[OSList] A 3hr OST slot at Conference

Mon Nov 19 12:06:31 PST 2012

I surely love Sandy's inventiveness and the power of her descriptions. Yea
Sandy! AND I think there also ought to be a round of applause for all the
participants and their capacity for self organization. After all They Did
it! They did it in spite of the fact that most of them seemed to be sure
that it couldn't possibly happen. And where did we hear that before?

Certainly there are ways to make the experience of Open Space easier - like
a reasonable sized room, no anchored chairs, more time, etc - But I am not
sure we can really make it better. I have always been amazed (now less
amazed) how, even under  the most impossible circumstances, everything works
out just fine. And somehow (and perversely) the experience almost seems
enhanced by the difficulties. I remember doing an Open space with 100 or so
people in a long narrow room, which could have been a bowling alley, minus
the pins. We were so constricted that people coming to the "center" to
announce their issues had to be careful lest they fall into the laps of
participants seated on either side. But it worked just fine. 

My learning has been that we do not do this process. We can only invite the
process and the people to begin. If the passion is there, along with the
responsibility - all the rest is history. It really does turn out that
"Wherever it happens is the right place." And just about any place will do
just fine, given the people, the passion, and responsibility. 

Harrison

Harrison Owen

7808 River Falls Dr.

Potomac, MD 20854

USA

189 Beaucaire Ave. (summer)

Camden, Maine 20854

Phone 301-365-2093

(summer)  207-763-3261

www.openspaceworld.com 

www.ho-image.com (Personal Website)

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From: oslist-bounces at lists.openspacetech.org
[mailto:oslist-bounces at lists.openspacetech.org] On Behalf Of Sandy Gee
Sent: Sunday, November 18, 2012 1:41 PM
To: oslist at lists.openspacetech.org
Subject: [OSList] A 3hr OST slot at Conference

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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