A tale of the first time that will stick for a long time

douglas germann 76066.515 at compuserve.com
Thu Nov 12 16:35:44 PST 2009


You did a Wow job with your soft deep voice!

This is a wonderful thing you say, it says so much about Open Space. I'm
going to quote you: "Wow, I get to do what I love, and to be loved for
what I do."

Thank you!

			:- Doug.


On Thu, 2009-11-12 at 17:19 +0100, rut jesus wrote:
> If there is a reason to look forward to a conference is knowing that
> there will be Open Space. WikiSym is the annual academic/entrepeneur
> conference on Wikis, and I, a phd student studying cooperation in
> Wikipedia, feel at home there. Well, yes, because we discuss wikis and
> cooperations, but mostly because I have felt the magic Open Space
> does, enabling everyone to approach everyone else, bridging down
> extra-formalities and roles, having exciting conversations more or
> less on topic, more or less long, at the pace butterflying is
> appropriate for my needs, curiosity and ambition. 
> 
> I went to WikiSym in 2007, for the first time. Although the cold
> conference center was alienating, I saw community being built right in
> front of my eyes. Everyone got to speak, there was a sense of being
> together, and wanting to cooperate, and not compete. In 2008, amidst
> sunny and fresh-air days, I was then sure Open Space was the key
> element in this conference, which is wisely built so that all starts
> and ends in Open Space, and during the day there are academic and
> workshop tracks alongside a running open space. I spoke at some length
> with Ted and Ana, and started to speculate if I could also facilitate
> Open Spaces. Upon returning home, reading "Open Space Technology, a
> User's Guide", contacting some people and going to a workshop in
> Sweden, I tried my own version at the Center for Philosophy of Nature
> and Science Studies where I study. 
> 
> So the story comes to the moment I arrived at WikiSym 2009, after a
> warm reception at WikiHouse (a house that is rented where a number of
> attendees can stay for a lower price and a higher level of comfort and
> enjoyment): we greet the known faces, including the conference chair,
> Dirk, who immediately tells us that Ted wasn't able to come last
> minute. What's going to be of Open Space without Ted, Ted's energy and
> expertise? Ward has volunteered, Ward has been through Open Space
> thousands of times. I say I'd like to help. In best wiki,
> self-organized style, I am meeting Ward 5 minutes after and agreeing
> to help and deliver, already for the open ceremony, the part with the
> 4 principles, 1 law, and butterflies and bumblebees. What an
> opportunity. I cherish every moment, the joy of helping, of drawing a
> colorful bumblebee, of using my soft/deep voice, of looking people in
> the eyes, making them aware of their moment. 
> 
> During the next three days, I get to call Ted twice and get amazing
> advice, do the evening news and enjoy people's reflections of the day.
> I  support and help so that Open Space lasts for the entire conference
> (instead of a shorter version thought for the time of crisis). I felt
> I was a part of the conference, doing something that is profoundly
> meaningful for me: holding space. 
> 
> In the open space-conference closing, I apologized we had been doing
> without Ted's bells, but that there was another tradition I didn't
> want to do away with, the talking stick. It had to be something local,
> which turned out to be a sweaty-florida banana-leaf,  which was found
> dead, but to which I wanted all of us to give life again. So, I talked
> and showed, that a banana leaf could be used for many things, to hide
> behind, to dance with, to use as a bridging stick, to support a
> handstand, to make metaphors. As it went around, I felt the double
> pleasure of the end of a great conference, and all intensity that had
> happened, and also the excitement of having facilitated live Open
> Space Technology in the best setting, and thereby having contributed
> to a space of learning and sharing. Dirk thanked efusively, and I
> thought: 
>  
> Wow, I get to do what I love, and to be loved for what I do. 
> 
> I expect to finish my PhD in a year, and then embark in free-lancing
> art/science and facilitation, where I hope Open Space will play a
> major role. 
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