WOSonOS -and- future years and locations [long]

Mon Aug 25 02:10:11 PDT 2008

thanks for opening this conversation, lisa.

to me, the most important thing about osonos is that it is our chance to
practice what we preach, open to and in the world.  in recent years, it
seems to me that we have strayed from our core practice in two important
ways:  scarcity and design.  perhaps these are two sides of the same coin.

over the last some years, we've come to take a year to plan something that
is supposed to be about not planning and designing in advance.  we've
convinced ourselves that we must have only one "world" osonos.  we make a
big deal out of that *one* but tend, at the same time, to ignore the 7 or 8
years running that haiti has hosted an osonos and a raft of stammiches, for
instance.

i do not understand how the os community imposing the structure of a single
'world' osonos per year, with all the queueing and jockeying that goes on
around the eye of that needle, is any different from leaders we work with
(or don't get to work with) holding tight to the notion that there can be
only one speaker at a time, one powerpoint presenter per hour of annual
meeting, one round after another in a big group, with regular breaks to
recover and adjust the setup for the next speaker.

what would a truly open space approach to osonos look like?

i think it would be a bulletin board, where anyone could announce a
gathering, an osonos, where the theme would be "open space".  i'll refrain
from making the plan and theme even as complicated as "the practice of open
space".  like any breakout session, the host would choose a time and a
place.  when folks arrived in their corner of the world, they would step
into the circle of few or many friends and colleagues.  they would tell
something of their story, how they came to post this invitation.  and they
would invite everyone present to say something of why they'd come.  these
everyone sayings would, of course, begin as topics announced and posted.  in
some years we might have many osonos events, some years few, but in no years
would we have a single, most important, "world" osonos.  they would all be
important.  encouraged.  announced.  documented.  photographed.  access
queened.  connected.  simultaneous.  messy.  local.  global.  open.  spaces.

there would be no concern for who would go to india or australia or camden
or whatever.  the right people would find their way.  and when people needed
help getting to some osonos far away, they could ask for it.  you and anyone
else could help run the side bulletin board that was its own little open
space on getting to an open space on open space.  how does a two-year lead
time fit with whenever it starts and whoever comes is right?

yes, i might not see you and peggy and brian and michael and larry and chris
at *the* world open space.  the usual suspects would not be able to support,
encourage, or whatever the "growth of open space" in one particular
region.   we couldn't talk about "bringing open space" to this "underserved"
place or another, as we sometime have in the past.  but as far as i can
tell, just about the whole world is underserved.  we could all be going to
many places, trusting that we are all in the same place, with many breakouts
scattered world around.  and all the side conversations could be about
"which one are you going to?" instead of "which one is ready or right or
will be supported and held up as *the one* that everyone should go to this
year, the only one that will be called 'world'.

and then maybe the world os conference call would be opened to anyone who
was in the moment of making a whole world invitation to gather in their
corner of earth, to talk about open space.  why should there be only two
people allowed from each country or each "institute" on such calls.  would
we ever suggest such a system in one of the events we facilitate?

i'll be very interested to hear what others are thinking on this.  perhaps
i'm too much the purist, or not much of a planner, but my favorite osonos
gatherings have been the really really simple ones, mostly before we started
lining up and and taking turns.  what we be lost if we made more space for
more open spaces on open space each year?  what would an open space on
osonos look like?  how would it function on an ongoing, worldwide, anyone
can come, anyone can host, no planning required basis?  that's what i'm
really wondering now.

i'll go back to my painting and carpentry now, but will be listening in
between, looking forward to what the rest of everybody else might have to
say.

thanks, again, lisa.

michael

On Sun, Aug 24, 2008 at 8:34 PM, Lisa Heft <lisaheft at openingspace.net>wrote:

>  Hello, dear colleagues –
>
>
>
> Get yourself a cup of tea (or other beverage of your choice) as this is a
> long message...
>
>
>
> First, thank you for your patience as we work to complete the WOSonOS 2008
> Book of Proceedings for distribution.
>
> We are just waiting for a few more individuals who had wanted to send in
> their completed session notes in post-event for inclusion in the Book.
>
> So: as soon as those come in (very soon I promise) we will first send the
> Book to all the WOSonOS 2008 participants, and then let you know here on the
> OSLIST where it will be posted for your own reading enjoyment.
>
>
>
> And next, a little thing I have been thinking about.
>
> I am interested in hearing your thoughts.
>
>
>
> And here is a bit of background.
>
>
>
> At the WOSonOS last month, there were two *invitations* made for the
> WOSonOS to come to someplace welcoming in the world, for 2009 and for 2010.
>
>
>
> You may remember that June 18th message from the June 'OS Groups or
> Institutes Call' that was ** posted on OSLIST.  This call is an
> every-few-months gathering of one or two representatives from each Open
> Space Institute or Group – about 15 countries are represented.  I also
> attend those calls as Access Queen, because I communicate with and support
> each year's Host Team and Askers as needed, no matter where in the world the
> WOSonOS may be.  In the notes from that meeting, you probably read that
> Taiwan was interested in inviting for 2009 and bringing a nice contingent to
> the WOSonOS, Berlin was interested in 2010, and also if you look in earlier
> calls notes, Hungary, France and Estonia were also thinking of inviting for
> a future year – perhaps 2010 or another year they felt ready to do so.  You
> may also have read in those notes that at the Kiev conference (2007) there
> was a discussion about having these conferences' locations and dates
> announced *two years ahead* – as it is very hard for both the Host Teams
> and some of the travelers to plan for these things with less than one years'
> advance notice.
>
>
>
> (Our Host Team worked for over one year on this WOSonOS, for example.
> Other Host Teams may need even more time because there is not a large OS
> community yet locally and the majority of people who come to these WOSonOSs
> seem to come over land – so this is just my observation but a strong local
> OS community seems so essential for supporting an event like this.  Plus I
> think it is incredibly useful for prospective hosts to attend a few WOSonOSs
> if possible to see how it is the same and yet different from a client OS, to
> experience some of the traditions, and make their own design and decisions
> based on some of that observation and experience. Again – just my opinion,
> but to me, this seems incredibly useful.)
>
>
>
> And there was also conversation and support for moving the conference *back
> and forth across the world* – over this land, over that ocean, over
> someplace else next – so that some people would miss coming for some years
> but others would be able to come – because of the sharing and moving across
> the world of this lovely event.
>
>
>
> My Host Team was interested in designing something thoughtful, supportive
> and useful for both the invitation process and – as appropriate – any
> deliberation process, should there have been more than one inviting team for
> 2009 and 2010.  Typically, these invitations get made live at the WOSonOS –
> by the inviting Host Team or a representative (Brian B of Australia and I
> once invited the world to India for the 2004 WOSonOS to represent that
> year's host, Janet Pinto; Thomas Herrmann and Eva P Svensson of Sweden
> offered my third year's invitation at Kiev last year to represent me - and
> you can see what happened!).  Some of us on the Host Team had ideas for
> designing a discussion / consensus / decision process and we wanted to know
> who was offering an invitation so we could welcome them, create time in our
> event schedule for them, and support all inviters through this invitation
> and decision process with thoughtful process design.  I asked all the
> conference registrants, too, if anyone was thinking of inviting, just so we
> would know and design the time and approach to support each potential
> hosting group or individual.
>
>
>
> (I had also talked to a few folks who had expressed an earlier interest –
> and so had some of my colleagues such as Gerard, Karen Davis and others– and
> it seemed as if those others who had been interested felt it would be better
> to make their own invitation in another year – though the Hungary inviters
> asked that the Berlin event be held close to the 2010 OD Summit if possible,
> for potential attendance at both events).
>
>
>
> As it turns out, at this invitation portion of the WOSonOS there was *only
> one inviting team for 2009* (*Taiwan*, their second year of invitation) *and
> one team for 2010* (*Berlin*).  So there was no need for any
> decision-making.  Although fabulous Gerard Muller stood up and reminded me
> to stop....and breathe....and ask one more time if there was anyone else
> thinking of inviting the WOSonOS to their country.  I bow to you, Gerard.
> The silence was nutritious.
>
>
>
> As it turns out, nobody else came forward. So we celebrated our next 2
> years of hosts (!!! 2009 Taiwan !!!  !!! 2010 Berlin !!!), and at the end of
> the conference – as is our tradition – the 2008 (San Francisco) Host Team
> passed the lovely WOSonOS talking stick to the 2009 (Taiwan) team.
>
>
>
> So.  *My thoughts for your discussion are...*
>
>
>
> As Access Queen, I often think of 'what will help different kinds of people
> participate if they have a passion to do so'.  I do not get to all the
> WOSonOSs in person, but I know it is very very powerful to receive an
> invitation from a potential Host Team – in person – to get a sense for their
> country, their culture, their personality.  And powerful to make decisions
> in person – with whoever comes - with conversation, and listening,
> in-person.  I am not sure how one would get such an amazing, experiential
> sense of someone inviting – especially someone from another culture and
> country – in written form only.  Especially if their home language is not in
> English, as this list conversation usually is.
>
>
>
> However sometimes I wonder if there would be a way to bring the invitations
> to the larger OS community – including those of you who cannot come live to
> the WOSonOS.
>
> I am guessing there are some of you who feel 'it is just fine that whoever
> comes to any given year's event in person collectively hears these
> invitations and decides / agrees on the future year(s) locations.'  You are
> fine with a diverse group of colleagues being there to hear and feel and
> taste and sense what future potential hosts are offering.  You are like the
> butterflies in the room.
>
> I am guessing there are some of you who feel 'I would like to be included
> too and I do not get to go to these live events.  I wish there was a way I
> can be included'.
>
> Maybe some of you feel both of these things at once.
>
>
>
> I do not have an answer – and I for one am one of those people who is fine
> with whoever being there getting to make a decision.  That is how I have
> experienced and enjoyed many Open Space-like organizations' or communities'
> decision-making processes.   They use each others' energies and
> participation in that fluid and trusting manner, and whoever is at a given
> meeting gets to make the decisions, whether all are present at that meeting
> or not.
>
>
>
> However: I want to invite you to share your thoughts, dear colleagues. As I
> am just one person.  And I feel like there is a conversation here that is
> waiting to happen.
>
>
>
> I look forward to hearing the conversation,
>
>
>
> Lisa
>
>
>
> ** You can find the brief notes from that recent international call in our own June archives (see below my signature for the web address for the OSLIST archives), or take a look at the complete notes for each of those phone meetings at http://www.openspaceworld.org/cgi/netwiki.cgi?WorldOSonOS
>
>
>
> ___________________________
>
> *L i s a   H e f t*
>
> Consultant, Facilitator, Educator
>
> O p e n i n g  S p a c e
>
> lisaheft at openingspace.net
>
> www.openingspace.net
>
>
>
>
>  * * ==========================================================
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-- 

Michael Herman
Michael Herman Associates

http://www.michaelherman.com
http://www.ronanparktrail.com
http://www.chicagoconservationcorps.org
http://www.openspaceworld.org

312-280-7838 (mobile)

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