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<DIV><FONT face=Arial>Michael -- I am sure your sense (knowledge) of the history
is corrrect, and certainly better than mine. But I do know what happened at the
Googleplex -- and it was all Open Space.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>ho</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>ps We did not invent Open Space. It has been around for 14
billion years.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>ho</FONT></DIV>
<DIV>Harrison Owen<BR>7808 River Falls Dr.<BR>Potomac, MD
20854<BR>USA<BR>301-365-2093<BR>207-763-3261 (summer)<BR>website <A
href="http://www.openspaceworld.com">www.openspaceworld.com</A><BR>Personal
Website <A href="http://www.ho-image.com">www.ho-image.com</A><BR></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=michael@michaelherman.com
href="mailto:michael@michaelherman.com">Michael Herman</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A
title=OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
href="mailto:OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU">OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU</A>
</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Friday, August 25, 2006 5:47
PM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: Camps. Gatherings &
Un-conferences</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>there is a history to foo, harrison. of course. ted
and some others<BR>may know it better than i. as i recall somebody
decided to have a<BR>'camp' and invite a bunch of friends. i think that
he ran in pretty<BR>open, except the second year, he shaved the invite list
down a little,<BR>or somebody was accidentally left off... anyway that
somebody decided<BR>to have his own camp. Foo was, i think, Friends of
O___ and Bar Camp<BR>was the new rival. Foo and Bar have some history in
programming as<BR>some sort of default variables. anyway, as it turns
out, Bar<BR>organizer eventually got an invitation to Foo2 and attended
that. Bar<BR>camp went on without him, and continues. The other
techie "camps" are<BR>spinoffs from these. Many, if not most, have been
done in something<BR>like open space, but not quite exactly open space, if i
remember<BR>right. maybe Ted or Diana or others can correct where i've
got this<BR>tale twisted.<BR><BR>michael<BR><BR><BR><BR>On 8/25/06, Harrison
Owen <<A href="mailto:hhowen@adelphia.net">hhowen@adelphia.net</A>>
wrote:<BR>><BR>><BR>> I think the most recent new name for Open Space
is "Foo Camp" or at least<BR>> that is how the Editors of Nature titled the
gathering at the Googleplex for<BR>> the Bloggie set. If anybody is
interested in all that (Nature that is) go to<BR>> <A
href="http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v442/n7105/full/442848a.html">http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v442/n7105/full/442848a.html</A><BR>><BR>><BR>>
We have been called a lot of things -- but "Foo Camp"? Oh well, when you
do<BR>> something as weird as Open Space, I guess you can't complain about
the<BR>> Press. But I did feel some obligation to help the Editors out of
the<BR>> darkness of their ignorance. :-) Cheeky of me, I admit. See Below
--<BR>><BR>><BR>> To the Editors of Nature:<BR>><BR>><BR>> I
totally enjoyed your recent editorial, "Foo's Paradise, and salute
your<BR>> interest and effort in promoting greater participation. You and
your readers<BR>> may also be interested in knowing that mode of meeting
which happened at the<BR>> Googleplex, while perhaps new for that
community, is by no means new. And,<BR>> perhaps of greater importantance,
is easily repeatable and free for the<BR>> asking.<BR>><BR>> The
approach to meeting is known as Open Space Technology, which I<BR>>
originated some 20 years ago. Since then it has been used in excess of<BR>>
60,000 times in 120 countries around the world with groups ranging in
size<BR>> from 5 to over 2000. Users have included major global
corporations,<BR>> governments, NGOs, communities, and more recently the
"Techie Community."<BR>> What happened in Mountain View is the typical
experience: diverse people<BR>> energetically interact to produce exciting
and innovative solutions. This<BR>> seems to happen every time, and perhaps
more remarkably, it seems to happen<BR>> pretty much all by itself. There
is no pre-set agenda and little<BR>> facilitation. The people do it all
themselves.<BR>><BR>> Were one to ask how it could be possible that a
group of 200 (or 2000) could<BR>> move from a standing start to intense and
productive interaction with only,<BR>> as you say, a "brief introduction"
(typically 15 minutes or less), the only<BR>> reasonable explanation that I
have come up with is that the remarkable force<BR>> of self-organization is
the culprit. Assuming this to be correct, I and my<BR>> colleagues
worldwide have felt priviledged to have had front row seats in a<BR>>
marvelous 20 year natural experiment exploring the phenomenon of<BR>>
self-organization is human systems.<BR>><BR>> Should you wish to know
more, you might check out a brief paper I wrote some<BR>> years ago <A
href="http://openspaceworld.com/emergent_order.htm">http://openspaceworld.com/emergent_order.htm</A>
I<BR>> have also written a number of books in the area.<BR>><BR>> I
mentioned above that Open Space is "free for the asking." For a variety
of<BR>> reasons I never trademarked or copyrighted the approach, mostly I
think<BR>> because it is very simple and very effective and therefore
should be in the<BR>> public domain. In short, you can't buy it, but you
can use it. To get<BR>> started, you will probably find my book, "Open
Space Technology: A User's<BR>> Guide" (Berrett-Koehler) to be of
assistance.<BR>><BR>> Thanks again for a marvelous editorial and let me
know if I can be of any<BR>> assistance.<BR>><BR>><BR>>
Sincerely<BR>><BR>><BR>> Harrison
Owen<BR>><BR>><BR>><BR>> Harrison Owen<BR>> 7808 River Falls
Dr.<BR>> Potomac, MD 20854<BR>> USA<BR>> 301-365-2093<BR>>
207-763-3261 (summer)<BR>> website <A
href="http://www.openspaceworld.com">www.openspaceworld.com</A><BR>>
Personal Website <A
href="http://www.ho-image.com">www.ho-image.com</A><BR>><BR>><BR>>
----- Original Message -----<BR>> From: Diana Larsen<BR>> To: <A
href="mailto:OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU">OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU</A><BR>>
Sent: Friday, August 25, 2006 2:16 PM<BR>> Subject: Camps. Gatherings &
Un-conferences<BR>><BR>> Hi,<BR>><BR>> I've seen notices of
gatherings where people will come together under<BR>> an Open Space
self-organizing process called variously Camps,<BR>> Gatherings,
Conferences and Unconferences.<BR>><BR>> I'm intrigued. What other names
have folks given an Open Space<BR>> conference-type event besides Open
Space?<BR>><BR>> Curiously,<BR>> Diana<BR>><BR>> Diana
Larsen<BR>> co-author, _Agile Retrospectives: Making Good Teams Great_
(Pragmatic<BR>> Bookshelf, 2006)<BR>> <A
href="http://www.futureworksconsulting.com">www.futureworksconsulting.com</A><BR>>
503-288-3550<BR>><BR>> Upcoming: "Secrets of Agile Teamwork: Beyond
Technical Skills"<BR>> public workshop, Dec. 5-7, 2006. Contact me for more
information.<BR>><BR>> Need to unleash the potential for innovation in
your organization?<BR>> Check out the programs at:<BR>> <A
href="http://www.cxoforum.com/">http://www.cxoforum.com/</A><BR>><BR>>
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<BR><BR>Michael Herman<BR>Michael Herman Associates<BR>300 West North Ave
#1105<BR>Chicago IL 60610 USA<BR>Phone: 312-280-7838<BR><A
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