SV: Michael Pannwitz's comment about OSonOS 2008 in Berlin

Mon Jan 22 16:20:11 PST 2007

Friends:

If I have understood Harrison correctly over all the years he has been
talking about Open Space, he has always had an aspiration that the process
become so ubiquitous that it disappear into a fabric of "business as usual"
while at the same time changing business as usual, much as brainstorming has
since its discovery in the 1950s as a simple but powerful technique for
unlocking creativity in groups.

It has seemed to me that over the past ten years the movement of Open Space
has been dispersing far and wide.  It used to be that there were only a
handful of trainings for example and I knew all of the trainers.   Now Open
Space training is offered everywhere by people who none of us in the "core
community" of practitioners have ever heard of.  OST is being used in all
kinds of settings and what we are learning about leadership, organization
and management is being deeply internalized into practice and life.

It seems that the movement of who we are and what we know has been scattered
to the winds and that is a beautiful thing.  It is something that could
never have happened if Harrison had retained control over the process, or if
everything was centralized into one set of licenses for training and use.
OST is used every day in hundreds of different contexts and its spirit
permeates many organizations, communities and personal practices.

And so. the evolution of this conversation seems timely.  As much as I also
have enjoyed the OSonOS events (and I co-hosted one of them) I can see the
wisdom and delight in what Michael Herman has proposed.  A worldwide Open
Space week, self-organized, possibly interconnected or possibly not in which
many gatherings on many scales could take place is a brilliant and accurate
reflection of our community of practice.  Better than having 200 people
gathering one place, having 200 gatherings of 50 people in many places would
be a monumental testament to the ubiquitous nature of this incredibly fluid
process.  As far as I know, none of the organizational change practitioner's
communities has anything like this.

To me it is the difference between watching the moon eclipse the sun, and
watching a full moon rise.  Both incredibly beautiful events, but
different.  But the solar eclipse is only visible to a very tiny slice of
the world, and when one occurs, those of us who are outside of that range
can only follow along on the web or TV and envy those who got to be there.

But sharing the experience of watching a full moon rise is totally
different.  Lovers separated by many miles often do this,  feeling connected
in the moment with their partner, sharing a common experience of beauty.  We
appreciate the event together and we appreciate the fact that we are doing
it together, no matter where we are.

And so, what if we chose the week of the harvest moon for our week of
gatherings?  In the northern hemisphere, the harvest moon is the full moon
closest to the autumnal equinox, usually occurring in late September or
early October.  The harvest moon marks the time of year when the harvest of
the year's bounty begins.  The days and night are roughly equal in length
and the tides are reasonably equal as well.  It is a time of equanimity and
rededication to the communal effort of harvesting what we have sown.

This year the harvest moon is September
26th<http://www.farmersalmanac.com/astronomy/fullmoons.html>.
What if all over the world, during the week of September 24, we gathered in
large to small groups for a day or two or more and held open space on open
spaces, to harvest what we have sown, learn from one another and contribute
to a worldwide learning inquiry about the edge of our practice, and the
incredible evolving story of Open Space?

If others feel like this is a good idea, I will start the ball rolling by
committing to having one here on Bowen Island, near Vancouver, Canada that
week, let us say September 25-26-27.  It will be in a rustic setting, and it
will be cheap and accessible.  Anyone who wants to gather with me from near
and far is invited.  We will enjoy each other in two days of Open Space and
on the evening of September 26, we will go down to the beach looking east
across the mouth of Howe Sound to the North American mainland and watch the
harvest moon rise, knowing that as we are doing so, many of our friends and
colleagues will have seen that same moon emerge over their gatherings in
Siberia, Zimbabwe, Belgium, the United States, Colombia and Haiti?  And then
we will post our proceedings on our worldwide web site and relish in the
conversations shared with others across our world.

What say you, friends?

Chris

On 1/21/07, Christine Whitney Sanchez <milagro27 at cox.net> wrote:
>
>  As Larry, Doug, Eva and others have said, I like the hugging/dancing kind
> of OSonOS.  And I am also intrigued with the idea of a whole bunch of
> OSonOS's self-organizing at the same time as the international one,
> incorporating Gabriella's fabulous OpenSpace-Online.
>
> I favor the practice of hosting the international OSonOS on different
> continents every year.  What I most want is a way to connect with all of
> you, face-to-face, heart-to-heart that offers the greatest possibility for
> diversity of languages, cultures, world views and hugging styles.
>
> Namasté,
>
>  *Christine*
> **
> *CWS - Collaborative Wisdom & Strategy*
> Christine Whitney Sanchez
> 2717 E. Mountain Sky Avenue
> Phoenix, AZ  85048
> 480.759.0262
> www.christinewhitneysanchez.com
>
>  ------------------------------
> *From:* OSLIST [mailto:OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU] *On Behalf Of *Michael
> Herman
> *Sent:* Sunday, January 21, 2007 9:18 PM
> *To:* OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
> *Subject:* Re: SV: Michael Pannwitz's comment about OSonOS 2008 in Berlin
>
> what if the decision-making process was simply about picking a single week
> of the year in which osonos would be perhaps permanently fixed?
>
> then, within that timeframe, anyone could convene an osonos anywhere in
> the world.  all of the locations would have an opening, a bulletin board,
> and a marketplace.  all of the issues and notes would be posted online in
> the same place.  and all of the topics from everywhere posted on the wall in
> each place.
>
> when 100+ people gather for two days, nobody can go to every group or meet
> all the people, but  it's still informative to read the whole of the wall.
> so everybody could meet wherever was best for them.  some would travel far
> and cross-pollinate.  some would travel near and perhaps get involved in
> more local actions.
>
> the whole of it together would be *the* international osonos,
> simultanteously global and local.  if you want a european hug, go to a
> gathering in europe.  if you're strapped for cash or time, go local, host
> somethign small where you are, or just visit online.  what a great thing
> that anyone globally could convene an osonos gathering and be able for just
> a few days share issues and notes printed out from all over the world on
> their own little local wall.  might not get a german or australian or
> canadian or whatever sort of hug is exotic to you, but maybe get a good
> local hug after a good discussion of an issue raised 1/2 way around the
> world!
>
> then, regional and local gatherings would be everything else, through out
> the world and throughout the year.
>
> mh
>
>
>
> On 1/20/07, Eva P Svensson <eva at epshumaninvest.se> wrote:
> >
> >    Dear all,
> >
> > Even though I haven't been on all OSonOS's I have come to love and
> > cherish them very much! It is soooo important – at least for me – to see the
> > people I "talk to" here on the list – the energy in face to face meeting and
> > talking can never occur in an online meeting. I know that for myself it was
> > much easier to "speak out" on this list after have seen some of you in my
> > first OSonOS in Denmark a few years ago, and after that I was kind of home –
> > wanting to go to them all – and so I have – except from Moscow. Planning to
> > go to Kiev though.
> >
> >  And I agree with Larry – hugging my computer is both dull and
> > uncomfortable J
> >
> > I really love the initial idea of moving from continent to continent –
> > in that way there is almost always an OSonOS nearby if not every year so at
> > least every second or third.
> >
> > So my two öre's thought is that we keep that rhythm. And that we have
> > THE OSonOS once a year. There will always be regional, local, national
> > OSonOS's and that's fine – could be a great compliment or input to the big
> > one – I know that's how we think about our Scandinavian OSonOS that will be
> > in Sweden this year.
> >
> >
> >
> > All the best from a stormy west coast of Sweden
> >
> > :o)
> >
> > Eva
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Bästa hälsningar
> >
> >
> >
> > Eva P Svensson
> >
> >
> >
> > *EPS Human Invest AB*
> >
> > *"Verksamhetsutveckli** ng genom människor skapar långsiktigt välmående
> > företag och organisationer"*
> >
> >
> >
> > Anåsbergsvägen 22, 439 34 ONSALA
> >
> > Besöksadress; Slussgatan 1, Göteborg
> >
> > Tfn: 0300-615 05, Mobil; 0706- 89 85 50
> >
> > www.epshumaninvest.se
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >   ------------------------------
> >
> > *Från:* OSLIST [mailto: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU] *För *Joelle
> > Lyons Everett
> > *Skickat:* den 20 januari 2007 01:59
> > *Till:* OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
> > *Ämne:* Re: Michael Pannwitz's comment about OSonOS 2008 in Berlin
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > In a message dated 1/19/07 2:21:24 PM, larry at spiritedorg.com writes:
> >
> >
> >
> >  The face to face connections and support are not things I can get from
> > a
> > virtual event. Hugging my computer monitor is just not the same.  So, I
> > support a focus on a World Wide event where the chance of worldwide
> > participation is high.  So I can connect to both old and new friends.
> > Maybe that is no longer possible in our virtual and tension filled
> > world, but I still want it.
> >
> >
> > I'm with Larry on this!  I like having a worldwide event, and like
> > moving it to various parts of the world.  My travel budget is slimmer than
> > it used to be, and overseas travel is more difficult now that I have some
> > severe diet restrictions.  But a worldwide OSONOS is always going to be a
> > top priority.
> >
> > Maybe we need something like what Gabriela suggested, a voting process
> > that lets those of us who are unable to be physically present participate in
> > choosing the next location.  I'm delighted that the Ukraine has such a
> > thriving OS community, and that they enthusiastically invited us there.  But
> > for myself, I am disappointed to have the annual gathering two years in a
> > row in locations which present some big challenges for me.  I'd like to see
> > us return the the idea we proposed when we first moved OSONOS away from
> > North America--to move from continent to continent, to include local
> > participants from many regions and to make the travel easier for a different
> > group each time.
> >
> > Regional OSONOS and internet connections are great, but a face to face,
> > worldwide OSONOS is something very special.  I want to be a part of that as
> > often as I can.
> >
> > Joelle Everett
> > Shelton, Washington, USA
> >
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>
>
> --
>
> Michael Herman
> Michael Herman Associates
> 300 West North Ave #1105
> Chicago IL 60610 USA
>
> phone: 312-280-7838
> email: michael at michaelherman.com
> skype: globalchicago
>
> http://www.michaelherman.com
> http://www.openspaceworld.org
> http://www.chicagoconservationcorps.org * *
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-- 
CHRIS CORRIGAN
Consultation - Facilitation
Open Space Technology

Weblog: http://www.chriscorrigan.com/parkinglot
Site: http://www.chriscorrigan.com

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