WOSonOS -and- future years and locations [long]

Thu Aug 28 21:14:09 PDT 2008

Now that I have a moment I would like to add to the thread about the
'activity' of Hosting an international event like the one some of got to
attend last month in San Francisco. 

For me one of the best parts of the recent Open Space Event in San Francisco
was getting to be part of the Hosting Team. This was so because we operated
as a mini Open Space community/team.  I showed up in early April and it was
just the right time -others had been there before me, contributed and had
left. we each chose to work on things that we wanted to and there were
things no-one chose to do and so went by the wayside.  

It was some time before I realized that this was the way we were operating..
prior to this I'd wondered at times how it was all coming together with
seemingly little 'direction' J and chalked it up to all the work that had
been done before my arrival.  Yet as we approached the big week and a few
others joined our ranks and last minute details continued to get done
(including things like homemade brownies for 100!) I realized that I was
indeed having an experience of operating in open space - how great is that!
(and yes it was A LOT of work - most of it joyful and extremely rewarding)

One other significant (impressive to me) aspect about the conscious
framework of this particular event was not only its true 'accessibility' but
also the quality and spirit of an invitation that might actually result in a
diversity of attendees responding to that accessibility and then being
present to add to the richness of the gathering - broadening the scope of
participative views and voices. This ability to move beyond the rank and
privilege of the folks doing the hosting/organizing  of any kind of event
requires thoughtful creativity and conscious effort.  I mention this as a
person who has attended a wide variety of events, conferences and trainings
that spoke of diversity and were not designed in any way that it might
actually have been able to show up. I BOW to you LISA and originating host
team members for making the brave decisions from the start to do the work
necessary to make this so.  How great that was for all of us who were able
to attend! 

As a new-comer to this community I look forward to joining the roaming
annual worldwide event when I am able - as well as regional/local events
when I'm in the right neck of the woods at the right time. Wonderful to have
all these choices and opportunities to connect with Open Space colleagues
and friends.

Heidi

heidi nobantu saul

CONSULTANT  FACILITATOR  COACH

Santa Fe, NM & San Francisco, CA 

505.470.5131 (mobile)

heidi.nobantu.saul (skype)

heidi at we-becoming.com

P Please don't print this e-mail unless you really need to.

From: OSLIST [mailto:OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU] On Behalf Of Lisa Heft
Sent: Tuesday, August 26, 2008 3:20 PM
To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
Subject: Re: WOSonOS -and- future years and locations [long]

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

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

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

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