<html><div>At 09:13 AM 4/7/99 -0400, you wrote:</div>
<div>>I am about to facilitate a one-day Open Space for an
agriculture-focused</div>
<div>>rural community (county-wide). The weather is not
co-operating (Spring has</div>
<div>>come early!) and some people who have been invited have declined
but have</div>
<div>>sent long e-mails and faxes about "issues and
opportunities" they would have</div>
<div>>liked to raise.</div>
<div>*************************************</div>
<div>sounds to me like an opportunity for some virtual Open Space. If the
folks can send emails, they could certainly participate electronically.
You will still need somebody who cares enough to raise the issues, and
hold the space for those issues -- but the others might drop in
electronically. It's been done before. </div>
<br>
<div>But the issue of CARING is most important. Issues that don't have
some person who really cares behind them aren't worth a hell of a lot.
This is purely practical. Good ideas with no passion to back them up are
essentially useless. I can understand the sponsor's desire to be nice and
considerate. And indeed the issues raised may be most important --
but if they aren't most important to somebody -- nothing will happen. So
being "nice and considerate" doesn't really pay off. At the end
of the day the adage seems to be -- if you care, come. And if you don't
come you don't care -- enough. Of course, since Open Space is so
easy to do, there is no reason why it can't be opened again
soon.</div>
<br>
Harrison
<br>
<div align="center">
Harrison Owen <br>
7808 River Falls Drive <br>
Potomac, MD 20854 USA <br>
301-469-9269 (phone) <br>
301-983-9314 (fax) <br>
email owen@tmn.com<br>
Website
<a href="http://www.tmn.com/~owen" eudora="autourl">http://www.tmn.com/~owen</a><br>
Open Space Institute website<br>
<a href="http://www.tmn.com/openspace" eudora="autourl">http://www.tmn.com/openspace</a></html>