[OSList] The art of invitation video_two small tips_ideas you found along the way?

[Chris Corrigan]

In the work we did around that course, we came up with a simple acronym to describe the work of invitation:

VALUE

Here’s a bit about that:

Invitation is a  VERB: If you are inviting people to a gathering using a single static email or a poster, you aren’t doing enough, in my experience. Invitation requires you to be active, in relation and dialogue. The interaction between inviter and invitee creates a connection and a commitment and kicks off the design. My friend Christie Diamond one time remarked “The conversation begins long before the meeting starts…” and that captures perfectly the idea of an active invitation.
Invitations are made from  ATTRACTORS AND BOUNDARIES: It’s obvious that an invitation should have a purpose at its centre, but it should also include a statement of the boundaries of the container you are inviting people into. This could be a clear sense of what we are NOT doing, or it could be a cost associated with coming (time, money, attention, commitment). Peter Block says a good invitation contains a barrier to overcome to assure that the person reading it will respond with an authentic yes or an authentic no to what is on offer. Attractors and boundaries together help to define the container inside which the work will unfold.
Invitation is  LEADERSHIP: When you invite people to something you are taking an active leadership role. You will confront all kinds of emotional states in yourself, ranging from excitement to anxiety. You are taking a stand for something, especially if you are inviting people to something new and there may be times when you are the only one with a strong sense of possibility about the work. Good invitation requires people to practice good leadership.
Invitations respond to an  URGENT need: in chaordic design, we go to need first, to understand why something is necessary and to be able to reach people who also feel the need. The more an invitation can respond to the zeitgeist of the moment, the more energy and focus people will have coming into your container or your process.
Finally, invitations are  EMBODIED: You cannot just send a text, or invite somebody to something while signalling your distinct lack of invitation with your body and behaviour. Recently, there has become a trend among American high school students to do fantastic invitations to prom dances. Like bower birds, young American men are going completely over the top to wow their dates. ou can say what you want about it, but there is no doubting the fully embodied commitment to invitation expressed by this guy <http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/love-sex/ohio-teenage-boy-runs-spells-out-prom-invitation-twitter-a7627536.html>. 

And here is the blog post where you can source that: http://www.chriscorrigan.com/parkinglot/the-value-of-invitation/ <http://www.chriscorrigan.com/parkinglot/the-value-of-invitation/>

Cheers,

Chris

> On Apr 25, 2018, at 12:08 AM, Eleder_BuM via OSList <oslist at lists.openspacetech.org> wrote:
> 
> Hi friend, how are you?
> 
> Sage words about invitation on this 2´ video ("The art of invitation <https://vimeo.com/208233347>"). You probably already know them. It´s good to remember, anyway.
> 
> "...A good invitation stands from a real need...
> ...The conversation starts long before the meeting starts....
> ...Invitation itself is an action...
> ...Invitation as an action and a personal practice."
> 
> (I realize that I lately facilitate less OS events and I spend more time embodying OS/life, and invitation as a personal practice. Happy with this.)
> 
> How much I have got, with time, to enjoy the invitation process! Specially when I´m (partially) a promoter of an Open Space, which happens to happen to me more and more (facilitating less OS events, facilitating/acompanying more processes in which I really feel the need and suitability of opening space).
> 
> You know this feeling? Previous weeks and days to an OS event when "people-that -"should"- know-about-this-gathering" constantly pops into your head, you write names down, you are inspired with new ways of inviting,...
> 
> * A very simple one I would like to share: if you have designed some kind of poster  to fix on walls, print and have all the time on you some pocket copies (DIN A6 or so) of the poster all the time, and go out much to places you know and places you are a bit of an stranger. 
> 
> Now and again, you´ll happen to meet people to whom the issue is interesting, and on the chat. you can hand them out a pocket copy (they´ll remember it better, they can hand the paper out again,...).
> 
> * Another one, about posters we sometimes post on walls. Instead of taking all the job of fixing them all or paying for someone would do it with no much passion, take a good amount of them and 2-3 friends to wander around your big town/city/regional capital,... fix some of them on the good places, and, as you walk from place to place, you´ll sure happen to meet friends or people you know,...distribute some postersand ask them to place them on their areas/towns/workplaces,... all this in a playful way that comes naturally (remember, you yourself are eager for the event, really energized,...;-)
> 
> You take less work, you start the invitation, people may feel empowered, you get to know new people and start surpriseful encounters... really funny!
> 
> Would you like to share tips for the invitation process, the small ones you discovered along the way?
> 
> Enjoy this beautiful day,
> 
> Eleder
> Mundaka-BasqueLand
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