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hello all,
<p>chris corrigan and i have just finished a little project that we want
to share with you because, after all, it's yours.
<p>let me explain...
<p>in late 2001, i got a bit behind on list emails. then i managed
to catch up, all except for what seemed really juicy... all of that self-org
and spirit stuff. by the time i got 'round to that stuff, others
had already told me it was gold, and sure enough i didn't even make it
through the first message before i went cutting and pasting the contents
into a word document... which is a long way from my normal read-and-delete
sort of mode. did i say this was already 1:00am when i started reading?
<p>well, this stuff kept me gripped for most of the night and all the next
day. got to be such a puzzle, fitting so many threads back together
into one stream. in the end, i fired off an email to chris, with
80-some pages attached. back and forth, back and forth, again in
the middle of the night, he agrees to help check my sanity and prepare
this thing for presentation. and something just more than one week
and many messages later, we have the following to present to you.
the confluence of various forms of midnight madness... and the writing
of 37 ost practitioners from around the world. see below for the
list of names.
<p>we wrote a bit more of an explanation in a short introduction, minus
this gripping little tale, but the rest is all OSLIST... and like they
said, the stuff is gold, well yellow, for community, anyway... and seems
the perfect simple balance to the user's guide for running short training
sessions and browsing the night before openings. something to give
new recruits and anxious veterans a dose of the depth that is this practice
and this community and this learning list.
<p>all that said, the cover page is attached (manufactured and delivered
virus free from this macintosh pilot, i might add). and now the only
question is what to do with the rest...
<p>suffice it to say that we didn't find anything obviously incriminating
in what we've compiled and we are hoping that it's safe to assume that
whatever you do here in front of an audience of 300+ from all continents
is already pretty darned public. even so, if you find something here
attributed to you that *really* needs fixing (beyond minor typing and spelling
stuff that we figure just come with the email territory) then we'll be
glad to make it right and reissue. we didn't edit or add to any of
your postings, just cleaned up formatting, quoting, etc. and fit them all
together.
<p>so you have the cover and the authors list below as your invitation...
funny how everything is getting to be an invitation around here...
<p>...i think you can click this link: <a href="http://www.globalchicago.net/ost/nonguide5.pdf">http://www.globalchicago.net/ost/nonguide5.pdf</a>
to download the whole document... which should download in about 1 minute,
pdf format, totally virusproof and wonderful. if that doesn't work,
try this page <a href="http://www.globalchicago.net/ost/nonguide.html">http://www.globalchicago.net/ost/nonguide.html</a>.
<p>myself, i'm looking forward to traveling with you all in this new printable/packable
form... and if this starts a legal firestorm here, i'm gonna swear i found
the thing in a dumpster on 57th street.
<p>so turn on the printer and put on the tea...
<p>with many thanks to all, michael (and chris)
<br>
<p>p.s. chris and i considered a little oslist art contest as a way to
give this a little more color, but maybe we leave it as a simple invitation
to send along any (small) images that you think might fit in somewhere.
we'll paste them in as we're able, for a short while... and then it's over
and done.
<p>--
<p>Michael Herman
<br>300 West North Avenue #1105
<br>Chicago IL 60610
<br>312-280-7838 voice
<br>312-280-7837 fax
<p><a href="http://www.michaelherman.com">http://www.michaelherman.com</a>
<br>...an invitation.
<br>
<br>
<p><img SRC="cid:part1.3C4D3F96.FFE11E71@globalchicago.net" height=516 width=400>
<p>just for the record... the fine print above says: copyright 2002,
open space institute. not for sale. share freely, like good
tea, with friends and colleagues everywhere.
<br>
<br>
<br>
<p>Birgitt Williams, North Carolina, USA <a href="mailto:birgitt@mindspring.com">mailto:birgitt@mindspring.com</a>
<br>Harrison Owen, Maryland, USA <a href="mailto:owenhh@mindspring.com">mailto:owenhh@mindspring.com</a>
<br>Larry Peterson, Ontario, Canada <a href="mailto:larry@spiritedorg.com">mailto:larry@spiritedorg.com</a>
<br>Winston Kinch, Ontario, Canada <a href="mailto:kinch@sympatico.ca">mailto:kinch@sympatico.ca</a>
<br>Tim Sullivan, British Columbia, Canada <a href="mailto:Tim.Sullivan@gems5.gov.bc.ca">mailto:Tim.Sullivan@gems5.gov.bc.ca</a>
<br>Nino Novak, Germany <a href="mailto:nino.novak@tuebingen.netsurf.de">mailto:nino.novak@tuebingen.netsurf.de</a>
<br>Kenoli Oleari, California, USA <a href="mailto:kenoli@igc.org">mailto:kenoli@igc.org</a>
<br>Chris Corrigan, British Columbia, Canada <a href="mailto:chris@chriscorrigan.com">mailto:chris@chriscorrigan.com</a>
<br>J. Paul Everett, Washington, USA <a href="mailto:JPESeeker@aol.com">mailto:JPESeeker@aol.com</a>
<br>Joelle Lyons Everett, Washington, USA <a href="mailto:JLEShelton@aol.com">mailto:JLEShelton@aol.com</a>
<br>Jeff Aitken, California, USA <a href="mailto:ja@svn.net">mailto:ja@svn.net</a>
<br>Prasad Kaipa, California and India: <a href="mailto:PKaipa@aol.com">mailto:PKaipa@aol.com</a>
<br>Michael Herman, Chicago, USA <a href="mailto:mherman@globalchicago.net">mailto:mherman@globalchicago.net</a>
<br>Reinhard Kuchenmueller, Munich, Germany <a href="mailto:mail@visuelle-protokolle.de">mailto:mail@visuelle-protokolle.de</a>
<br>Jim Metcalf, Ontario, Canada <a href="mailto:stjohnlu@altelco.net">mailto:stjohnlu@altelco.net</a>
<br>Julie Smith, Alaska, USA <a href="mailto:jsmith@mosquitonet.com">mailto:jsmith@mosquitonet.com</a>
<br>Judi Richardson, Nova Scotia, Canada <a href="mailto:Richarjl@akerley.nscc.ns.ca">mailto:Richarjl@akerley.nscc.ns.ca</a>
<br>Glory Ressler, Ontario Canada <a href="mailto:on.the.edge@sympatico.ca">mailto:on.the.edge@sympatico.ca</a>
<br>John Engle, Haiti: <a href="mailto:englejohn@hotmail.com">mailto:englejohn@hotmail.com</a>
<br>Michael M Pannwitz, Berlin, Germany <a href="mailto:mmpanne@snafu.de">mailto:mmpanne@snafu.de</a>
<br>Ralph Copleman, New Jersey, USA <a href="mailto:ralph@earthdreams.net">mailto:ralph@earthdreams.net</a>
<br>Artur Silva, Portugal <a href="mailto:artsilva@mail.eunet.pt">mailto:artsilva@mail.eunet.pt</a>
<br>Fr Brian Bainbridge, Melbourne, Australia <a href="mailto:briansb@mira.net">mailto:briansb@mira.net</a>
<br>Florian Fisher, Berlin, Germany <a href="mailto:florianfischer@ff-wey.com">mailto:florianfischer@ff-wey.com</a>
<br>Meg Salter, Ontario, Canada <a href="mailto:meg.salter@sympatico.ca">mailto:meg.salter@sympatico.ca</a>
<br>Peggy Holman, Washington, USA <a href="mailto:peggy@opencirclecompany.com">mailto:peggy@opencirclecompany.com</a>
<br>Michael Molenaar, Tilburg, Holland <a href="mailto:michael.molenaar@WXS.NL">mailto:michael.molenaar@WXS.NL</a>
<br>Toni Petrinovich, Washington, USA <a href="mailto:sacred@anacortes.net">mailto:sacred@anacortes.net</a>
<br>Eric Lilius, Ontario Canada <a href="mailto:elilius@halhinet.on.ca">mailto:elilius@halhinet.on.ca</a>
<br>Eiwor Backelund, Sweden <a href="mailto:eiwor.backelund@centerpartiet.se">mailto:eiwor.backelund@centerpartiet.se</a>
<br>Chris Weaver, North Carolina, USA <a href="mailto:chris@springbranch.net">mailto:chris@springbranch.net</a>
<br>Denis Hitchens, Australia <a href="mailto:denisch@alphalink.com.au">mailto:denisch@alphalink.com.au</a>
<br>Tova Averbuch, Israel <a href="mailto:averbuch@post.tau.ac.il">mailto:averbuch@post.tau.ac.il</a>
<br>Ken West, California, USA <a href="mailto:zken@cwo.com">mailto:zken@cwo.com</a>
<br>Naomi Kahane, Quebec, Canada <a href="mailto:ns_kaha@alcor.concordia.ca">mailto:ns_kaha@alcor.concordia.ca</a>
<br>Bernhard Weber, Austria and Mozambique <a href="mailto:wb-trainconsult@gmx.net">mailto:wb-trainconsult@gmx.net</a>
<br>Robert Chaffe, Victoria, Australia <a href="mailto:Robert.Chaffe@nre.vic.gov.au">mailto:Robert.Chaffe@nre.vic.gov.au</a>
<br>
<p>okay, special bonus... i throw in a bit of the introduction:
<p>Introduction
<p>Like Open Space itself, this document was discovered, not created.
Indeed, this conversation has been around for a long time, online and elsewhere.
Its discovery and publication here is offered in support of the worldwide
conversation and practitioner community that is Open Space Technology.
<p>Paired with Harrison Owen's Open Space Technology, A User's Guide, it
seems to form a simple but powerful literary springboard for training workshops
and practitioner support groups. Unlike the Guide, however, this
Non-Guide doesn't tell you how to 'do' it. What you'll find here
are clues and support for the non-doing.
<p>In this way, it is an invitation to go deeper... to invite, to experiment,
to reflect and to invite again, deeper and deeper, organizing for yourself(ves)
as you go. As you'll see, it's all about the self-organizing spirit
that is manifesting everywhere in organizations that work, in open space.
And, yes, it's just a conversation, but how does it stir you?
<p>We describe Open Space Technology as the energy of a good coffee break,
the art of finding one more thing to NOT do, an invitation to maximize
learning and contribution, and a simple, powerful way to raise spirit and
catalyze self-organization. For more about OST, see the Appendix,
but for now, suffice it to say that our online practitioner conversations
have been -- and been about -- all of this, and more....
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