My Vision became Reality: OpenSpace-Online is born!

[Birgitt Williams]

Dear Gabi and your team,
It is so very wonderful to know that you followed your vision, your path
with Spirit so clearly. It is a journey and a testament of what is possible
if one trusts and follows a dream. Congratulations on the birth Open Space
on-line. I look forward to sharing this resource with many many
organizations. I will write to you separately to inquire about its use as an
on-line OS meeting to accompany the International Alliance for Mentoring
conference in September so that there can be two parallel conferences--for
those who can join in person and those who will join on-line.

I really appreciate the care and effort that you have taken to replicate the
key ingredients of an OST meeting.

Blessings to you and all whom you make genuine contact with

Birgitt  Williams

Mentoring for Organizational Effectiveness

We invite you to visit us at www.genuinecontact.com and join the list serve
at http://www.smartgroups.com/groups/genuinecontact

"I believe that Spirit matters and people are precious. I know that
organizations incorporating these values have exciting, tangible results
including wealth, prosperity, and abundance. Daily, these organizations
attend to their health and balance. Participating in the Genuine Contact
program takes you on a learning journey of HOW to achieve the healthy and
balanced organization (the conscious Open Space Organization).”  Birgitt
Williams, Dalar International Consultancy



Contact information for Dalar International Consultancy

Mailing address: Po Box 19373, Raleigh, North Carolina, USA 27619 or for
courier 12136 Shooting Club Rd., Raleigh, North Carolina USA 27613

Phone: 919-522-7750     Fax: 919-870-6599





  -----Original Message-----
  From: OSLIST [mailto:OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU]On Behalf Of Institut
für systemische Kommunikation (insyko)
  Sent: Wednesday, May 15, 2002 10:31 AM
  To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
  Subject: My Vision became Reality: OpenSpace-Online is born!


  Dear colleagues and dear friends,

  this a very, very special day for me and my team: Exactly at 15:15 (German
time), 2002-05-15 we started the launch of our new open space internet
conference system. For all who have not much time to read this long email
... you are warmly invited to go on our new website
www.OpenSpace-Online.com.

  In the following I would like to share with you one of my greatest
experiences I had in my life.

  In the middle of a wonderful period of co-facilitating and facilitating
OST conferences and of develop and offer a OST Training together with
Michael M Pannwitz I began to dream about the question "Could it give
additional ways to spread OST?" "What" and "how"?" Over month this questions
came again and again into my mind. I did not know really why, because I saw
how wonderful OST spread. In the same way I was additional so much impressed
about the new possibilities which brought us the world wide web. At this
time I thought that this two threads in my mind were total independent from
each other.

  But on a weekend in July 1999, relaxing in the sun, it happens in my yard.
There I had an indescribably intense flash of inspiration. In my mind's eye,
I saw, quite clearly and precisely, the process and structure of an
Internet-based real-time conference. This conference software had a virtual
facilitator, helped decentralized work groups and interest groups to achieve
a large degree of independence. Moreover, it brought into harmony with one
another results-orientation, participation, and mutually respectful
communication. At the same time, this software transferred as good as
possible the principles of OST to the Internet. I saw how this software
could ideally support processes of learning and of change in society, in the
economy, in education, and in politics with its practically universal span
of application and due to its simple and quick handling.

  I jumped out of my canvas chair, I was total confused, I went into the
house, toke paper and a pen and began to write down all what I saw. I felt
myself like in trance ... I wrote and wrote and wrote. A full concept of the
software structure, the procedure, the benefits, the applications, the logo
draft, the slogan and first steps of realization. When I "woke up" more than
one hour was gone, 10 pages were full and I was so tired and so confused.
That MOMENT was the begin of a big adventure.

  The vision was so clear and so powerful! It was like a precious gift and
was also like a very precise and clear commission. What followed was a
journey of discovery into an area (IT) that was at that time foreign to me.
But I had the deep belief that this vision could become reality. The whole
time I was guided by a friendly star, which always showed me the way or
stopped me if I was in danger of getting off course. It is a good thing that
I did not know at the beginning how deep I would have to penetrate into this
area and that an almost unending desert of countless details, privations,
risks, and unforeseen challenges awaited me. But there was never any
question of stopping, turning around, or giving up. It must also be said
that I never would have been able to complete this big project alone. I was
fortunate in always finding the right people at the right time. A big Thank
You to all my angels and supporters on earth and after this time I am sure
also in heaven!

  And a very big THANK YOU to you, Harrison. Without your open philosophy,
without your trust in open change I would never had this powerful
inspiration and the courage to go into such chancy and expensive adventure
without any doubt. THANK YOU for your "wonderful open space garden". You
disseminated a brilliant seed and since over 17 years it grows and grows in
this beautiful garden. The internet and the IT sector makes it possible that
over the years more and more communication and new plants and bloomers
appear. Each plant has its own personality, its own tasks and benefits. But
all plants have the same roots and all are full of heart energy, of passion
and all are growing for similar higher goals.

  To realize my vision I went into a cooperation with a very experienced
software company. During the time more and more staff were needed and on
average between 5 and 7 people were working day by day in this project. One
of a few "musts" from our business partner was it to keep our IT-project top
secret. But now the development of the first software version and the long
period of tests (12 month), in which 30 to 50 people helped us in optimizing
the system, are over. Now we are able to speak about our new innovation. I
am so happy about this milestone and it is so exciting!

  If you are interested in ... here some brief information regarding our new
"bloomer":
  Our main product is now an Internet conference software, which takes place
in successive phases, in which between 5 and 75 persons can simultaneously
work on a major subject that is current and important to them. The complete
conference system and the appropriate conference software is available in
German and in English. The participants work together in a goal and
solution-oriented manner for 1.5 to about 8 hours. No external online
moderator is needed. A virtual facilitator guides all participants simply
through the process of the conference. That was in the beginning one of my
biggest aims: no online moderator and in real-time! I wanted to create a
system with a good structure, phase by phase, step by step with a good
orientation for each single participant at each place in the "conference
center" and at every second. I was sure, that the passion for a higher joint
subject will find the way through this virtual leaded process. The wonderful
result is: it works every time! And at the end of every online conference
each participant receives extensive documentation about the conference in
the convenient HTML-format at the press of a button. The documentation
provides an ideal basis for further work, as it contains all contents,
results, and arrangements made during the conference and can be immediately
used in either digital or printed form.

  With the complete conference system licensees can plan and manage
individual conferences quickly and independently and carry these through via
Internet, Extranet, or Intranet. With our conference system, we are
especially oriented towards companies, organizations, universities and
schools which are engaged in a process of constant learning and which
understand, therefore, the value of participation for the proactive
initiation and establishment of sustainable processes of change and want to
make synergies possible between the offline and the online world.

  Another field of application which is equally important to us is that of
cities and communities engaged in a constant learning process. We are happy
therefore that an extensive cooperation has begun between our new company
and the German Association of Towns and Municipalities. The goals of this
cooperation are to work together to support cities and communities in
opening ever more interactive spaces for lively online citizen participation
to make city and regional development possible in a new form and to set new
international benchmarks for the areas E-Government, E-Participation and
E-Democracy.

  Like OST, our software system is also not a "sell-product". It is just a
tool, easy and fast to handle and to use. We have no distribution system and
we will have no agencies, no sales commission is planed, no sales people are
needed and no consultants are required. Our deep believe is that (with the
principles of OST) our software system will find the right customers,
license clients and the right participants self-organized and the right
people which want to support such applications ... when the time is right.
Our main tasks in the future will be to make our innovation known, to "hold
the space" for all people and organizations which are interested in our
services around self-organized participation and self-organized
e-participation. Another task is to continue the development on our software
system and to develop other networking tools. That’s our mission. We invite
you all warmly to have a look into our new website www.OpenSpace-Online.com.
There you will find more information.

  Thank you for taking time and reading this long message!
  With warm greetings from Berlin

  Gabriela Ender

  * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
  OpenSpace-Online GmbH - The Power of People
  Resselsteig 30, 12209 Berlin, Germany
  eMail: contact at OpenSpace-Online.com
  website: http://www.OpenSpace-Online.com
  phone:  ++ 49 (30) 772 31 69
  List of Change Facilitators Worldwide
  website: http://www.Open-Change.com
  * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
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