[OSList] A 3hr OST slot at Conference

[Sandy Gee]

Hello again lovely OS community,
I posted a question asking for advice on here a few months ago. It was
about organising a 3 hour OS slot in the afternoon of an Existential
Psychotherapy Conference in a non-ideal setting - A very formal and smart
space with an auditorium in fixed tiered rows.

I benefitted hugely from all the input I got here as well as at Lisa's
workshop in London and at WOSONOS.

It happened on Saturday and I'd like to report that it was a great success!

Though the organisers had been very nervous about it and the setting was
pretty challenging I was well prepared and had found ways to address all
the difficulties...

For the OS introduction and marketplace I followed Harrison's idea of
making an approximate circle by putting 2 rows of chairs in an arc across
the front of the auditorium facing the tiered rows (the chairs just going
right across where there was a raised platform). It took a number of
devices to get them to co-operate with sitting there - a 'welcome to Open
Space' PP slide projected onto the screen, with the request to 'please sit
in the chairs across the front and the first 3 rows of the auditorium'. I
reinforced it with 'DO NOT SIT IN THIS ROW' signs on all the upper rows
(and string blocking off the rows on the other side). And then when I saw
that they were nervous and reluctant - strong personal appeals to "please
come forward and sit across the front - nothing special or spotlighting
will be asked of you, we're just trying to create a sort-of circle". The
reluctance was very understandable as they had been in that space earlier
with 3 big name speakers just presenting and them all as passive audience.
And indeed this is the style previous conferences have all been.

I used humour about the awkward and uneven circle - telling them that the
varied height circle was intending to communicate our equality! And I was
able to easily link it all to the conference theme which was 'Challenging
Contexts and Uncertain Landscapes'! Indeed this seemed to help break the
initial ice.

I followed your idea Lisa of 'implying the circle' by placing the
principles around the perimeter of the circle (having to invent some
creative ways of doing that using string and pegs in places to avoid
anything attached to the walls) and by circling around the space as I gave
my introduction and explanation of the process. Thank you too Lisa for your
advice in your 'thoughts and Ideas' PDF, in which you suggested setting up
my living room with the themes on the wall and practicing circling the
space and speaking aloud whilst imagining being there. That helped me to
get more clear and concise. It helped me to notice where I had a tendency
to get repetitive or long-winded/unclear and discipline myself to keep it
simple and brief enough for the short time I had. I also typed out pretty
much what I would say with coloured sub-headings to orientate me if I
should get a bit lost in the nerves of it all. I only looked at it once,
but the process of writing that and then just having it there helped. This
was a much more formal, bigger and more time constrained situation than
I've done OS in before and all this helped me cope with that.

Actually the awkwardness and obvious inconvenience of using the auditorium
in that way in some ways helped make the transition to the informality and
'mucking in' quality OS needs. Following their initial reluctance to sit in
the awkward circle - I was pleased and surprised that they got stuck in
quite easily with the paper and pens for writing up their topics - some
handing paper back for people to write in their rows before coming forward
and others even speaking first with a just blank paper in their hand and
then writing up what they'd said more concisely afterwards.

We started a bit late but easily got through the marketplace in the 45mins
and off they went to their 1st sessions (11 topics in each of the 2
sessions). (I managed to wangle an extra 15 minutes on initially proposed
30 minutes by encouraging the organisers to let me take more of the time
for the OS closure out of the whole conference closure - thanks for that
idea Lisa).

For session topic zones I used laminated orange A4 sheets with letters on
bamboo poles cable-tied to the chair legs (like at WOSONOS 2012). I
attached velcro re-usable cable ties to the top of the poles which i could
then thread through slots in the laminated A4 sheets to create 'zone flags'
(easier to dismantle and transport) for each of the circles of chairs.
These were set up in other rooms than the auditorium (according to a layout
plan I'd drawn up) and this worked well.

We had a challenge with the agenda wall being created in the auditorium but
the topic zone areas being in a separate part of the venue. That made it
impractical for people to refer to the auditorium agenda board when
bumblebeeing between sessions. So we simply got moveable boards and, after
the marketplace, we moved them to the hall outside where the OS topic
sessions were taking place. We used light A2 foam boards, used 'dual tack
double-sided tape' to 'post-it' them to the auditorium wall, then were able
to remove and reposition them, after the marketplace, onto doors in the
hall.

The closing session was back in the auditorium in the awkward circle at the
front and by then people had got comfortable with participating, so freely
offered snippets of their experience of both the process and the content.
Many were energised, enjoyed it, felt excited and had started conversations
they'd wanted to have but didn't know how. One said that this now felt like
a community in a way that it never had before. A few expressed discomfort
with aspects of the process - feeling conflicted in having to decide
whether to stay or move, being much more aware of the encounter with the
people rather than just the material for discussion, feeling grumpy and
rebellious about notetaking and how they felt it interrupted the process.
But even those who had found it uncomfortable also expressed that they'd
got something from it. And the content that they fed back about was
expressed with interest, excitement and edginess. A couple expressed
surprise that it worked when they had felt sure it couldn't!

Interestingly one of them expressed a sense of slight stiltedness and
flattening of the energy to be back in the formality of the auditorium for
the closure after the freedom of the Open Space sessions and suggested that
if we'd just got people to re-position the chairs in the larger room where
the sessions had taken place it would have retained more of the energy of
OS. I hadn't imagined that this could be possible due to the numbers, but
by that point we were down to about half the participants so it actually *
could* have worked. (About a third left at lunchtime and another third
before the OS closure - apparently very usual at this conference and partly
a result of an overly long and packed agenda). Interestingly - another case
of that 'once they've had a taste, they resist any going back into a more
constricted space' phenomena!

I personally received a lot of great feedback both directly and in how
people interacted with me - many people seemed to find me easily
approachable and came and talked to me or just dropped in a comment in
passing. A lot were very appreciative, two gave me very specific feedback
on how I had been a great facilitator (unflustered when things went wrong,
informal, warm, clear). A couple expressed dilemmas - what they wanted to
do, but felt too shy (I encouraged them to dare to do it anyway and they
did), another felt a bit bad about not having taken notes (I encouraged him
to consider - was there anything now they were finished that they'd like to
share with the rest of the conference? and just write that - which he did).

All in all there was a real energetic buzz, people were excited and
appreciative, several things had been started that there were plans to
carry forward further and it looks very likely that Open Space will be part
of next years conference.

Thank you everyone who helped me with your great ideas and generous
encouragement. I'm thrilled and look forward to more...

Sandy Gee
*wildbalance at gmail.com*
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