convergence (again)

[Peggy Holman]

Julie,

You're already getting suggestions on the use of sticky dots.  My feedback
is on a slightly different issue.  Rather than prioritizing the top 10
concerns youth have about our community," I'd encourage you to set
priorities on the best ideas for creating a youth-friendly community or some
such.  I suspect you get the drift -- put the focus on what you want to
create not what you want to eliminate.

Have fun!

Peggy
_______________________________
Peggy Holman
The Open Circle Company
15347 SE 49th Place
Bellevue, WA  98006
425.746.6274
www.opencirclecompany.com


----- Original Message -----
From: "Julie Smith" <jsmith at MOSQUITONET.COM>
To: <OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU>
Sent: Friday, October 11, 2002 2:34 PM
Subject: convergence (again)


> I need some help designing a convergence plan for an OST next week.  So
> far, the OST's I've done haven't required this, so I'm treading into
> (for me) new territory.
>
> Here's the scoop:  Our three local mayors are holding a Youth Forum from
> 8:30 - 1:30 next Friday.  Their goal is to learn what community issues
> are most important to youth and to weave those concerns into the
> community's comprehensive plan.  The planning committee loves the idea
> of OST, and they want to end up with a clear list of priorities at the
> end of the day.
>
> Just as I was getting ready to pose this question here, I read Lisa's
> message, which includes this:
>
> >>>And on a more event design note, shorter OSs are perfectly fabulous,
> I've found.  Thanks to dear Jeff Aitken for first stretching my mind on
> this.  I think it's important to know that if the goal is networking,
> needs assessment, raising issues, spotting trends, airing concerns,
> noticing what works, getting a snapshot, sharing passion, and so many
> other things that come from emergence of thoughts, issues and intuition,
> the swirling of ideas and bubbling up of topics is amazing, even in
> short timeframes.
>
> But my experience is that if you want to then stuff people back into the
> shape of linear thinking to get to a 'therefore' (or a vote, or action
> items) you want to give them more time.  And when passion is high which
> might include pain or grieving (either overt or hidden issues), I find
> that people need first to tell the story (as many times as they need to)
> and to have others witness it...before they can move on to solution
> thoughts.<<<
>
> So...... looking for help figuring this out.  The core issue for the
> mayors is to learn how our community could become a place more young
> people would want to live in into their adulthood.  They would like the
> event to end with a prioritizing of the top 10 concerns youth have about
> our community.
>
> I haven't done a prioritizing/voting kind of convergence before.  Given
> our short time frame, will it work?  If so, how do I facilitate it?  How
> much time will it take?  (I don't think Michael's re-opening the space
> idea works here, except there IS talk about continuing this group if
> there's a desire to do so (and I expect there will be)..... and on some
> level it doesn't feel right to simply take input and send them on their
> way...... it seems like the participants should have an opportunity to
> express what they want to do with what they've created, regardless of
> what the mayors or anyone else wants to do with it......)
>
> OST is taking off like a wildfire here.  Our local community is home to
> about 80,000 people.  I know of 1 - 3 OST events happening here every
> week, many of them with youth.  I assume there are others I don't know
> about.  A substantial percentage of our population is quickly gaining
> exposure to (and loving) the OST process.  Every time an OST event takes
> place, new events spring up from people who want to use it somewhere
> else.  The Youth Forum is a particularly important event because many
> people will be watching both the process and the outcome.  There will be
> many opportunities for OST to spread even further, especially if we can
> identify an appropriate convergence process.  Any help thinking this
> through will be appreciated.
>
> As I got ready to press the send button a new thought occurred to
> me..... we've seen OST work for events and beginning to see how it can
> become part of organizations...... how about an entire COMMUNITY that
> embraces the concept...... ahhhhhh, sweet dreams.....
>
> Julie
>
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