I want to put in a vote of support for what Tree has written here. I attended both The Practice of Peace an another confernece on Whidbey, The Evolutionary Salon, largely due to some of the folks who were invited to attend. I knew in Open Space I could find time to connect with those I really wanted to meet and share ideas with many others besides. Certainly that was a draw. And the teams for both events published the names of all those who were registering as that unfolded, which was great, as there were "names" that meant more to me than some of the "stars."
<br><br>Doing that builds the relationships and the social networking that supports a great conference and more importantly sustains relationships afterwards.<br><br>Chris<br><br><div><span class="gmail_quote">On 6/29/06,
<b class="gmail_sendername">Tree Fitzpatrick</b> <<a href="mailto:therese.fitzpatrick@gmail.com">therese.fitzpatrick@gmail.com</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>Hi Diana.<br>
<br>
In November, 2003, a group of open spacers in Seattle convened a
"Practice of Peace". We seeded the field with what we termed
'invited guests'. Each of the invited guests was someone using
OST in a conflict resolution setting. Since we had invited them,
we paid for their travel expenses and all of them agreed to come
without further compensation. In our invitation, we listed the
invited guests with brief bios for them.<br>
<br>
It was clear to the organizers (including me) that seeding the field
with invited guests had a tremendous, very positive and very powerful
impact on the field we created at the event. Having those invited
guests conveyed to all who read out invitation that our intention,
which was 'to embrace chaos, conflict and confusion', was serious. It
is clear to me that the power we unleashed by seeding the field with
experts was very, very important to the success of the event. The
event itself was stunningly powerful.<br>
<br>
I realized, after doing this event, that it is perfectly easy to have
'traditional' conferences using open space. Imagine an annual
convention for an industry. It is traditional to seed the field
with keynotes, who have to set their topics a year or more in advance
of the event. Oftentimes, the invited speakers have moved on in
their work but they still have to show up and talk about the topic as
printed in the agenda for the conference. Instead of creating
keynotes and breakouts, with pre-determined topics, it is so simple to
invite a bunch of leading thinkers related to the theme of your event
and simply unleash them into open space with everyone else.<br>
<br>
Now some folks still need to be listed as a speaker, as a workshop
leader. Some folks like the traditional approach and some leaders
don't like the unfamiliar energy of being an equal among peers.
These people will not agree to be your invited guests, I predict.<br>
<br>
But there are some folks who are leaders in their field who yearn to go
to gatherings with colleagues, with like-minds, as peers. These
people will accept your invitation to be an invited guest. <br>
<br>
Some people are famous and they get used to being cushioned from the
masses at a conference. If someone has written a well-known book,
they might like being treated as special, they might crave the keynote
slot. But I think that even some of these people will enjoy being
a peer among peers.<br>
<br>
Keep in mind that all of your invited guests, Diana, will be fully free
to hold sessions, make speeches, lead workshops within the open
space. They will also be free to be a butterfly and hang
out. Or do whatever they want. This can be very attractive
to the invited guests.<br>
<br>
If you google 'practice of peace', Diana, and look at the website, I
think you can find the invitation we used. I have referenced it on this
list in the past but I mention it again for you since you asked about
invited guests today.<br></div><div><span class="sg">
<br>-- <br>Love rays,<br>Tree Fitzpatrick
*
*
==========================================================
<a href="mailto:OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)">OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU</a>
------------------------------
To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options,
view the archives of <a href="mailto:oslist@listserv.boisestate.edu" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)">oslist@listserv.boisestate.edu</a>:
<a href="http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)">http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html</a>
To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs:
<a href="http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)">http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist</a>
</span></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>
*
*
==========================================================
OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
------------------------------
To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options,
view the archives of oslist@listserv.boisestate.edu:
http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html
To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs:
http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist