A very exciting "First" in America

[Diane Gibeault]

Two Open Space Trainings in Ottawa Within a Month - Both Different and Exciting


And Harrison Owen will bring it to another level next month in Ottawa again, with over 20 participants joining in the two sessions on “Organizational Transformation” and “Spirit of Leadership”.


A FIRST public Open Space training in French - at least in North America - welcomed 17 participants from different corners of Canada and the Americas: from Manitoba to Haiti and to the east coast. 

They were avid to learn the thinking behind this novel approach as well as the how to. Their openness to letting go and doing things differently lead to a very intense experience. Some of the ha-ha’s sounded like:

“I will never want to facilitate like I did before!” 

“I feel I just bit in all aspects of this new great way of  facilitating." 

“After 30 years of facilitation, I had lost any desire for it. I’ve surmounted my resistance and now even feel enthusiastic about trying this approach.”  

 This participant who had never even experienced an Open Space, prepared in the course of the training to facilitate his first Open Space a day after returning home. He brought OS in this open community event that had been planned in a traditional way. As he reported, he had to let go a lot of his own desire to bring in OS as he had just discovered it. But, understanding the fundamental principles and philosophy, he was able to open the space enough for the magic of self-organization to happen.  

The email the whole group received from that participant on the morning following his event was bursting with excitement - I still feel it as I recount it - and spoke tons of the growth possibilities OS offers for everyone who let themselves be  touched by it. 

 Needless to say, we as trainers – Jacqueline Pelletier and myself – continued to feel nourished by this training experience. We had given two previous trainings in French but they were offered internally in an organization.  This was the first public one and the diversity among participants was a valuable element for the quality of the learning, our included. 

 Diane Gibeault

 Second OS Training in Ottawa – a month later 

Eighteen participants took some steps on their learning journey with Open Space Technology at the February 21-23 English workshop in Ottawa.  For some of the participants it was their first steps, having not been participants in an Open Space before and not being able to get Harrison’s “Open Space Technology: A User’s Guide”.  Some bookstores said it was not longer available, the publisher says otherwise.  Most were independent consultants or wanted to soon be one while others were internal consultants or leaders in business, government and not-for-profit organizations.


The journey included preparing the group to “sponsor” its own open space as we would with a client, experiencing Open Space and convergence and practice in the opening.  There was also lots of conversation and story telling, based on the groups’ questions, about what facilitators do and don’t do and about how to “be” in Open Space.  

As in the past, Diane Gibeault and myself as trainer-facilitators provided materials, both on paper and electronically, that we have found useful in preparing for successful events. 

We were pleased with the positive feedback on the workshop and to each of us personally.  Participants liked the sharing of stories about Open Space events and its possible uses.  People also liked the “implementation of the principles and law in the training”, “the diversity of approaches in providing learning….experiential, modeling, role-playing, direct instruction and story telling”, “excellent resources to go home with”, “the networking”, “the free flowing atmosphere, high level of participation”, “the practicing of Opening the Space”,  “bringing spirit into the room openly”.

 We learned again about the relationship between experience and reflection and how to more intentionally improve both for participants.  We learned that there are still people out there starting on their journey with Open Space Technology who want the guidance of those who are a little further down that particular road.  It is great learning and high play.

Larry Peterson

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