[OSList] The Brand of Open Space, experiences from the unConference.

Sun Nov 17 08:16:22 PST 2013

If you are running a meeting because you have a brand to sell or a process to wow me with, my interest will be short lived. 

If you issue an invitation into the world that meets my need then no amount of control or branding will keep me from connecting with you. 

Brands die because they become self referential. It becomes all about the brand. As facilitators of participatory processes what we serve is invitation and the mechanics of ensuring that people can connect with each other around shared need and shared work. That is a noble calling in a world riddled with fraudulent connecting.

Anytime I make me or my thing more important than that, I am detracting from this experience for participants. 

If unconferencing is dying as a brand it is because it is eating itself; that is how brands die. There will be a day on earth when Open Space Technology is gone too. But humans will always find a way to find each other and that is the most important thing. 

Chris

-- 
CHRIS CORRIGAN
Harvest Moon Consultants
www.chriscorrigan.com

Art of Hosting - Participatory Leadership and Social Collaboration, Bowen Island, BC November 11-14,2013

> On Nov 17, 2013, at 6:42 AM, "Harrison Owen" <hhowen at verizon.net> wrote:
> 
> I don't know about this "brand" business, but in fact the "unconference"
> grew out of Open Space, sometimes acknowledged and sometimes not. And the
> fact that there appears to be a reversion to the "old" ways is not
> surprising. Truth of the matter is that we all like to think we have things
> under control, even if we don't and never did. But we surely do try again
> and again and probably always will. Living in Open Space (or open space) is
> truly exhilarating AND very nervous making. That's a given, I think. Keeping
> that space open is  life work, I think. And honesty, to say nothing of
> modesty makes me say -- it is not mine alone. It is not even mine primarily.
> I think that honor goes to every single person who has ever discovered
> themselves radically confronting what they truly care about and taking
> responsibility for its realization. They know, as only experience can teach
> them, that life lived under those circumstances is rich and fulfilling, and
> that anything else is not only a drag, but fraudulent. 
> 
> Harrison 
> 
> Harrison Owen
> 7808 River Falls Dr.
> Potomac, MD 20854
> USA
> 
> 189 Beaucaire Ave. (summer)
> Camden, Maine 04843
> 
> Phone 301-365-2093
> (summer)  207-763-3261
> 
> www.openspaceworld.com 
> www.ho-image.com (Personal Website)
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> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: oslist-bounces at lists.openspacetech.org
> [mailto:oslist-bounces at lists.openspacetech.org] On Behalf Of Kári Gunnarsson
> Sent: Saturday, November 16, 2013 5:33 PM
> To: OSLIST
> Subject: [OSList] The Brand of Open Space, experiences from the
> unConference.
> 
> I was thinking about the reputation of one of our sister brands the
> "unconference"
> 
> To start with, I think that we as a "Brand" and doing Open Space have
> benefited enormously by having Harrison Owen as a gatekeeper to what it
> constitutes to have an Open Space.
> 
> The sparking of this post came from a blog post by Mitch Joel from early
> last year. Where he expands upon what an unConference is not.
> These are also true fro Open Space.
> 
> see: http://www.twistimage.com/blog/archives/the-death-of-the-unconference/
> 
> I will also post the blog text here:
>> 
>> 
>> The Death Of The Unconference
>> by Mitch Joel - February 9, 2012
>> 
>> Does anyone remember the unconference?
>> 
>> There was hope for collaboration and self-organizing groups, but it seems
> to have gone the way of the corporate spin machine. I was a massive
> proponent of the unconference movement (I still am!), but that word has been
> used so poorly by so many groups that it seems to have all but disappeared.
> In short: calling your conference an "unconference" just to sound young, hip
> and with it, actually makes you sound old, out-of-touch and stupid. This
> past month, I've seen a handful of events that are billing themselves as
> unconferences when, in reality, they're just very shabby and cheap events.
>> 
>> Your conference is not an unconference if...
>> 
>>     * There is a pre-set agenda. The whole point of an unconference is
> that group comes together to create the agenda/slate together.
>>     * The organizers decide on the agenda. Organizers can help organize
> the day in terms of logistics (when there are sessions and breaks), but
> should not be setting the agenda in terms of the content.
>>     * The organizers are doing everything. The organizers aren't there to
> make the event good for everyone else. The event is actually being "run" by
> everyone. Everyone participates. Unconferences are not about bystanders or
> attendees. The organizers are there simply to ensure that a venue is secure
> and that everyone knows where they are going. I'd even argue that this task
> can be done by the participants as well.
>>     * You're charging for it. This will be a contentious issue, but the
> best unconferences I have been to, have been the ones where everyone took
> both individual and group responsibility for the event. If the venue
> requires a fee, everyone chips in equally to pay for it. If you're hungry
> and want to eat, either bring food or go out and buy some. The true spirit
> of the unconference movement is that this is NOT a traditional conference.
> Bring your own nametag, notebook, snacks and drinks. If this is a
> self-organizing event why should any one individual have a financial risk
> attached to it? Think about getting sponsors instead of charging for it (if
> you really have to).
>>     * You're attending but not speaking. If you're showing up to consume
> and not contribute, stay home. Many people don't like to speak in public,
> that's fine. No one is asking you to give a keynote address. An unconference
> is a place where like-minded people come to share and challenge one another.
> Try sitting in circles and think about the event as a live interactive
> environment, instead of just sitting there hoping the next speaker can
> entertain you.
>>     * You don't enact the law of two-feet. If you're not learning, get
> up, use your own two feet and go somewhere you can learn. Hallway
> conversations are great for this. If your unconference isn't littered with
> spaces for sudden collisions of conversation, it isn't much of an
> unconference.
>> 
>> Unconference are an amazing opportunity.
>> 
>> You would think that this Blog post should have been written and published
> five years ago. You would think that unconference are so passé. You would be
> wrong. After attending close to seventy events each and every year, the
> handful that stick out in my mind are the more intimate unconferences that I
> have taken an active part in. An unconference creates an egalitarian moment
> in time where people from all walks of life (and all levels within an
> organization) can simply share, learn, communicate and grow. To run a
> conference and call it an unconference is a disservice to the unconference
> movement. Many people don't understand this because an unconference looks
> and acts nothing like their traditional definition of a conference (hence
> the name of it ;). It saddens me to see how many people start with the right
> spirit of an unconference but quickly get stuck in all of the trappings of
> what they think will create a great event (and this - unfortunately - looks
> a lot like a traditional conference).
>> 
>> If you've never taken part in an unconference, I would encourage you to
> look into it... or better yet... start your own.
> 
> 
> --
> Kári Gunnarsson
> kari.gunnarsson at simnet.is
> gsm: +354 8645189
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