WOSonOS -and- future years and locations [long]

Michael Herman michael at michaelherman.com
Tue Aug 26 23:35:01 PDT 2008


i think this is a pretty good list, lisa.  the issues, first, but especially
the hosting joys.

as i read through what you did, i notice that we did many of them in chicago
in 1999.  we had about 80 folks, i think.  12 countries.  nobody asked about
visas, but that was before 9/11, so maybe those things were different then.
sliding scale fee, $25 to $200, nothing about donations beyond this was ever
mentioned, and the whole access queen process was still just a twinkle in
your eye.  we made a profit of about $800, i think.  i used that to fund the
first several years of openspaceworld.org, which had gone live just a couple
of months before our event.  we (two of us) fronted the deposit for a
meeting room, something like $100.

i found it by walking across downtown chicago, literally following my
heart.  i knew of many possible venues, but i didn't know which was the
right one.  so one sunny day i just started walking.  at each intersection,
i let heart decied which way to go.  finally, i looked up and a few blocks
away i saw a hampton inn that i'd not known of.  i immediately knew that was
the place.  when i got there, i found the hallways full of historical pics
of chicago.  those pictures were as much of a local tour as i can remember
organizing, though i know many groups and individuals had significant city
experiences before during and/or after our meeting.  we supported those
simply by looking for a space right near the center of the city.

next to our meeting room was a hospitality room, with coffee, sodas and i
think some snacks always available.  we scouted and suggesteded two places
to stay, one nicer and one economy.  we reserved, without a deposit, a block
of rooms at the nicer but affordable place, our main meeting hotel, but
simply told people about the economy option down the street.  a few people
stayed with friends, os or otherwise, but we didn't organize that.  we had a
website and personal connecting with all participants.  we were downtown in
chicago, so we didn't organize any meals.  everyone just went out in
self-organized groups to various restaurants.  i think the hotel had a list
of them.

we posted all the notes to the website, on a dial-up internet connection,
immediately as participants finished them and the compiled "the book" and
posted that within a day or so of the closing.  somebody organized what i
think was the second "international" day, a half-day, on day three, which
focused primarily on training, as in how to train people.  we worked on what
training should include, i think.  i seem to remember some talk about a
masters class for those already very experienced in the practice.

anyway, it was fun to read your list and remember some of things we did
here.  all just as you say, done only for the joy and fun of it.
i think we did a lot of what you and the SF team did.  we also made some key
decisions that allowed us to not do quite a few other things, and
particpants to organize those things for themselves.  so by doing or by
careful deciding, i thinik we probably address almost all of the same
issues.

overall, i would say we were most interested in providing the essentials of
an os experience and positioning ourselves (and participants) to have
everything and anything else that we might fancy be taken care of by the
participants themselves.

i share all of this here, just in case other former hosts might also share
some of how they approached their hosting... and in case it makes it any
easier for others who might dare to float an invitation.

thanks, m











On Tue, Aug 26, 2008 at 5:20 PM, Lisa Heft <lisaheft at openingspace.net>wrote:

>  It sounds like there are 4 areas of discussion here:
>
>
>
> ·         Feelings of inclusion / helpfulness of the every-few-months call
> that currently has a few representatives from many different countries on it
>
> ·         The idea of having one in-person 'main' WOSonOS per year –
> whether or not there are also other OSonOSs or WOSonOSs any other times and
> locations
>
> ·         Decision-making process for deciding on WOSonOS future years'
> sites
>
> ·         Need / value / usefulness of knowing WOSonOS site 2 years in
> advance
>
>
>
> You may see some other threads here.
>
>
>
> I am one of those people who thrives in international mixed group
> gatherings (in my home country or elsewhere) as they stretch me far outside
> my known areas and enhance my learning – showing me what I do not know and
> what I still need to learn, as I interact with diverse people and cultures
> that are not like my own.  I also find it is so nutritious for me to get
> together in person with my 'tribe' – my fellow Open Space facilitators from
> around the world.  So I really look forward to the times when I can come to
> one of these once a year in-person WOSonOSs.  I find it recharges my
> learning, and strengthens my sense of community.  And: I am very grateful
> for knowing 2 years ahead of time when the WOSonOS will be – as it helps me
> put something on my calendar in advance, so I can arrange my complicated
> life around it and see if I can afford to come (jobs, elder care, finances,
> savings)
>
>
>
> But for this message, I would like to focus on the thread of conversation
> about how much preparation / time is needed. Let me add some thought from
> perspective of one member of one Host Team.
>
>
>
> I totally support that there are all different ways to host an OSonOS or a
> WOSonOS and all different styles of doing so.
>
> I have been to great OSonOSs where (for example as you did, Harrison) a
> host said 'I found a room, here is the time and place, this is what it
> costs, here is how many people our site will hold so first come first serve,
> and I look forward to seeing you there'.  And it was fabulous. Folks found
> their own ways, went out to get their own food, found their own lodging, and
> had a wonderful time and rich learning.
>
>
>
> I do not wish to imply that any of you who generously create a nutritious
> space for people to come and do fabulous work together are in any way not
> working hard to create a welcoming space.
>
> However, to me - in my style of doing things - invitation – and by that I
> mean invitation welcoming diversity - is an extensive set of tasks and
> design, which takes a lot of lovely and creative work.  This joyful burden
> takes place from the moment of first message out up to and throughout the
> event itself.  Or that is how I do it.
>
>
>
> To me, this kind of invitation broadens the richness of 'Whoever Comes' –
> because it identifies and works on issues of *access* – more like...
> 'Whoever is just as able to come as the others who can come'.  By 'access' I
> mean all kinds of elements - funding, language, mobility, connection to
> greater community, age, location, sophistication at seeking resources,
> experience traveling, special foods, physical or emotional needs, connection
> to internet, access to a visa, years' experience, ability to have pocket
> money for books or dinners, and so on.
>
>
>
> Invitation like this is to me an interesting, creative and gratifying job.
> Our Host Team worked really hard, to do whatever it took – to ensure that
> people with all different levels of access and ability were able to join
> us.  And I believe that it showed in the mix of people who were at our
> WOSonOS.  I will give you some statistics – this is also to share a bit with
> the Taiwan and the Berlin Host Teams, who have been interested in hearing
> about some of our tasks and our lessons learned.
>
>
>
> I do not say the following to 'blow our horn' (for you
> non-English-as-a-first-language speakers: to brag about how fabulous we are)
> – but instead to give you a sense for why I am glad we had the knowledge we
> would be hosting a little over a year in advance and had a year to work on
> it, and how I see the tasks that may be unpleasant for some were delightful
> to me.
>
>
>
> 123 attendees (from 13 countries) came to the 2008 WOSonOS, I'm happy to
> say.
>
>
>
> Out of those 123 people, 76 people paid the most they could –and- because
> that was less than our per-person costs, Access Queen and her partners made
> up the difference for 76 people.
>
> Could those 76 people have joined us if this were not the case?  I am
> guessing many could not have – and then we would not have been enriched by
> their presence.
>
> In order to include everyone who had the desire and passion to join us, it
> took quite a bit of advance work – to identify resources, research options,
> and design survey of needs and resources into our registration process, for
> example.
>
>
>
> Access Queen is a project, not a fund, although there is a little funding
> each year due to contributions. This is a resource-sharing project I do for
> each year's WOSonOS where I invite those who need to ask for support and
> those who have to share their resources.
>
> So.  Our registration fee was a 'pay the most that you can' amount.
> Everybody did.
>
> Registration also had built into it a 'donate some more if you can' and
> many people did. These are some of the Access Queen partners.
>
> We also asked whoever was able and interested to donate some additional
> funds towards operating expenses. More fabulous partners.
>
> We also invited some organizations and individuals to act as sponsors. More
> partners.
>
>
>
> 37 attendees had special diets or other special needs.
>
>
>
> We provided attendees with 8 meals, including custom-designed meals and
> snacks for those with special dietary needs and also for several attendees
> whose family members joined us for evening events.
>
>
>
> Several attendees requested and received translation.
>
>
>
> Many months in advance, a lovely team went to visit every single
> accommodation site on our accommodations list – to ensure that we would only
> put on our list those sites that were clean and safe.
>
> We made reservations at hostels or hotels for 11 people – as most of those
> were unable to access internet, or have a credit card, or make an
> international phone call.
>
> We found homestays or room shares for 5 people.  More partners – thank you
> gracious home stay hosts.
>
>
>
> Our Visa Team interacted with 22 people about receiving visa invitation
> letters and created 20 custom-designed letters (to make a strong 'case' for
> each asker).
>
>
>
> Our Registrar interacted on an ongoing basis individually with all 123
> registrants - ensuring that any questions or needs were answered, sending
> out 'things to know' information, and offering a warm personal connection,
> whether the attendee was a many-years-connected-to-this-community person or
> someone totally new to this work and this community.
>
>
>
> An anonymous donor donated $20,000 worth of 'seed' (advance) money so that
> we could afford to reserve (as required, in advance, before we would have
> funding from registration) our conference sites, which included costs for
> rental, liability insurance, alcohol permits, staff overtime, audio visual,
> wireless access and more.  This money also covered materials and supplies,
> and catering.
>
> All of that money was paid back – due to the generosity of everyone who
> attended – registrations at any cost anyone could afford, sponsors'
> donations, extra donations during registration, operating cost donations,
> people buying Harrison's new book, funds for the Access Queen Project
> generated through Global Village Marketplace, Silent Auction, and additional
> donations – lots of creative ways to raise income to cover costs – all of
> which took time, planning, processes, people to administrate and offer the
> use of their checking accounts and credit card processing accounts, and
> more.
>
>
>
> Amazing Justin worked with me over many months (bless you Justin) to create
> a website that could provide everyone with information for their
> self-organized needs – from travel to accommodation lists to information on
> the Author Evening.  This took months of development in addition to Justin's
> ongoing adjustments and updates.
>
>
>
> All of these things required a dedicated team of hard workers. All of these
> things took time.
>
> All were done so that – ideally – any attendee would find it would feel
> very simply to come, join, and be.
>
>
>
> Host Team members were part of the team for as long as they felt useful and
> interested, took tasks they felt passion and responsibility for, took on
> roles as Author Evening coordinators or Host Team project manager or sponsor
> donation asker as they felt inspired to, and did not do what they did not
> have interest or passion for.  A living, breathing Open Space organization.
>
>
>
> I can only speak for myself: It was a huge amount of work, and joyous work
> – it was a huge amount of fun, and totally gratifying.
>
>
>
> You might do it a different way. And I would love to come to your event,
> and I know I would feel welcome and delighted and honored to be there.
>
>
>
> I am just saying that each of us does this in different ways. This is a way
> that works for me, and (if I am understanding some of your viewpoints) it
> doesn't feel like an institution, or a bureaurocracy, or the imposition of
> structure, or a dampening of richness at the event, or a burden.  To me, it
> feels like a joy, and a welcoming, and an amazing experience.   Just a
> different point of view; a different person's experience.
>
>
>
> I look forward to hearing the thoughts of others, including those of you
> who have totally different experiences and viewpoints than mine,
>
>
>
> Lisa
>
> ___________________________
>
> *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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