F i v e

Jeff Aitken ja at svn.net
Tue Jan 15 08:56:17 PST 2002


Color me beaming,
soaking in the warm rays
of these heartfelt poems.
Thank you our planetary busful of bozos
rolling along,
upon whom the sun is always
beaming for some and
snoozing for others.


(bozos = obscure 70's north american term - all we funny humans.)

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>From  Tue Jan 15 09:22:38 2002
Message-Id: <TUE.15.JAN.2002.092238.0800.>
Date: Tue, 15 Jan 2002 09:22:38 -0800
Reply-To: lisaheft at pacbell.net
To: OSLIST <OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU>
From: Lisa Heft <lisaheft at pacbell.net>
Subject: Re: OS Diary 1/13/02
In-Reply-To: <8b.1228306e.29757f64 at aol.com>
MIME-version: 1.0
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In 1997 I gave a workshop for FioCruz, the biomedical research and tropical
diseases hospital in Brazil.  I was working with scientists and the workshop
was to bring back the very human and personal element of working with and/or
living with HIV for those who always worked in the world of research.  I
came into one of those rooms with the tiers of chairs bolted down and down
way way at the bottom was the podium and the spotlight for the expert
presenter-type person.  Of course everyone else was in darkness, thus giving
the expert a really magical quality.  I suppose.  To me, it sucked all the
air right out of the room.

So I said 'we're moving to the hallway' where there were plenty of windows,
tons of light, chairs to move around...

The organizers got a bit nervous about this (there were offices surrounding
us, and there were only two possibilities - one, that we might disturb their
work, and two, that they might want to come out of their offices and play
with us ;0)

So they found me a great room with enough room at the front for us all to be
together, good lighting, and a little tray of espresso fixings so you could
have your little cafe's nonstop whenever you needed a little zip.  Thank god
for room enough to be in a circle together, eh?  Changes everything.

That same week I presented at their national AIDS conference, and they gave
me a big ballroom complete with marble floors and crystal chandeliers. At
one point when it was time for everyone to move I suggested they dance their
way to their next seat (after all, when you're in Brazil you notice people
dancing while in line for sandwiches or at any old time).  All 150 of them
got up and danced for about 10 minutes before they found their seats, with
the music all in their heads.  Someone was videotaping all the presentations
at the conference and when the closing conference video was shown, people
saw all that dancing in the glamorous ballroom and wanted to know how they
missed hearing about that huge conference dance party...

Ah, chairs...

Sometimes you just have to dance between the solid parts to get more of a
feeling for the spaces in between...




- - -
L i s a   H e f t
Consultant, facilitator, educator
Open Space Technology and Experiential Learning

2325 Oregon
Berkeley, California
94705-1106  USA
(+01) 510 548-8449
lisaheft at pacbell.net
www.openspaceworld.com


- - -
L i s a   H e f t
Consultant, facilitator, educator
Open Space Technology and Experiential Learning

2325 Oregon
Berkeley, California
94705-1106  USA
(+01) 510 548-8449
lisaheft at pacbell.net
www.openspaceworld.com

-----Original Message-----
From: OSLIST [mailto:OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU]On Behalf Of (David
Koehler)
Sent: Tuesday, January 15, 2002 4:50 AM
To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
Subject: Re: OS Diary 1/13/02

Response to bolted down chairs...

After becoming involved in OST, I have become very aware of how inviting (or
not) physical spaces are, especially in institutional settings.  Bolted down
chairs, which you often find in high schools and churches, certainly convey
a
quick impression on who has power and who doesn't.

I remember a discussion we had when I was on the city council a few years
back.  We were planning on remodeling the council chambers.  The desks for
the council and the mayor were up off the floor on a platform.  The audience
was at the back of the room behind a row of tables with a banister in front
and consisted of bolted down chairs.  After a long discussion, it was
decided
that the council members desks would be set on the floor, so as to not give
the impression of being above everyone else.  However, the mayor keep his
desk in the front and center of the room about three steps high.  And of
course, not to give people the impression that they had any real say so, the
banister and bolted down chairs remained.

What kind of world might this be if government operated in open space?


Just a thought,
Dave Koehler

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