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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Well, 2 weeks ago, I opened the space for 1.5 days
for a conference track on "Building a Pattern Language of Living Communication"
during a conference of Computer Professionals for Social
Repsonsibility.</FONT></DIV>
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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>The short version is that, as always, it
worked. The subject wasn't a draw for most conference
participants but for those who came, they were happily and fully
involved. The longer version is that I wouldn't call it a particularly
satisfying experience because I knew how much more it could have
been.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>For the participants, most of whom had never
experienced Open Space, they found the freedom to pursue their passions
liberating. The sponsor was pleased that the conversations he hoped for
actually took place.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>My own experience was that the energy was quite
dispersed. Because the food was in the room, people came in and out of the
space without engaging in the OS. The sponsor of the OS was also a
conference organizer so was in and out handling those responsibilities. He
told me how much he missed just staying in the OS and saw that a dedicated
conference could yield much more. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Would I do this again? I'd consider it
if the topic were one with passionate support from its sponsor and the
physical space lent itself to it.</FONT> </DIV>
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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>The good news is that the combining of the ends of
the OS and the conference as one closing circle worked just great. That
part was totally seamless.</FONT></DIV>
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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>All that said, the real learning of this Open Space
for me was around a completely different aspect. On the morning of the
second day, we'd just started morning announcements. I'd introduced the
talking stick as our way of moderating what needed to be said by anyone.
We were about 10 minutes into the gathering when a participant -- John
-- got up quietly and moved to a couch on the other side of the room.
Next, another person followed who interrupted us asking if there was an M.D. in
the room as John was having a heart attack. The circle stopped, many of us
got up to see how John was doing. Fortunately, we were able to get care to
him quickly and he was eventually taken to a hospital. He is doing
fine.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Back to the circle, after a few minutes, people
decided we should continue. Mind you, in the other part of the room,
medics were working on stabilizing John. The person with the talking stick
began speaking, making a connection between what we'd just experienced with
John and the pattern language work. It was powerful meaning
making. And then, he just kept talking. And talking. And
talking. I finally quietly walked across the room, took the stick and
thanked him. There was a look of relief in his eyes. I asked if
there was anything else that needed saying before we got on with the sessions
posted for the day. A young man took the stick and said that he didn't
really feel we knew each other very well and thought we should take a few
minutes, introduce ourselves, say something about the languages we spoke
(because, as pointed out by the recent thread on the role language plays on
defining how we experience the world, it matters) and what we do. I think
for the first time in the 8 years I've been opening spaces, I intervened.
I suggested that this would be a good topic to post but that to ask everyone to
do this would not be appropriate, that it would be holding the group
hostage. Some discussion ensued, and Max, the man who had
been stuck talking, supported the idea of
introductions. Eventually it was posted as a session (which
got very little attendance).</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I spoke quite a bit to the two involved in this
after the morning circle ended. Max spoke pointedly about who's
to say who has the right to determine what holding the group hostage
means? Wasn't my naming the suggestion as inappropriate as much a form of
holding hostage? After all, I was defining what the larger group would or
wouldn't do together. So, I continue to reflect on the appropriateness of
my stepping in as I did.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>As we continued to talk, Max said he had almost not
come to the conference because his dearest friend had just had a heart
attack. His meaning-making and getting stuck talking were no doubt his
form of emotionally acting out. I suspect the young man who wanted to hear
from each person was also seeking a heart connection in the midst of dealing
with the heart attack that had just occurred. Even my own intervening was
some form of protecting the heart. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>With very rare exceptions, I always start OSs these
days with some sort of invitation to either silently reflect or talk to the
person in the next seat about what makes the topic meaningful to
them (e.g., "reflect silently on a story that really made a difference"
during the jouralism that matters OS; or inviting each person to tell a story
about when they fell in love with flying during an aviation OS). In other
words, I always start with inviting a heart connection with the topic and/or the
others in the room. I didn't do that this time. I wonder if that
played into what happened that morning.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>So, there you have it. I went into the
conference thinking I'd learn about one aspect of OS and was I surprised as I
was presented with an entirely different one from which to learn!</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Peggy</FONT></DIV>
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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>_______________________________<BR>Peggy
Holman<BR>The Open Circle Company<BR>15347 SE 49th Place<BR>Bellevue, WA
98006<BR>425.746.6274<BR><A
href="http://www.opencirclecompany.com">www.opencirclecompany.com</A></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>