[OSList] Conversation today with Brian Burt of MaestroConference

Thu Aug 30 13:13:57 PDT 2012

--Dear Gabriela,

Welcome back from your "no computer, no mobile phone" 5-day vacation.
Sounds like a wonderful "butterfly" kind of Open Space vacation.

I was so glad to see your email.So many have spoken so highly of what you
and others have created. To think that this dream started 13 years ago is
truly amazing and humbling!

I have not experienced the Open Space-Online and have no doubt that I would
love it. MaestroConference, Brene Brown's work and a very rudimentary
adaptation of Open Space (dare we even call it that) happened almost as a
twist of fate...very quickly with lots of people jumping in.

In terms of what's possible and what's next, I am imagining that the sky
might be the limit -- where everyone's dreams come true, where the right
people get to be with the right people (including you and Brian), where
whatever happens is the only thing that could have, etc. etc.

I have felt the energy, the passion and the desire by many in this
community to virtually engage and to do -- the same spirit that has been
there for the past 26 years and before.  I guess all I can say when I
posted this topic is that I was not the leader or expert, just someone who
dearly wanted the magic of Open Space to linger and continue after a live
event.

It seems that all the necessary ingredients for a wonderful Open Space
discussion on virtual spaces and places are present:

   - A real issue of concern – a lot at stake
   - High level of complexity
   -  Lots of diversity: people and points of view
   - Genuine urgency (decision time of yesterday)
   -  Real passion and yes even potential conflict

To which I add a "wide Open Space for lots to happen"!

Suzanne

On Thu, Aug 30, 2012 at 8:56 AM, Gabriela Ender <gabriela.ender at gmail.com>wrote:

> Dear Open Space colleagues and friends,
>
> Yesterday I came back from a wonderful five-day retreat of silence – no
> mobile phone – no computer. I do this from time to time to find distance
> from the fast, loud, often ego-centric and greedy world. I was meditating
> about the future of respect and appreciation among different cultures,
> countries, religious and organizations.
>
> Back to Internet access, I found the initial email from Suzanne Daigle and
> all your new discussions in order to help developing another product for
> virtual Open Spaces. Ups….. Maybe some of you understand, that this
> situation first felt a bit strange … especially when “just coming home from
> a peaceful retreat”  ;-). But whatever happens … make the best out of it.
>
> I think, if Brian Burt and his company MaestroConference want to develop
> and
> market specific products to enable virtual Open Spaces, it would be
> helpful,
> if Brain and I find (at an early stage of his investment) a good and fair
> solution of clear visible differentiation. I have trust in the spirit of
> Open Space that at the end, all will keep having fun – including me and my
> company.
>
> Hi Brain, if you read this, you are warmly invited to get in contact with
> me. I am sure, it would be nice to meet online or much better offline in
> Berlin ;-) … Berlin is just one hour and a bit flight from London (in case
> you join the OSonOS event in the UK and have time before or afterwards).
> Let’s talk from entrepreneur to entrepreneur in respect to the old
> wonderful
> Open Space community and in respect to our pioneer work since 1999. I am
> looking forward to hear from you. Here my email address:
> gabriela.ender at OpenSpace-Online.com
> <mailto:gabriela.ender at OpenSpace-Online.com> .
>
> For those who are interested, here a brief update of what is going on with
> OpenSpace-Online®:
>
> Many of you know my vision and how extensive my flash of inspiration in
> summer 1999 was and how far ahead of time I was with my concept. Bringing
> OpenSpace-Online in a world where almost nobody had an idea of online
> participation was not easy. It became a life work with huge financial
> investments over the last 13 years.
>
> In the meantime, our conference system is used in over 60 countries and is
> enhanced regularly. More and more, we see ourselves at the edge of
> realizing
> the next phase of this long-term vision. We have a near perfect
> user-feedback-rate after conferences of happy users and have collected
> hundreds of “user-feedbacks and user-ideas” during the last 10 years.
> Together with international business partners, we will create a completely
> different platform for virtual Open Space conferences. Our partners and we
> are thrilled about this new project. Since February our main focus is to
> bring the next phase of this old vision to full reality. This platform will
> allow for cost-free OpenSpace-Online® meetings around the globe in almost
> all languages for small and for large groups. All of you who feel the
> spirit, the meaning and the impact of our never-ending efforts for a better
> world, please send us your blessings to make it a reality. One day, when we
> will reach the beta platform, you will be again (as in 2002) the first ones
> who are invited to use and to test all. Be patient and ready to be
> surprised
> in the future ;-)
>
> Recently, for example, we realized together with the German Federal
> Ministry
> of the Interior and the German Association of Towns and Municipalities an
> OpenSpace-Online® Conference called “Demographic-Online-Conference”.
> www.online-demografie-conference.de.  This nationwide project targeted
> mayors as well as administrative authorities involved with demographics
> throughout Germany. The German Government is now calling this
> OpenSpace-Online project a flagship of their dialog strategy. This is a
> great success for us and also for Open Space in general. Based on this I am
> invited to a Government Summit with Angela Merkel this October. This is
> unfortunately the reason why I cannot come to London to join the OSonOS
> event this year. You can imagine how much I would love to be there. I am
> sure, that our colleagues from the UK are preparing an extraordinary
> wonderful event. The OSonOS invitation website is so beautiful and I do
> remember the heartily and touching invitation in Berlin 2010 so well. I
> will
> miss being in London a lot.
>
> Thank you all so much for your support during all the years and
> particularly
> a big THANK YOU to you dear Harrison!
>
> Warmly from Berlin
> Gabriela Ender
>
> -----Ursprüngliche Nachricht-----
> Von: oslist-bounces at lists.openspacetech.org
> [mailto:oslist-bounces at lists.openspacetech.org] Im Auftrag von Suzanne
> Daigle
> Gesendet: Freitag, 24. August 2012 04:50
> An: World wide Open Space Technology email list
> Betreff: [OSList] Conversation today with Brian Burt of MaestroConference
>
>
> Exciting to imagine! A virtual interface specifically geared to Open Space.
> Brian Burt, CEO and Founder of MaestroConference, and I were on the phone
> for about 30 minutes this afternoon.  It was a “jump right in” kinda
> conversation with lots of give and take.  No doubt about it,
> MaestroConference has been giving this some thought and Brian Burt knows
> the
> process, principles and language of Open Space.
>
> In some cases their technology is there and stuff could happen right away;
> other things need to be figured out and then of course, you can’t totally
> replicate an in-person experience of Open Space so a hybrid virtual
> adaptation would need to be developed.
>
>
> We talked about the big picture of a Virtual Open Space Social Webinar
> platform that would allow hundreds and even thousands of people to
> participate. We also discussed some of the challenges; for example: “can
> you
> really have a virtual conversation with 50 people on-line engaged in one
> topic or would we need to break into smaller groups” and “how could we
> manage a post-it board with time and place”.
>
> Brian’s plan, along with other folks at Maestro Conference, is to host a
> Virtual Open Visioning Event this Fall inviting lots of people (it would be
> terrific if many joined) from the Open Space community and folks in the
> technology world (major users of Open Space) to engage in working
> conversations around the interface, the implementation, the applications of
> where and how a virtual OS could be used, the invitation process and so
> much
> more.
>
> What I was able to convey to Brian is that there are many practitioners in
> this worldwide OS community, including the OSI US Board, who are interested
> and excited about having a virtual Open Space platform. I’ll be the first
> to
> say that I’m not the expert (nor the leader) in that regard but I certainly
> have the passion and am willing to roll up my sleeves with others to help
> make it happen.
>
> At Brian’s request, I’ve agreed to lend a hand if people want to advise off
> list that they are interested, feel free to email me. You can also do it
> publicly on the OS list and I’ll keep track. MaestroConference is also
> interested in knowing if anyone has people they’d recommend who should be
> invited to the Fall Event.
>
> In anticipation of the Virtual Open Visioning Event being planned, perhaps
> we can continue the conversations on our OS list sharing what we would hope
> to see, what questions we have, how we may want to contribute to this
> effort. My specific interest related to the virtual technology is having
> the
> ability to host post-events after a face-to-face Open Space, continuing the
> conversations and driving some of the actions and initiatives that
> participants identified.
>
> An early Call to Action that may help Maestro Conference
> <http://maestroconference.com/>  in their planning! What do y'all think?
>
> Suzanne
>
>
>
> Suzanne Daigle
> NuFocus Strategic Group
> 7159 Victoria Circle
> University Park, FL 34201
> FL 941-359-8877;
> CT 203-722-2009
> www.nufocusgroup.com
> s.daigle at nufocusgroup.com
> twitter @suzannedaigle
>
>
>
>
>
>
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-- 
Suzanne Daigle
NuFocus Strategic Group
7159 Victoria Circle
University Park, FL 34201
FL 941-359-8877;
CT 203-722-2009
www.nufocusgroup.com
s.daigle at nufocusgroup.com
twitter @suzannedaigle
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