[OSList] Chile in October WOSonOS...(Yay! says Access Queen)

[Lisa Heft]

I will be there, too - will you?

Join us:
http://www.wosonoschile.cl

This is a long message - so you might want to get some tea or a nice  
glass of wine and a cozy chair to relax into for your reading...

Language at the WOSonOS and during your visit to Chile:
For those of you who do not speak Spanish - the amazing community of  
fellow Open Space folks who speak Spanish and English will be there to  
help you - both at the WOSonOS and as you eat and laugh and visit with  
them during your trip. People are all so very helpful indeed, and I  
know that a lot of laughter happens when I choose a wrong word when I  
myself am speaking Spanish. So "Be Prepared to Be..."  ...warmly  
helped and at times very amused.

Inclusion:
There are many graduates of our recent Latin America Open Space  
workshops who wish to attend the WOSonOS - but just may need a little  
more funding to accomplish that.
Do you have some funds to share - to contribute to the growth of the  
Open Space community of practice in Latin America to support and  
continue their rich knowledge sharing?

Let me know - we welcome your financial contributions and I will  
divide them amongst 'Askers' who just need a few more resources to add  
to their own in order to be able to join us.

Access Queen:
"Access Queen" is the name our late great colleague Laurel Doersam  
gave to me in 2001.
One of my passions is to help people each year who just need a little  
more support to be able to join us at our annual international  
gatherings (WOSonOS).
I do not have funding such as 'here is a plane ticket'. My resources  
are my belief in you, sharing ideas for how you can raise your own  
funds, helping you ask for what you need from our colleagues in the  
Open Space community, helping you connect to others who wish to help  
you (through home stays, ride shares, in-country buddies, inviting you  
to a meal, sharing their hotel room with you, helping each country's  
Host Team if they need it with lessons learned or ideas for resources,  
and more) - and sometimes, little bits of money that I try to use  
amongst the most possible Askers. By this I mean: a little pocket  
money, or help with a meal, or to buy a book or something else to help  
the most people who may still need that while they are at the WOSonOS.

So any of your donations will add to my little bit of money to help in  
those situations.
And generous colleagues in Chile and nearby countries will be very  
appreciative, as they are also donating their time and resources,  
homes and good cooking to support Askers.

Askers:
If you are an Asker - do know that a) you do not have to pay until you  
arrive at the conference site (that gives you more time to raise your  
funds) and b) you can ask the Chilean Host Team to match you with room- 
mates to lower the cost of registration (which includes accommodation  
and food).  See the website above for those costs, and do ask the  
Chile Host Team any questions that come to mind for your planning.
Note that we are now fairly close to the WOSonOS date - which means  
for some of you who may need visas - do check in your own country to  
know the time span you will need to request and receive a visa  
application appointment, should that be required for your travel.

Adventurers:
Suzanne is a great example of an appreciative and enthusiastic  
(surprised?) traveler who makes friends in new cultures and does very  
well - even if she does not know the language. I had some hilarious  
experiences with her when in Taiwan for WOSonOS 2009 as she jumped in  
with (Law of?) two feet and experienced it all. We welcome you to do  
so, too - I made many friends when I gave my workshops in Chile and  
Argentina this June and was so very warmly received - with friendship,  
laughter, thoughtful exchange amongst colleagues and let us not forget  
that tasty Chilean and Argentine wine! Many of those lovely colleagues  
will reunite at the WOSonOS this October and I look forward to your  
meeting them - several can speak with you in English, as well - and  
who knows what other languages, too!

Inviters to future WOSonOSs:
It is also one of our traditions for future WOSonOS years' Host Teams  
to invite our world community to their country for a future years. And  
it helps us all to plan our travel and work schedules if we know who  
is inviting about 2 years in advance. It also helps individual Host  
Teams to know because it can take some Host Teams a year to meet,  
plan, and prepare their event.

If you would like to invite the WOSonOS to your country for a future  
year:

- I have observed that it seems to work well to already have an Open  
Space community of practice in your region - both to work on the  
WOSonOS together and so it is not just a single-time event but instead  
is part of an series of actions and events growing Open Space  
community in your region. For example, the Chilean Host Team has a  
regional capacity-building strategy - they scheduled 2 workshops to  
teach people Open Space in Chile, then 2 in Argentina, then one more  
in Chile before the WOSonOS - all to grow the regional Open Space  
community of practice. And there are more Spanish-language Open Space  
workshops coming in nearby countries after the WOSonOS. So whether or  
not those folks can all come to the WOSonOS - Open Space practice and  
service to organizations and communities grows and grows.

- If a group of Open Space colleagues in your part of the world are  
thinking of inviting for future years - do contact me - I have some  
pages of wisdom from past Host Teams over the years. This may help you  
see if it is something you would like to do and to hear some lessons  
learned about what has been successful and not, upon reflection, for  
those teams.

- Not everyone can physically get to a WOSonOS to invite. Some time  
ago I invited for three years - it is a consensus process at the event  
and there were other wonderful countries we decided to go to for our  
WOSonOS before it was my team's turn to host. One year I was able to  
attend the WOSonOS and could make the invitation in person. The next  
year I was not able to attend - and fabulous Thomas Herrmann and Eva  
Svensson of Sweden represented me (with an egg, but that is another  
story).  In 2003, the lovely late great Brian Bainbridge and I  
represented Janet Pinto of India, and made an invitation on her  
behalf.  It is really fun to create an in-person invitation that  
shares the culture and essence of your country. So if your country's  
Host Team would like to make an invitation but cannot attend - let me  
know and we can find a way to represent you and invite on your Team's  
behalf, and we can share some creative ideas for doing so.

- I am noticing how exciting it is sharing Open Space and this event  
around the world. Two things are happening - first, the annual  
international WOSonOS moves around the world - so that one year some  
of us cannot get there (too far away, too expensive); another year it  
is in our region (easier for us, but not for our colleagues in other  
regions). I like that sharing around the world. Second - Open Spaces  
on Open Spaces happen and we invite each other to those as well - for  
whomever can join together in-between the WOSonOS events. LIke the  
Learning Exchange that was this recent Spring in Italy. Or the Open  
Space on Open Space I invite you to each year held in San Francisco.   
Wonderful community building and knowledge sharing indeed.

Travel dates:
The WOSonOS is October 19-21.
And: a WOSonOS is not a training - it is a chance for those who use or  
have recently learned Open Space to go deeper.
If you love Open Space, wish to come to the WOSonOS, but have not done  
much Open Space and wish to learn more in a workshop setting:
I will be offering an Open Space Learning Workshop (in Spanish - but  
also in English if some participants may need that) on October 17-18 -  
so you might wish to come early for this pre-WOSonOS workshop.
And there will be a post-WOSonOS workshop with Harrison and Karen  
Davis on October 25 - so you might wish to arrange your travels to  
include that, as well.

Okay, rest your weary eyes - thank you for reading...and I will see  
some of you in Chile very very soon...!

(here comes the chant...)  chi chi chi le le le Chi Le! Chi Le! Chile!
Lisa

Lisa Heft
Consultant, Facilitator, Educator
Opening Space
lisaheft at openingspace.net


-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.openspacetech.org/pipermail/oslist-openspacetech.org/attachments/20110828/0be89079/attachment-0007.htm>