An event on Birth

[Tree Fitzpatrick]

Bienvenue, Genevieve.

I think having 'invited guests' for your conference is a possible way
to attract even more prominent experts to your conference.  Lisa has
given you some good examples of how to word your invitation.

Having invited guests that carry some expertise related to your
conference topic is a great way to seed energy for the event.  It
catalyzes people's attention.  It gives them a better idea of what
might take place at the event.  The invited guests at the Practice of
Peace conference I helped create weren't particularly famous, except
for Harrison. . . they were prominent experts in the world but not
famous.  I don't think your invited guests have to be famous:  having
invited guests is more about seeding energy for your event.


Imagine spending two days at an open space event where some of the
people whose thinking you most admire are also floating through open
space.  You can bump up against your respected mentors in a sesssion
or maybe have a butterfly conversation.

Getting 'prominent' experts requires a little finesse. For example,
some well known people have grown accustomed to having layers between
themselves and their public.  Prominent experts are, after all, human.
I am guessing that prominent doctors are accustomed to having some
filters between themselves and crowds of people they do not know.  So,
I think, your challenge Genevieve is more than the language of your
invitation.  Your challenge is to attract some great experts to put on
your invitation as invited guests, which will, in turn, attract more
participants.

There is a paradigm for speakers at conferences:  they publish a title
for a speech and people show up and listen to them.   Asking prominent
experts to spend their time in open space might challenge their
comfort zone.  For some experts, it can be a relief to just show up
and be themselves and do what feels right to them in open space.  For
others (and these are probably not the ones who might accept your
invitation), they need the structure of being an invited expert and
giving a speech.  I mention these considerations to help you think,
not to tell you how to do it.

Now.  The fun part.  People love to be invited.  People love to be
featured speakers and/or invited guests featured on an invitation.  I
assume, Genevieve, that you have a team and you have a client or
sponsor for your birth conference.  You need to tap the networks of
everyone that is helping you put this conference together and get your
colelagues to invite people they have some personal connection with.

I am not sure that your invited guests need to be 'famous'. . . they
just need to have some expertise related to your conference theme. 
Having such experts featured in the invitation tells prospective
participants that there are going to be meaningful opportunities to
learn more about birthing because they can see that you have invited a
couple of ob/gyn doctors and some midwives and, maybe, some doulas. 
Or whatever topics you and your team are hoping will be presented at
your birth conference.  That, of course, is for you and your team to
decide.

I sat in on an initial planning meeting recently for a major 'peace
conference' sponsored by the State of New Mexico.  It was their
intention to have an event for many thousands of people.  And the lead
organizer was considering open space.  (Yeah, I know that was pretty
cool).  Sitting right next to the lead organizer was a 'famous'
spiritual leader, who sat and listened to a presentation on open
space.  Like open space often does, most in the room quickened with
excitement.  But it was a preliminary meeting and the agenda rambled. 
The famous spiritual leader listened until she had to leave the
meeting early.  She stood up and announced that open space would not
work, that the people coming to this conference had to be educated,
the world needs education about peace, not this open space. After she
issuesd her edict, she swept out of the room and all of the energy for
open space had shifted.  Well, I don't live in New Mexico and I am not
part of the planning team for this event but this one meeting taught
me a good lesson so I can't tell you what happened next.

But I can tell you this:  this conference is planning to have some
Nobel Peace Prize winners at the event.  This spiritual leader said,
in essence, that you can't have Nobel Peace Prize winners coming all
the way to N. Mexico and not have keynote speeches and breakout
speeches, etc.  Plus, she said, you can't expect famous speakers to be
accessible to the conference participants.    I was glad she had
spoken up because it got me imagining going to a conference where some
of my lifelong heros were hanging out with little old me in open
space.  Wouldn't it be cool to be in open space for two or three days
with the writers whose work has deeply influenced me but to be
together as equals instead of listening to a keynote?  This moment at
that planning meeting gave me a glimpse into the idea that it might
feel risky for some prominent experts to agree to come to an open
space conference where, well, where they might be exposed to any
butterfly that might approach them.

Which brings me back to the power of invitation.  Genevieve, if you
tap your network and invite prominent experts (who agree to come
without being compensated and who agree to come because they have
passion for the conference subject) with whom you and your colleagues
have living connections, the right people will accept.  And then you
can list their expertise on your invitation and boom! the energy will
build for your event.

Tree Fitz

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