Unconferences

[Lisa Heft]

Hi, Doug (and others) - I should have lifted the words Harold gave for  
Kaliya's description from his earlier posting and placed them in my  
posting - rather than simply refer to it. Sorry about that.
In Harold's earlier posting he mentioned that "Kaliya calls it a bunch  
of Alpha Geeks rushing at the blank wall to grab the best spots."
The words you bolded are mine.  And thank you ;o)
Lisa



On Sep 7, 2010, at 7:35 PM, doug wrote:

> Lisa--
>
> I am not clear--are these words bolded yours or Kaliya's? Either way  
> I like them a lot.
>
> :- Doug.
>
> On Tue, 2010-09-07 at 17:40 -0700, Lisa Heft wrote:
>> Hi, Annamarie -
>> Harold, I think Kaliya describes it so beautifully.
>> From what I am hearing, the word 'unconference' - when used by most  
>> people - seems to be a generic term for 'not the usual PowerPoint  
>> type of meeting/conference' - started perhaps in the tech  
>> communities but is now a term used by others.
>>
>>
>> It does not mean Open Space. To everyone.
>> And just as we often hear of groups using 'Open Space' and then  
>> when we ask them to describe it, it's something completely un-Open  
>> Space (but just uses a circle, or just uses topic signs on a wall,  
>> or something), I hear that in the tech / hybrid / mashup world what  
>> often is referred to as Open Space or Unconference is not anything  
>> we would call Open Space.
>>
>>
>> So often what I hear is it is not the complete form:
>> - Opening Circle - invitation and explanation of process,  
>> principles and law
>> - participant-driven co-created agenda (without clustering, without  
>> facilitator's 'helping', without voting or elimination of topics,  
>> and done at a time-for-everyone speed rather than whoever-thinks- 
>> the-fastest speed)
>> - multiple participant-led discussions around the room (that folks  
>> can wander amongst) for multiple session times (without  
>> facilitators 'helping', with time enough for not-just-the-quickest- 
>> responders to participate, ideally with some sort of participant- 
>> generated documentation of the discussions)
>> - as mentioned above - ideally some sort of participant- 
>> documentation component that ultimately becomes a co-created Book  
>> of Proceedings (to share more than the moment of talking / to  
>> provide data to all, to share knowledge with everyone about what  
>> you discovered and learned in the certain sessions you hosted or  
>> attended)
>> - facilitator becoming totally present and completely invisible and  
>> holding space - not directive or intervening or traffic controlling  
>> - after welcoming/inviting/explaining/opening
>> - Closing Circle for comment and reflection
>>
>>
>> Not squished into too short a time frame, not hybridized or morphed  
>> (for this results in different deliverables than the compete OS  
>> tool delivers), not cut into pieces, no pressure to present, and  
>> ideally welcoming of all kinds of people (quick responders, slow  
>> responders, topic convenors, witnesses, established leaders,  
>> emergent leaders, folks of lower power or rich difference, and so  
>> on).
>>
>>
>> So. I hear there are some wonderful facilitators who use true Open  
>> Space for tech-based Unconferences / camps. Certainly most  
>> 'agilistas' (Agile community) seem to help each other learn Open  
>> Space well.
>> I know some of you folks who specialize in using OS in tech  
>> communities / camps / unconferences personally. You are amazing.   
>> You do it so well.
>>
>>
>> I also hear there are things that sound sort of like it, that are  
>> not it, that I wish were not called Open Space. I would love it if  
>> the term 'Open Space' were only used for the complete form. I  
>> welcome people to do any parts of interactive / dialogic work that  
>> work for them - I just like participants and other users to know  
>> which tools deliver what - proper naming for understanding proper  
>> use of tools.  Just like knowing a hammer is best for some things  
>> and when you say hammer you have thought about what it's most  
>> useful for and what it's design can deliver. Rather than using it  
>> for everything or pulling it apart into components and expecting  
>> the same results.
>>
>>
>> I welcome all experimentation, all stretching, all sharing of  
>> different experiences, too.
>>
>>
>> What do others think?
>>
>>
>> Lisa
>>
>>


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