[OSList] four different issues on my personal OS agenda (PR + Fundraising, OS in Business Meetings, Success Stories and OS with Children)

[Lisa Heft]

Hello fabulous Claudia and others -

Claudia, seeing as how the phrase in the USA for sharing some thoughts  
or a light opinion is 'My two cents', I will share my two Egyptian  
Pounds in honor of you and your colleagues.

1
>> “How can we attract new sponsors to convene OS events?”
>> Guess it’s called PR and Fundraising and I am very much interested  
>> in your experiences, tips & tricks and material you are willing to  
>> share.
>>

I am with Barry on the whole 'marketing' idea. One does not sell Open  
Space - most people do not care about 'how' something is done - the  
process - and others are worried it will be some stupid soft  
unproductive thing or some American way of doing something that does  
not fit with the culture. I would say focus on the 'why' 'for whom'  
and 'what'. The content. The same thing that will entice participants  
to your event - a compelling reason for bringing people together to  
share their rich knowledge, experiences and cultures.

I always tell sponsors what this will NOT be and what we are NOT  
inviting them to do.
They will not be making speeches - though we will have their signs and  
logos over the food area in the big Open Space room - a prime location.
They will not be making presentations - though we can include a  
paragraph about their lovely organization in our Book of Proceedings,  
with a link to where readers can learn more.
And I am never assuming that sponsors then get to come for free ;o) -  
I always ask what they can pay per person for the people from their  
organization who want to attend - to help us use more of their funds  
for supporting the event and less on (for example) the per-person cost  
to include those people. You never know, but it is always a useful  
question to ask.

I would say...think of organizations who really care about these  
issues or who want visibility amongst people who care about these  
issues - and 'brainstorm' all of the kinds of organizations who might  
feel this way. You might be surprised at who you come up with as  
potential sponsors -and- as potential participants.

2
>> “How does OS work in business meetings (2-4h)?”
>>
>> What’s your experiences and recommendations when facilitating such  
>> an event?
>>

Some of my colleagues do enjoy using Open Space in a 2 or 3-hour  
meeting. I myself feel it is not useful to squish Open Space into a  
meeting shorter than (let us say) 4 hours. Although I have done it and  
may do it for some unusual situation. I far prefer to use another  
fabulous dialogue method / tool / process that delivers whatever is  
the objective - of course, after having analyzed all the other  
elements that inform which method (including Open Space) is the best  
fit. I feel that one of the gifts of Open Space is helping people  
notice how ideas open up / interconnections / productivity / cross- 
pollinating - *over multiple sessions*.  So if I were to have only  
time for a one-session Open Space I would not call it Open Space  
perhaps (that is just me) and I might use a slightly different design  
anyway. World Cafe is often a method I use when having a shorter time  
frame - depending of course on why / for what / in what context / how  
many people and all the other million details to ask when selecting  
which dialogue approach. I use other methods / designs too - when it  
is a very short meeting such as 2 or 3 hours.  I also find that it is  
important not to rush the agenda co-creation time -or- the session  
times. If rushed, only the quick-responders get to name topics or come  
forward with their thoughts - it seems to be inclusive but the  
reflective thinkers are not - to my observation - included as equally  
when agenda co-creation time is too short or when the session times  
are (for example) less than an hour in length. So that lessens the  
power and richness of diversity, to me. In saying this I completely  
honor and respect my colleagues' different preferences and different  
ways of thinking and value those differences.

3
> “Which companies and institutions have used OST and what did they  
> reach?”


Wow (if English is not your first language - that is an open-mouthed  
open-eyed hands-in-the-air amazed sound) - that is such a big question  
- so many. Perhaps you can further define your needs in asking this  
question, so that we can share something more specific to your needs?

4
>> “OST with children, starting from which age?”
>>
As with any participant group - I would look at the logistics and  
materials and design to ensure they are inclusive of this culture, and  
that also includes documentation design. For example - depending on  
age - does it help to include more visuals for non-readers.  Are your  
objectives and theme for the Open Space meeting relevant to them, in  
their languaging. Things like that. And yes - a number of us have done  
Open Space with youth of different ages - it works of course, because  
they have less to un-learn ;o)

Warm wishes for great success and a warm hello to your Egyptian  
colleagues who I do not know but know I believe in,

Lisa

Open Space facilitators: I am going to WOSonOS in Chile this October.  
Will you be joining us?
Facilitadores de Espacio Abierto: Voy a WOSonOS en Chile este mes de  
octubre. ¿Va a unirse a nosotros?
http://www.wosonoschile.cl

Lisa Heft
Consultant, Facilitator, Educator
Fellow, Columbia University Center for International Conflict Resolution
Opening Space
lisaheft at openingspace.net


-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.openspacetech.org/pipermail/oslist-openspacetech.org/attachments/20110906/3c1d7672/attachment-0008.htm>