A question of size ;-)
Spark
spark at openspace.kr
Thu Jul 1 18:28:03 PDT 2010
Yes. Whatever the group is, they are the prosumers of reality they have on
hand.
Power of pre-work with the sponsor group is prerequisite for an OST to take
place and succeed by the group itself: self organizing!
Thnk you for reminding this again!
With ever more gratitude,
S
Spark
Open Space Institute of Korea,
Open Quest Squad
3rd Fl., Samkyung Bldg., 372-10, Seokyo-dong,
Mapo-gu, 121-210, Seoul, Korea
spark at openspace.kr
Phone: 02-353-6356
Mobile: 010-7247-0636
http://www.openspace.kr
http://www.seri.org/fr/frIntro.html?fno=217692
http://www.openspaceworld.org
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_Space_Technology
http://www.artofhosting.org
"Liberate the leader in each of us"
-----Original Message-----
From: OSLIST [mailto:OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU] On Behalf Of Michael M
Pannwitz
Sent: Friday, July 02, 2010 6:52 AM
To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
Subject: Re: A question of size ;-)
Dear Irv,
I did hit the reply all button but all I see is the OSLIST, so I suppose its
not working the way you envisioned...at least not from my machine in Berlin.
I have been hired as an Open Space facilitator for a number of community
projects in the last ten years.
As far as I can tell from the perspective of a hired Open Space facilitator
my job has been pretty much the same every time.
And it seems to make not much of a difference whether its been a
neighborhood, an urban renewal project, a school, a company, etc.
First, I make sure that it is clear who the sponsor is.
Then I insist on having a contact meeting with the sponsor (it might be the
school principle, the CEO of a company or the board of a community project,
etc.).
If such a meeting does happen I go through the prerequisites for an Open
Space event, assisting the potential sponsor of the OST event to figure out
for himself, whether he believes that the prerequisites are in
place...convincing me in the process that they are in place...or not.
Then, a decision is made after sleeping a couple of times.
Then, as pointed out already in the contact meeting, a planning group made
up of the sponsor and a cross-section of the people needed at the event is
convened.
This group makes all the plans, decides on the theme, writes the invitation
and figures out how the people they want to be there are invited.
Now, all along this stretch its completely irrelevant whether I understand
whats going on as long as the sponsor and the Planning Group feels that they
got a hold on everything.
As this process unfolds, regardless of whether its a welfare organisation, a
business, a neighborhood, etc., the Planning Group (usually it keeps
expanding) not only does all the work but becomes a group that begins to
open space for all kinds of people to participate.
So, its not facilitator driven.
In fact, its this planning process that is the most important preparation
for the OST event.
I am detailing all this stuff to point out that all of these tasks are the
business of the sponsor/planning group. They have the capacity to find
answers to all the questions you have. And if they dont succeed in that
(which I still have to experience) then the event will not take place...and
should not take place.
The suggestions and experience offered around your question can be added to
but when it comes down to it, the answers will come from the system I have
been hired by. And they are very specific and different from case to case.
Some examples:
--owners of small businesses, such as a one person shoe repair shop, feel
that they cannot attend a three day OST event: the planning group found a
retired shoemaker that kept the store open --single moms felt they could not
attend because there was nobody to take care of their kids during the event:
volunteers turned up that ran a makeshift day care during the event --the
sponsor found that they could not afford to rent a place to accomodate the
100 people they were planning for: a delegation sent to the board of the
local church convinced the board to donate their general assembly hall for
the three day event --the sponsor was not able to come up with all the funds
needed to run the event..the Planning Group decided to "charge" for
attending on a sliding scale, seems that this did not keep anybody from
coming --the Planning Group felt that there were certain groups they would
just not reach...they found people from those groups and worked with them on
strategies to reach those especially needed but usually not present at such
events
I guess others on this list could tell you of dozens of other "solutions" to
seemingly complicated challenges.
If there is going to be change or action in the "community" it will happen
because of the planning group figuring out how to make the event and what
follows take place.
And the less I as the hired facilitator gets involded, the more space there
is for the group and the sponsor.
In other words, the main task is to do whatever it takes to have the
Sponsor/Planning Group work through their questions...they will come up with
the answers.
Its not about me going to the people, its about the people in the system (be
it a school, a corporation or a community)going to the people rather than
relying on someone from without the system, like me or others, working out
solutions for the system.
In the long run, it is not experts improving systems but everybody in the
system improving it.
I find this to be a tough role for myself wanting to fix and control and
direct everything the way I feel is the perfect way. And here I turned 70
and am still struggling. In those cases where I managed to follow my own
advice it was a thrilling and liberating trip.
Have a grand time with your project!!
Greetings from Berlin
mmp
Irv Sheffey schrieb:
> I'm working with a local community group to organize a one day forum
> on creating local sustainable neighborhoods, here in the District of
Columbia.
> We want the forum to be inclusive of a wide range of perspectives from
> environmental NGOs, local government, civic leaders and most
> important, folks from the community at large, namely the "grassroots".
> The theme is "Getting from here to there, creating sustainable east of
> the river communities." We are targeting people who reside in a part
> of DC that is geographically separated from the other, two-thirds of
> the District, by the Anacostia River. This part of DC is the home of
> over 140,000 people, many who have been historically neglected
> socially and politically. We envision the forum to be a place where
> their voices can be heard
>
>
>
> This brings me to my question and I hope someone out in the network
> has some suggestions. How do we open space such that we get a good
> representation of people from these neighborhoods, without
> overwhelming ourselves? Whereas it's relatively easy to work in a
> context of a given organization, i.e., a company, a school, a
> profession, since affinity is defined and numbers limited but what do
> you do when you're seeking a broad cross section of the public? We
> have a modest budget and a venue that could accommodate upwards of 200
> people. How can you be "open" while reasonable as to how many people can
be logistically accommodated?
>
>
>
> The forum is scheduled for late October and we will begin outreach
> efforts over the summer.
>
>
>
> I hope that this doesn't sound like a "duh" question for you more
> experience facilitators. I could truly use your insights. I've taken
> the liberty of copying my co-organizers of this event. It would be
> great if you can hit "reply to all" in responding, so that they can be
directly informed.
>
>
>
> Thank you,
>
>
>
> Irv
>
> _________________________________
>
>
>
> Irv Sheffey
>
> Associate Field Organizer - Washington DC
>
> Environmental Justice & Community Partnerships Program
>
> Sierra Club
>
> 3101 Pennsylvania Avenue, SE No. 314
>
> Washington, DC 20020
>
> tel: 202-575-1469
>
> cell: 202-299-6503
>
>
>
> e-mail: irv.sheffey at sierraclub.org
>
>
>
>
> *
> *
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--
Michael M Pannwitz, boscop eg
Draisweg 1, 12209 Berlin, Germany
++49-30-772 8000
mmpanne at boscop.org
www.boscop.org
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