Answer to Carla: OST "presentation"

[Martin Giannini]

Hey Lisa and Carla and 'all a yas':

This looks fabulous and my guess is that it can generate some opportunities
to facilitate.  And that's what I want to ask about:  In what other ways do
folks go about the "selling" of Open Space and of you as facilitator?

I've had some luck in Ireland and it all started with an inquiry to Michael
Herman that landed me my first gig here.  Now I'm experiencing down time
and questioning everything.  What got me so excited about OS in the first
place?  And why does it not seem to be catching on like wildfire, keeping
me busy and the space opening?

Merry Christmas!  Marty

p.s.   Also, Lisa could you please send me the article on OS?  Thanks!



At 07:56 18-12-02 -0800, you wrote:
>Hello Ms. Fabulous brilliant Carla --
>
>(Carla, Janet Pinto, Allison Baensch and I were all housemates at
>Allison and Jim's wonderful house in Healesville, Australia just before
>the Open Space on Open Space last month.  And let us not forget the most
>endearing four-footed wonderdog, Ms. Rosa!)
>
>I have given a 1-hour 'presentation' on Open Space at conferences.  I
>ask for a big room and chairs set up in a circle - all the same as if I
>were doing an Open Space itself.  I have the signs all around the room,
>markers and paper in the middle and so on, and for the agenda wall I
>have the theme
>
>                       Strategies for Moving Our Work Forward
>Opportunities / Challenges             Creating / Sharing Resources
>
>If I want to give them an idea of what it would be like for what they
>are currently experiencing (in this case, I will pretend that I am
>giving this presentation in a conference) I set up the agenda wall so
>that it includes, say, 5 discussion area A-B-C's down the left side of
>that wall and across the wall, session times like
>
>Wednesday       Wednesday       Wednesday       Thursday        Thursday
>10:00-11:00     11:00-12:00     1:00-2:00       10:00-11:00
>11:00-12:00
>
>Also on the wall are two more signs:
>
>Lunch is available 11:30-1:30
>
>And
>
>Closing Circle 2:00-3:00 (or something like that)
>
>(By the way, and thanks to inspiration from the most amazing BJ Peters,
>I no longer use a time/space matrix on a big piece of paper with
>Post-Its on it, but instead I make the whole agenda wall a grid so
>people can place their topic signs directly onto the wall in the
>time/space zone, eliminating a step to go pick something up on the
>left-hand side and bring it over to post on the wall).
>
>By the door I have an article I wrote describing Open Space (let me know
>anyone if you would like me to send you a copy) and a sheet letting them
>know when the next learning workshop is (in San Francisco and in other
>places in the world) and other ways to find out more).  This they pick
>up as they leave the presentation.
>
>I start seated in the circle and tell them I will be giving them a
>feeling for what it would be like to hold this conference in the method
>of Open Space - if it's a big conference I ask them to think about what
>it would feel like to walk into a room with a circle of 300 chairs (or
>whatever).  Then I tell them I'm going to show them the process (I want
>to give them the clarity that we are now segueing into enactment rather
>than my describing something) and I stand up and 'open' the space.  As
>always, I remind them to step out of their roles in their organizations
>and think as people - what are they passionate about and what do they
>feel is crucial for us to talk about before the conference/meeting
>closes?
>
>They write their topics and post them, and I give them lots of time for
>this.  And then I finish with just exactly what I would tell any group
>before they set off to do their discussions.  And I ask them to go to
>the wall and sign their names on all the topics they would like to
>attend if they could bumblebee around, then to sit back down and join me
>in the circle.
>
>Then I make a change in the dynamics and let them know I am now changing
>back from the simulation to processing it.  And the first thing I ask
>them is to look at the wall.  Would they be stimulated by going to such
>a conference?  And aren't these much more diverse and exciting topics
>than any of us could have developed in all our good intentions in
>advance?  And so on.
>
>Then we talk about it, I bring up who they might have invited and who
>they could invite that would make it even better, they ask questions,
>and as the session closes I welcome them to pick up the article and
>information sheet by the door.
>
>- - -
>
>What I'm trying to do here is to give them a full-body understanding of
>the process, how they would feel, what it would stimulate, and so on.
>That's why the room is set up just like an OS, why I have them walk to
>the wall and sign their names on the topic sheets, etc.  Works pretty
>well in those short timeframes.
>
>The End by Lisa Heft.
>
>Warm greetings from rainy Berkeley, California USA, and Carla, I have
>heard that the Ketchup Song is coming to the States...and now you are
>going to have to explain that to the list...
>
>
>
>
>
>
>L i s a   H e f t
>Consultant, facilitator, educator
>O p e n i n g  S p a c e
>2325 Oregon
>Berkeley, California
>94705-1106   USA
>(+01) 510 548-8449
>lisaheft at pacbell.net
>www.openspaceworld.com
>
>*
>*
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