world osonos?

Tue May 18 17:37:27 PDT 2010

thanks to all for various reports and reflections and questions.  i guess
i'll wade in here too, thinking about the future of what our "world" osonos
gatherings are -- and might be.

i'm always amazed that this great vast community FOR great vast community
insists on swimming itself through a hoop the size of a roll of masking
tape, exactly once per year.  seems oddly traditional, don't you think?

i'm always amazed that osonos seems to be growing this legendary organizing
task to support conversations about how simple opening space can be.
organizing is easy, but for most figuring out how to get to this always
moving target is the thing that takes real effort!

i'm always amazed that a meeting that began as a place for experienced os
facilitators to self-organize their own learning seems to continually try to
morph itself into the thing that would *establish* such a community of
practice.  seems an unfair burden for the hosts in such places.

i'm always amazed that we choose locations for osonos based on where anyone
thinks it *should* go, instead of based on some kind of community commitment
(responsibility?) to actually show up there.  or where there already are
lively communities of practice.

and since there can be (are!) lively communities of practice in many places
all at once, i'm always amazed that we continually limit ourselves to a
single gathering in a single location, as if something *really important*
was going to happen *there.*  as if those who would attend had some special
status or resources that the rest of the world didn't.  as if there were
critical decisions to make.

the greatest osonos success i can think of is haiti.  john engle came to
osonos in chicago.  two years later, he brought a few people from haiti to
osonos in vancouver.  i think those folks already had some experience, but
then they went home -- and john went home there, too.  they worked and
practiced and adapted and taught and shared --  and then hosted their own
osonos events -- as conversations among practitioners.  as the annual
gathering of a community of practice.  the annual haitian osonos gatherings
seem very close to the original osonos events at dulles airport.

so, i'm always amazed that we keep on trying to replicate toronto (the first
'mobile' osonos) instead of making more and more haitian osonos's.  i'm
always amazed that osonos has become a world phenomenon in name, but not in
practice -- that we pick one place to have token world participation instead
of having osonos in haiti and camden and vancouver and london and melbourne
and berlin and moscow and portugal and jerusalem and istanbul -- all at
once.

maybe in 20...13, i will propose that we all meet in again in chicago, and
assuming i *win* the competition, i could pick the date, and then do one
thing less... NOT reserve a room.  so you will all stay home and have osonos
where you are, with local friends and colleagues and practice partners.  we
have the technology to post all our issues and notes together in the same
place, from everywhere.

what if these many locations could all legitimately take part in "wosonos?"
dare we let osonos evolve beyond this once-a-year trick we've learned?  can
osonos be "special" and "worldwide" at the same time?

what if the hosting of osonos was itself an open invitation -- and anyone,
anywhere, could choose to show up, bring friends and add spirit?  wouldn't
that be some kind of "access?" breakthrough?

what are the issues and opportunities for opening more space for open space
on open space?

just wondering...

michael

--

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)

On Tue, May 18, 2010 at 4:01 PM, Harrison Owen <hhowen at verizon.net> wrote:

>  Juan – Chile will be Cool! And just a thought. Don’t work harder than you
> have to. I know you have and will be receiving great advice from multiple
> good folks about what to do and how to prepare. So I’ll toss in my dos pesos
> (that is the limit of my Spanish J).
>
>
>
> Having done a number of OSONOS’s I know it is possible to spend an infinite
> amount of time and effort. And I have never found that was necessary, or
> perhaps I am just too lazy. Case in point was the last two
> OSONOS-by-the-Sea. Adding everything in, I think it might have taken me 6
> hours total, and I think that is an exaggeration. What made it really easy
> was the location, Camden Maine. Camden is a real town that also has a large
> summer community. It has a wonderful harbor and dozens of restaurants
> ranging from really basic to really ritzy. Accommodations run the same gamut
> from plain to pricey. To top it all off, the town is quite compact so you
> can walk to everything. My tasks were as follows: 1) Pick a date. 2) Reserve
> some space ( the local Episcopal Church was very forthcoming and totally
> reasonable. 3) Send out the invitation via OSLIST which included the website
> for the Camden Chamber of Commerce. I asked everybody who wanted to come to
> let me know (register) and then make their own reservations for
> accommodations (the Chamber’s website had all the information and
> connections). For meals, everybody was on their own.  We basically filled
> out in 48 hours, and on the appointed day 75-80 people showed up from all
> over. A friend picked up some doughnuts and bran muffins (homemade) for the
> mornings – And space opened just like usual. We had a blast. Oh yes – the
> Conference fee. I felt a little badly asking for $25 knowing it was more
> than needed, but we did cover all expenses and also sent the Wonderful
> Access Queen a reasonable check. That was it. And I will be willing to bet
> that Chile has more than its share of wonderful towns like Camden. I would
> also bet that you know most of them, and/or can easily find the rest. So
> have fun and don’t work too hard!
>
>
>
> Oh yes – on the 3rd day, Ethelyn and I did invite anybody who was still in
> town to come to our house for swimming, boating, and food. The party did
> roll on, but that was our party and doesn’t count as OSONOS.
>
>
>
>
>
> Harrison
>
>
>
> Harrison Owen
>
> 7808 River Falls Dr.
>
> Potomac, MD 20854
>
> USA
>
> Phone 301-365-2093
>
> www.openspaceworld.com
>
> www.ho-image.com (Personal Website)
>
> To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of
> oslist at listserv.boisestate.edu:
>
> http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html
>
>
>
> *From:* OSLIST [mailto:OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU] *On Behalf Of *JL
> Walker
> *Sent:* Monday, May 17, 2010 11:01 AM
>
> *To:* OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
> *Subject:* All roads take us to Santiago de Chile
>
>
>
> Dear Friends,
>
> Holding firmly with my left hand (that of the heart) one of our most
> treasured symbols (the talking stick), wanted to announce now, full of
> gratitude, that the next 19th WOSonOS will be held in the city of Santiago
> de Chile (or somewhere near), during the month of October 2011.
>
> It will be all our passion, creativity and responsibility, the ones that it
> will make of this event a milestone of warmth, hospitality and affection
> which belongs to the people of this long narrow strip of land in the
> Southern Hemisphere.
>
> In a few hours more I will leave Berlin and return to my home full of
> energy and enthusiasm to begin working hard for the success of this great
> task.
>
> For now just wanted to express all my joy and commitment, singing our cry
> again, that so often I did in Berlin with my dear friends from all over the
> world (http://vimeo.com/11757978 ):
>
> Ceachei i, Chi!
>
> Ele e, Le!
>
> Chi, Chi, Chi!
>
> Le, Le, Le!
>
> Viva Chile!
>
>
>
> A big hug to each and every one of you, and just be prepared to be
> surprised!
>
>
>
> Juan Luis Walker B.
>
> Phone: 56-2-2691033
>
> Mobile: 56-9-92220127
>
> Skype: jlwalker54
>
> http://www.espacioabierto.net
>
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