[OSList] Question about largish open space
Lisa Heft
lisaheft at openingspace.net
Wed May 18 10:53:02 PDT 2011
Hello and congratulations, Jennifer -
So my quick answers would be...
It is incredibly hard to hold the space for a concurrent Open Space /
parallel track to a traditional conference.
Do take very good care of yourself - people slip in and out of the
room and the container can often feel wobbly and huge and tiring for
the facilitator.
One key is to ensure that the conference program, announcements from
the 'front' in morning and afternoon plenaries, signage throughout the
conference and more - all highlight the location, hours, session times
and reason for the Open Space. Otherwise people do not know how to
find it, feel it, incorporate it into their larger conference
experience. And be careful with your descriptive text - people seeing
what they interpret as an open space in the conference program often
interpret it as an open time for going shopping, touring the city and
more. Post conference they often mention they had no idea this
conference activity was happening even though you thought you named
and presented it for visibility.
My experience would recommend you do not have to do any full-form OS -
in fact, how could you in 1.5 hours? How could you do it justice?
Won't their passion for the agenda topics they raise in that Day 1 1.5
hours energize their interest in coming to those sessions later in the
conference? Won't your making the topics visible (such as outside in
the hallway as well as in the OS room) spark their interest and
continue the invitation and the passion? And then in your OS room you
can invite folks to come in and out (as they will when it is a
concurrent track in a traditional conference) and post sessions for
whenever on the OS schedule they can return to host or attend that
topic. No?
About projects - you indicate that *some* OS discussions will generate
projects. My question is do you really want to lead the entire full
group in that project time if only some OS sessions are about projects?
My observation is that people come to a conference for idea exchange,
learning content or tools they can use back home, and relationships /
networking. When a full-on conference designs action planning or
project work *for the entire conference* the clients often wonder why
the energy was sucked out of the end or why nobody came. Then upon
reflection they realized that the high percentage of attendees were
served by the OS conversations themselves and did not themselves have
the urgency, interest or capacity to name or focus on projects and
next steps. And those who did, had that energy anyway, and kept
rolling along with their project-specific focus. And the Book of
Proceedings - with the full discussion notes of all the sessions plus
the full list of contact information for those who participated in the
sessions and who attended the OS - gave them a mechanism for
continuing their networking and project work post-conference as they
felt the energy and inspiration to do so. And you can even place
project planning worksheets in the OS room for any group you hear is
doing that - helping them think of who-for what-by when-what else
sorts of things.
With any retreat, meeting or conference - I always ask whether it is
90% or so who need-want-ask for action planning or project work time -
or if it is a hope of the organizer but not a drive for the
participants. That often informs whether any time for *everybody* to
stop and focus on projects or next steps is needed as part of the
design of the event.
Why not just give the Closing Circle to the participants for rich
comment and reflection - and give them that time to do so? Rather than
design a process for some-not-all?
If many folks are not into project work or next steps, all that time
will be less energy and less feeling of closure for them while the few
others are working on their projects.
That's my opinion based on my experiences and observations - and no
doubt you other dear colleagues will have different ideas - I look
forward to hearing them,
Lisa
Lisa Heft
Consultant, Facilitator, Educator
Opening Space
lisaheft at openingspace.net
On May 17, 2011, at 3:18 PM, Jennifer Hurley wrote:
> Hello everyone. Some months ago I shared a story about introducing
> OS to the Congress for the New Urbanism over several years. In just
> 2 weeks, the annual Congress will include OS as one of the plenaries
> for the first time ever. Here’s how OS will be incorporated into
> the Congress schedule:
>
> Day 1
> 9 – 10:30 - OS in morning plenary (nothing else is scheduled at
> this time – expect 300-400 people)
> Rest of the day – OS available concurrently with regular conference
> breakout sessions
>
> Day 2
> OS available throughout the day concurrently with breakout sessions
>
> Day 3
> OS available in the morning concurrently with breakout sessions
> 12:45 – 1:45 – OS wrap-up (in plenary room with nothing else
> scheduled at the time, but over lunchtime)
>
> Here’s our theme:
> How can we employ new urbanist principles to help our world become
> safer, happier, and more prosperous?
> How can the CNU organization have the greatest impact in the coming
> years?
>
> So I have a couple of questions for this incredibly experienced,
> thoughtful, and helpful (!) group.
>
> For the OS in the morning plenary on Day 1, this will be the first
> time that many people hear of OS. We’re going to open up the
> schedule for the entire 3-day period at this time. I expect that the
> opening will take 20-30 minutes. Should we give a full hour to 1
> discussion session, or should we try to have some kind of “closing”
> in the last 15 minutes of the time slot, so people who have never
> experienced OS see the full arc?
>
> Based on past experience with OS during the Congress (never in such
> a prominent role before), we expect that some OS discussions will
> generate projects that people want to continue working on during the
> year. For the wrap-up on the last day, we want to give people a
> chance to find other people to join their projects and also to
> reflect on the experience with OS.
> o 5 min – Welcome: Thank people for participating and explain what
> we will do during the closing session
> o 10-15 min – Continuing the Work: Invite people who intend to
> continue work on their topic or initiative during the year to give a
> 1-minute “advertisement” about their effort
> o 20-25 min – Reflection: Give people the opportunity to respond to
> the question: What was the biggest take-away for you from your
> participation in OS?
> o 20 min – Notes Gallery: Have the movable notes wall in the
> plenary room for this session, and leave time for people to review
> the notes and sign up for topics they’re interested in
>
> Any thoughts or reactions to that plan? Any advice or suggestions?
>
> Thanks so much. It’s very helpful to know that there’s this wise
> group to reach out to!
>
> Jennifer Hurley
> __________________________
> HURLEY~FRANKS & ASSOCIATES
> 1500 Walnut St STE 504 | Philadelphia, PA 19102
> p: 215-988-9440 | f: 215-988-9441 | c: 267-971-4598
> JLHurley at hfadesign.com | http://www.hfadesign.com
> Certified WDBE through PA UCP, City of Philadelphia OEO, NJ UCP, DE
> UCP
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