[OSList] An invitation for future invitations to WOSONOS

Michael Herman via OSList oslist at lists.openspacetech.org
Tue Oct 13 12:19:15 PDT 2015


thank you for everything you are pulling together in this last message,
pernilla.

on this question of including people new and old to open space, i will add
a little of what i understand about the history of osonos.  it started out
as a place for practitioners to share stories and learnings.  i joined as a
newbie at osonos4, but only after i had read back through 4 years of online
postings.  so i knew the history pretty well by then.

osonos6 was the second osonos that harrison didn't host, and the first, i
believe, that he did not attend.  there was a training scheduled right
before or after that conference, which attracted newbies, some of whom it
decided that the low-cost conference was a better option than the higher
priced training.  this created some uncomfortable difficulties from
mismatched expectations.

when sheila isakson and i hosted the following year, i made sure to
describe the event as something like a "practitioner confernece" for
"learning but not training," to make it clear that you should know
something before you came, or expect to play catchup and be responsible for
your own learning.  i think we might see remnants of that in the
invitations from 7, 8, 9, 10 or so at openspaceworld.org/wp2/osonos.

as we started moving around the globe more, it seemed to be more important
to have a local practice group and "planning team" to make an invitation.
 over time, as lisa mentioned, osonos attendance has gotten to be more
locally or regionally based, even though many countries might still be
represented.  the first dozen or so were pretty simple affairs, i think,
and are certainly a worthy model for future hosts.

not sure what, if anything, is to be done with any of this, only that what
you're describing all seems very easy and possible.

hat tip to paul levy and his point that every osonos is osonos1!  brilliant
as ever.










--

Michael Herman
Michael Herman Associates
http://MichaelHerman.com
http://OpenSpaceWorld.org


On Tue, Oct 13, 2015 at 1:49 PM, Pernilla Luttropp via OSList <
oslist at lists.openspacetech.org> wrote:

> Hi all!
> Thanks all for your input, stories and further thinking out of my
> invitation for future invitations. It’s a rich conversation, it brings
> clarity and some new questions to me.
>
> To me it seems like naming The one and only (W)osonos might not be that
> important anymore, or at least not for a while. The possibility of having a
> multitude of gatherings all over the world and at different times seem to
> open up for more space, breathing and fun (and brings us back to core
> practice, as some of you pointed out).
>
> If that is the case (the future will tell) there would maybe be a few less
> things to do:
> - The invitation doesn’t have to come from a well prepared team or from an
> area with an Open space community (whatever that is). It could be a single
> person who wants to open up their place and welcome others to join.
> - No ‘voting’ at the end or the ceremony when the stick is handed over to
> the Selected Team. Instead we could find out ways to celebrate the
> multitude and richness of invitations, maybe to the tunes of “the more the
> merrier” or “we can’t get enough of complexity”.
>
> What stands out for me is Michael’s question on Who is osonos really for?
> Is it a gathering for people who are more or less familiar to Open Space? A
> place where we pass on knowledge and experiences, even traditions? Were we
> take the liberty to be somewhat exclusive and excluding for a while? I
> certainly have a need for those kind of meetings every now and then.
>
> I reckon the ambition with most (w)osonoses is to be open for newcomers as
> well. So how do we keep it new without burdening it with ‘traditions’? An
> event where the we try to avoid saying “we usually do…”. An event where the
> newcomers have the same opportunity to co-create the event as the
> ‘old-timers’. An event that is opening up for something new to happen that
> no one knew about before? Like Paul pointed out in a Hotline call – why do
> we put numbers on the (w)ononos’es at all, isn’t every event no 1?
>
> How do we make Open Space instead of doing it?
>
> And thanks Jan, for the link to ‘How to make a decision without making a
> decision’. I my view the only tool I have for this, as a facilitator and
> participant within an Open Space, is time - lots of time.  I usually only
> get one day for an Open Space and if it’s a tough decision and if the
> question doesn’t seem ‘ripe’ enough, I simply don’t invite for that
> process. I find it too painful.
> And that reminds me of what Chris said; this “teaches us a lot about our
> personal orientation to the practice of holding space. Also, it provides us
> with many opportunities to examine, reflect and develop the personal
> practice of opening space.”
>
> The show goes on!
>
> Pernilla
>
>
>
>
> Den 2015-10-11 19:46, skrev "Lisa Heft - via OSList" <
> oslist at lists.openspacetech.org>:
>
> Hello, Barbara - good to hear your voice.
>
> Just sharing what I have heard, regarding one aspect you mention - there
> have been conversations about a WOSonOS in a few locations in Africa, but
> those prospective hosts - at least the ones I have talked with - have felt
> that though we others want it to be there to share about OST, they
> themselves have not had a community of practice to host it, so they (these
> different people, from different countries, in the different years I have
> chatted with them) have preferred to build their community of OST
> facilitation learners and facilitators first, before hosting. Because when
> one hosts, the most people who attend are from the immediate region. And
> also because in these conversations there has usually just been one person
> in their region, so they did not have the capacity and sometimes not the
> interest to be an event host, as their energies were more about learning
> and facilitating things. That’s just the pattern I have seen - some of you
> others may have been involved in other conversations over the years.
>
> My own question: With your first #2 item below - do you mean have a
> session about the next WOSonOS live, at the WOSonOS itself? Because that is
> what Karolina did at this year’s WOSonOS. She posted and hosted a session
> on a day previous to the Closing Circle day at the conference, and made
> sure it was timed so I could be there to answer any Access Queen questions
> anyone might have. Other possible hosts chatted with me before that for
> their own private questions and conversations. Or maybe you mean something
> different than hosting a session up at the WOSonOS event itself - and it’s
> just going into my head in a different way. Thanks for clarifying for me.
>
> And personally, I agree with you - I love keeping the closing circle free
> for the group’s’ reflection about its WOSonOS conversations and learnings.
> Plus one more delicious thing: often in a WOSonOS, after Closing Circle
> ends, there is a really lovely moment when the current host passes the
> Talking Stick to the next-year’s host (or their representative if they are
> not physically at that WOSonOS). It is really celebratory, and a nice sense
> of closure-plus-connection/community across the years. So personally, I
> like that part, too.
>
> Barbara, I think the communities and organizations in Cyprus are lucky to
> have you...
>
> Lisa
>
> Lisa Heft, also known as Access Queen
>
>
> On Oct 11, 2015, at 10:11 AM, Barbara Kozok via OSList <
> oslist at lists.openspacetech.org> wrote:
>
>
>
>
> Dear Community,
>
>
>
>
> I was happy for the opportunity to talk about the hosting process for the
> WOSonOSes in Kraków.
>
>
>
>
> Pernilla gently reminded me to put my comments into this forum.
>
> I do it now.
>
>
>
>
>  When I read though your proposal, Pernilla
>
>  I really like the idea:
>
>
>
>    1. to post the ambition to host a WOSonOS on social media. We have to
>    find the right place, where everybody has an access.
>    2. to have a session about the next WOSonOS on a WOSonOS. Experience
>    could be shared, the Access Queen could be involved on the spot, and all
>    necessary/crucial questions could be discussed. The next host will get to
>    know the amount of work and the obstacles...
>
> I am wondering
>
>
>
>    1. how we might integrate the idea, that the WOSonOS should rotate
>    around the world. (Have we ever had an WOSonOS in Africa?) However - this
>    might happen - or not.
>    2.
>    3. and I am not quite sure how to combine the hosting-question with
>    the closing circle. I would like to keep the closing of a WOSonOS free for
>    closing of what has happend. The next WOSonOS is something to come in the
>    future. Therefore it belongs - for me - into the action phase before
>    closing the circle.
>    4. If we integrate the hosting-question of the next WOSonOS into our
>    agenda it becomes transparent. And if everybody wants to join this session,
>    we have to make space for it. :-o
>
> So far my thoughts.
>
>
> ***********************************************************
>
> WHO I am:
>
> Founding member of boscop, the Berlin Open Space Cooperative. After more
> than 20 years in SM and Big Enterprises out of which 7 years in Sweden I am
> living in Cyprus and work on a volontary basis with diffferent NGOs which
> want to make CY to a better place.
>
>
>  --
>
>
> \
>
> Dr. Barbara Kozok
>
>
>
>
>
> berlin open space cooperative eG
>
> POB 50257
>
> 3602 Limassol - Cyprus
>
>
>
>
>
> mobile: 00357 97 687876
>
> barbara.kozok at boscop.org
> http://www.boscop.org <http://www.boscop.org/>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
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