOS Design Team
Jay, Gabriel, Nancy, Barbara, Toni

More on OS and Online Facilitation
What is Open Space?
Open Space Technology is one way to enable all kinds of people, in any kind
of organization, to create inspired meetings and events. In Open Space
meetings, events and organizations, participants create and manage their own
agenda of parallel working sessions around a central theme of strategic
importance, such as: What is the strategy, group, organization or community
that all stakeholders can support and work together to create?

With groups of 5 to 1000 -- working in one-day workshops, three-day
conferences, or the regular weekly staff meeting -- the common result is a
powerful, effective connecting and strengthening of what's already happening
in the organization: planning and action, learning and doing, passion and
responsibility, participation and performance.  Open Space has been used for
over 15 years in over 60 countries. To learn more, see www.openspaceworld.org


What is online facilitation?
 Online facilitation is an evolving art and expanding opportunity to empower
groups to work across time and distance. Online work and interactions require
facilitation skills beyond those used in face-to-face meetings. Group
dynamics in the virtual environment combined with new communication
technologies create unique conditions and opportunities calling for specific
techniques and an expansion of our consciousness with mindful facilitation.

*
*
==========================================================
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