Congrats Catherine. A great story, good advice and best wishes for the follow up. AND give our love to Florian.<br><br>Chris<br><br><div><span class="gmail_quote">On 5/29/06, <b class="gmail_sendername">Catherine Pfaehler
</b> <<a href="mailto:c.pfaehler@bluewin.ch">c.pfaehler@bluewin.ch</a>> wrote:</span><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;"><div>
<div lang="DE-CH">
<div>
<p><span><font color="black" face="Arial" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt;" lang="EN-GB"><span>Dear all</span></span></font></span></p>
<p><span><font color="black" face="Arial" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt;" lang="EN-GB"> </span></font></span></p>
<p><span><font color="black" face="Arial" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt;" lang="EN-GB"><span>Martin Leith once rather desperately asked in
a European OT-conference: "How can I be myself and make money with it?" This
question has been with me ever since. It has a lot to do with the ongoing
strand on authenticity and self-discovery in Open Space.</span></span></font></span></p>
<p><span><font color="black" face="Arial" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt;" lang="EN-GB"> </span></font></span><span><font color="black"><span lang="EN-GB"></span></font></span></p>
<p><span><font color="black" face="Arial" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt;" lang="EN-GB"><span>In our recent Swiss Open Space event "happily
and healthily gay" in April, we used portrait sheets to facilitate
post-conference exchange. They included address, things I do especially well,
things I need support for, fields I would like to cooperate in with others,
important life questions and your favourite quote or book. I repeated this
question in my personal portrait sheet, under the topic of "important life
questions". I was the facilitator of the conference, and it was my first
OS-conference as a professional facilitator (even if I have lived with Open
Space since 1989, co-organized several European OT-conferences and participated
in more of them). </span></span></font></span></p>
<p><span><font color="black" face="Arial" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt;" lang="EN-GB"> </span></font></span><span><font color="black"><span lang="EN-GB"></span></font></span></p>
<p><span><font color="black" face="Arial" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt;" lang="EN-GB"><span>By the time the conference was over, I knew
the answer: In being a professional facilitator of Open Space conferences. I
truly loved it. Whoever I may be, I could be me, fully and lovingly! I am very
grateful to Lisa Heft for having asked, on this list, for a bilingual
facilitator who would work in Switzerland, and to Florian Fischer for having
passed on that mail to me and for having prepared the event with me.
Unfortunately, due to illness, he has had to resign two days before the event –
we were both very sad about this (but then, whatever happens…). Fortunately,
Wolfgang Fänderl from Munich jumped in for the German-speaking part – he was on
the team of assistants and has offered to do so. And thank you all who offered
advice for community building on the first evening – playing typical or happy
scenes of one's life as a gay man in groups of 10 proved to be a great
door-opener to a wide range of topics, also intimate ones (36 issues addressed
by a little over 100 participants, and 12 emerging ongoing projects).</span></span></font></span></p>
<p><span><font color="black" face="Arial" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt;" lang="EN-GB"> </span></font></span><span><font color="black"><span lang="EN-GB"></span></font></span></p>
<p><span><font color="black" face="Arial" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt;" lang="EN-GB"><span>Lots of learning involved, too: </span></span></font></span></p>
<p style="margin-left: 17.85pt; text-indent: -17.85pt;"><span><font color="black" face="Wingdings" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Wingdings;" lang="EN-GB">Ÿ<font face="Times New Roman" size="1"><span>
</span></font></span></font></span><span><font color="black"><span lang="EN-GB">Sleep enough. </span></font></span></p>
<p style="margin-left: 17.85pt; text-indent: -17.85pt;"><span><font color="black" face="Wingdings" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Wingdings;" lang="EN-GB">Ÿ<font face="Times New Roman" size="1"><span>
</span></font></span></font></span><span><font color="black"><span lang="EN-GB">Ask for enough
help. </span></font></span></p>
<p style="margin-left: 17.85pt; text-indent: -17.85pt;"><span><font color="black" face="Wingdings" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Wingdings;" lang="EN-GB">Ÿ<font face="Times New Roman" size="1"><span>
</span></font></span></font></span><span><font color="black"><span lang="EN-GB">Talk about office
work before with the sponsor, especially if the protocols are written on
laptops and need to be perfect for the documentation (the perfectionism
swallowed all the assistant capacities which I then didn't have to make changes
in the room...), even if he wants to do the office work in his way and without
your help. </span></font></span></p>
<p style="margin-left: 17.85pt; text-indent: -17.85pt;"><span><font color="black" face="Wingdings" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Wingdings;" lang="EN-GB">Ÿ<font face="Times New Roman" size="1"><span>
</span></font></span></font></span><span><font color="black"><span lang="EN-GB">Coordinate well
with the sponsor, also during the event, not only before, and even if he
doesn't want you in the office! </span></font></span></p>
<p style="margin-left: 17.85pt; text-indent: -17.85pt;"><span><font color="black" face="Wingdings" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Wingdings;" lang="EN-GB">Ÿ<font face="Times New Roman" size="1"><span>
</span></font></span></font></span><span><font color="black"><span lang="EN-GB">Bilingual events
need a translator who is not the responsible facilitator. To do both is
exhausting.</span></font></span></p>
<p style="margin-left: 17.85pt; text-indent: -17.85pt;"><span><font color="black" face="Wingdings" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Wingdings;" lang="EN-GB">Ÿ<font face="Times New Roman" size="1"><span>
</span></font></span></font></span><span><font color="black"><span lang="EN-GB">Clarify roles
before the event: of people who make the transition from having been members of
the preparation group to becoming "normal" participants (they had expected
certain outcomes, but they didn't put their related topics up on the wall
because they wanted the space to be truly open – but then, who will see to ith
that their burning issues get addressed?), and of people who make the
transition from assistant to co-facilitator and have not been part of the
preparation group.</span></font></span></p>
<p><span><font color="black" face="Arial" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt;" lang="EN-GB"> </span></font></span><span><font color="black"><span lang="EN-GB"></span></font></span></p>
<p><span><font color="black" face="Arial" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt;" lang="EN-GB"><span>Yes, to be repeated, definitely. On October
20 – 22, the same sponsor is having another OS for people living with AIDS to
find out about their needs, and I will facilitate again, this time with a
translator. It's "copy-paste", in the same place, partly with the same team. We
do welcome assistants who speak German and/or French!</span></span></font></span></p>
<p><span><font color="black" face="Arial" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt;" lang="EN-GB"> </span></font></span><span><font color="black"><span lang="EN-GB"></span></font></span></p>
<p><span><font color="black" face="Arial" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt;" lang="EN-GB"><span>Thank you all again for being such a
wonderful support and community! Love, Catherine</span></span></font></span></p>
<p><span><font color="black" face="Arial" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt;" lang="EN-GB"> </span></font></span><span><font color="black"><span lang="EN-GB"></span></font></span></p>
<p><font color="navy" face="Comic Sans MS"><span style="color: navy;" lang="EN-GB">Catherine Pfaehler Senn</span></font><font color="black" face="Comic Sans MS"><span style="color: black;" lang="EN-GB"></span></font></p>
<p><font color="navy" face="Comic Sans MS" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; color: navy;"><span>Open Space-Begleitung</span></span></font><font color="black" face="Comic Sans MS"><span style="color: black;"></span>
</font></p>
<p><font color="navy" face="Comic Sans MS" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; color: navy;"><span>Kellersriedweg 8</span></span></font><font color="black" face="Comic Sans MS"><span style="color: black;"></span></font>
</p>
<p><font color="navy" face="Comic Sans MS" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; color: navy;"><span>CH - 2503 Biel</span></span></font><font color="black" face="Comic Sans MS"><span style="color: black;"></span></font>
</p>
<p><font color="navy" face="Comic Sans MS" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; color: navy;"><span>T/F/B ++41 - (0)32 - 365 68 41</span></span></font><font color="black" face="Comic Sans MS"><span style="color: black;">
</span></font></p>
<p><font color="navy" face="Comic Sans MS" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; color: navy;"><span><a href="mailto:c.pfaehler@bluewin.ch" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)">c.pfaehler@bluewin.ch
</a></span></span></font><font color="black" face="Comic Sans MS"><span style="color: black;"></span></font></p>
<p><font color="black"><span style="color: black;"> </span></font><font color="black"><span style="color: black;"></span></font></p>
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</div></blockquote></div><br><br clear="all"><br>-- <br>CHRIS CORRIGAN<br>Consultation - Facilitation<br>Open Space Technology<br><br>Weblog: <a href="http://www.chriscorrigan.com/parkinglot">http://www.chriscorrigan.com/parkinglot
</a><br>Site: <a href="http://www.chriscorrigan.com">http://www.chriscorrigan.com</a><br>Open Space Resources: <a href="http://tinyurl.com/r94tj">http://tinyurl.com/r94tj</a>
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