Access Queen shares an update [long]

Lisa Heft lisaheft at openingspace.net
Tue Jun 13 09:41:03 PDT 2006


Hello, dear colleagues -

 

In this message I am wearing the tiara of Access Queen.

 

At Open Space on Open Space (OSonOS) 2001 a group of us held a few sessions
on how to help those of us with lesser financial means or from faraway
places get to our annual global in-person gatherings.  We came up with an
idea for naming, asking and offering resources to share.  I volunteered to
take the lead in this and our colleague the fabulous Laurel Doersam (Canada)
found a name for me - Access Queen.  

 

Since then in the season before every OSonOS I have acted as a sort of 'Town
Crier' - inviting 'Askers' to have the courage to ask for help and support
from their colleagues and inviting 'Givers' to share their resources for
Askers.  Each year we have had the delight of having assisted numbers of
OpenSpaceniks to attend our gatherings.  

 

Our resources are not huge sums of money (though I welcome those and if you
want to donate do contact me) - but rather a carrot here, an onion there, a
homestay here, some pocket money there, sending to Access Queen the proceeds
from selling hand-drawn covers of an event's Book of Proceedings among
participants of that event  or a percentage of a season's registration fees
from a community builder such as the Open Space World Map, buying two
registrations instead of one to offer a free registration for an Asker, or
buying a double-occupancy hotel room and offering a free bed to an Asker -
all sorts of ways of cooking up a rich stew of opportunities by naming and
sharing resources.

 

And each year, as the tradition was begun by the hosts of the 2001 OSonOS in
Vancouver, Canada, after all expenses are paid the host teams of the
OSonOS's contribute any extra proceeds back into the Access Queen Fund to
support next year's Askers.

 

The Halifax team from OSonOS 2005 graciously donated proceeds to this year's
fund, and so very many participants at OSonOS Halifax donated more money
into this year's fund by buying each others' arts and books and treasures
offered at the Halifax OSonOS' 'Global Village Marketplace' (tables at the
OSonOS where you can bring things to sell to help recoup some of your own
travel expenses or donate to the Access Queen Fund) and the 'Silent Auction'
(more treasures - the highest bidder for an item gets both the item and the
pleasure of donating that bid amount to the Access Queen fund).

 

This year old Access Queen has been a bit quieter on the OSLIST - usually I
stir the pot a lot of times on the list to share who asks and who offers -
but this season I've been taking much-needed time to care for myself and
have stepped away from the major flow of email for a time.  However with the
help of Raffi of the OSonOS Moscow host team I have been moving around
behind the scenes to help Askers write proposals for funding requests to
different organizations and sharing with the host team input from past
OSonOS hosts and past Access Queen discoveries about things to know for
hosting people of lesser financial means.

 

The funds we co-created together at the Halifax Global Village Marketplace
and Silent Auction - along with the proceeds sent by the Halifax team
post-conference - are making their way to Moscow to assist Raffi and the
host team in helping fabulous Askers from Nepal, Ukraine, Russia and other
countries.  These funds will be used for as many people as possible - one
person will not get all the funds but several people will get a little bit
of help affording a discounted registration or receiving some pocket money
for local transport to make that difference in their being able to attend.

 

*         If you are registered for or thinking of registering for OSonOS
Moscow and wish to donate to Askers by buying an extra registration or
offering a free hotel room share, do let Raffi and I know (raffi at bk.ru and
lisaheft at openingspace.net ).

 

*         If you know you will be coming to OSonOS Moscow in August, think
about how you can bring some folk art or other treasures that you make or
buy from your home community, to sell for donations to the next year's fund
at the Global Village Marketplace table.  

 

*         And think about bringing along a little bit of extra money to buy
treasures at the Marketplace table to donate to the fund and come home with
something special plus a special feeling of giving, too.  

 

*         If you are not going but know someone who is, ask them if they
have room in their luggage to add something to sell at the table.  

 

On behalf of all the Askers and all the Givers, Access Queen thanks you for
asking, for sharing, for inviting, for offering, for receiving.

 

Lisa (aka Access Queen)

 

PS: 

 

1: For those of you wishing to come to Russia from other countries, before
you seek funding do check with your embassy to see if you still have time to
secure a visa appointment - for some countries this may need to be scheduled
months in advance and you may or may not still have time for a visa request,
appointment and acceptance period.

 

2: For those of you who have been thinking of sending a proposal to the Open
Space Institute of the US (OSI US) to request partial funding to get to
OSonOS Moscow, the deadline is June 19 and the requests have been 'first
come / first serve'.  If you need to see an example proposal (use it, adapt
it, adjust it however it may best serve you), see:
http://www.openspaceworld.org/cgi/wikiA.cgi?OpenSpaceInstituteUSA/AccessQuee
nKing  - which also has the email address for the Institute.  Of course you
can use this template for requests to any organization but if you are using
your proposal for OSI US you must also answer how you will fulfill the
following values to fit the guidelines of their funding activities:  1) how
your experience coming to the OSonOS will help support underserved areas; 2)
how you will utilize your experience to reach multiple people upon your
return home; and let them know also 3) that you will make a commitment to
post on our OSLIST the story of your OS use and outreach experience.  

 

 

___________________________

L i s a   H e f t

Consultant, Facilitator, Educator

O p e n i n g  S p a c e

 <mailto:lisaheft at openingspace.net> lisaheft at openingspace.net

 <http://www.openingspace.net> www.openingspace.net 

 


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