I have done this on a number of occaisions, including offering seven OST sessions within a larger conference on early childhood development. I think that we offered them as Open Space sessions but with the theme highlighted in the conference program and a small description about the format listed in the conference program as well At that conference we gained a couple of OST junkies who came to all seven sessions regardless of what they were about just because they loved the format.
<br><br>The only issue with doing this is making sure there is enough time and that the room is set up right. It tends to be outside of the orbit of most conference organizers to imagine a breakout session that requires only a circle of chairs and a wall. So make it easy on them and let them know what you need. If you have less than 2 hours, my experience is that it is better to sacrifice a closing circle than it is to cut the discussion session short. If you are running up against a break in the conference proceedings, you might get away with a one word check out, but I have found that most conference goers will want to get out of the room right after the session is over to get back to their networking. Despite Open Space offerings, the best part about traditional conferences is still the coffee breaks!
<br><br>Chris<br><br><div><span class="gmail_quote">On 3/27/07, <b class="gmail_sendername">Larry Peterson</b> <<a href="mailto:larry@spiritedorg.com">larry@spiritedorg.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 link="blue" vlink="purple" lang="EN-US">
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<p><font color="navy" face="Arial" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; color: navy;" lang="EN-CA">Depends what you
mean by "short".<span> </span>I most
recently led an OS event in a 3.5 hour session as part of a housing
conference.<span> </span>A client organization
had used it and suggested that folks try it.<span> </span>It was not OS for the sake of
experiencing OS.<span> </span>I worked with the
conference planning committee to identify a key theme for the organization that
would draw participants – this one was dealing with NIMBY.<span> </span>It was position in the conference
materials in relation to the content and OST was mentioned as the approach –the
conference description was an "initiation" and it was describe that
way in plenary.<span> </span>It went well and
those who came and played loved the conversations and the OST.</span></font></p>
<p><font color="navy" face="Arial" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; color: navy;" lang="EN-CA"> </span></font></p>
<p><font color="navy" face="Arial" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; color: navy;" lang="EN-CA">Larry</span></font></p>
<p><font color="navy" face="Arial" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; color: navy;" lang="EN-CA"> </span></font></p>
<p><font color="navy" face="Comic Sans MS" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; color: navy;">Larry Peterson</span></font><font color="navy" face="Comic Sans MS" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; color: navy;"></span>
</font></p>
<p><font color="navy" face="Comic Sans MS" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; color: navy;">Associates in Transformation</span></font></p>
<p><font color="navy" face="Comic Sans MS" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; color: navy;">Toronto, ON, Canada</span></font></p>
<p><font color="navy" face="Comic Sans MS" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; color: navy;"><span onmouseup="SetCallButtonPressed(this, 0,0)" onmousedown="SetCallButtonPressed(this, 1,0)" onmouseover="SetCallButton(this, 1,0);skype_active=CheckCallButton(this);" onmouseout="SetCallButton(this, 0,0);HideSkypeMenu();" class="skype_tb_injection" id="__skype_highlight_id">
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</span></font></p>
<p><font color="navy" face="Arial" size="2"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: navy;"> </span></font></p>
<p><font color="navy" face="Arial" size="2"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: navy;"><a href="mailto:larry@spiritedorg.com" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)"><font size="2">
<span style="font-size: 10pt;">larry@spiritedorg.com</span></font></a></span></font><font color="navy" face="Arial" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; color: navy;"> </span></font></p>
<p><font color="navy" face="Arial" size="2"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: navy;"><a href="http://www.spiritedorg.com" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)"><font size="2">
<span style="font-size: 10pt;">www.spiritedorg.com</span></font></a></span></font><font color="navy" face="Arial" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; color: navy;"> </span></font></p>
<p><font face="Arial" size="2"><span style="font-size: 11pt;" lang="EN-CA"> </span></font></p>
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</span></div></blockquote></div><br><br clear="all"><br>-- <br>CHRIS CORRIGAN<br>Facilitation - Training<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><br>Principal, Harvest Moon Consultants, Ltd.<br><a href="http://www.harvestmoonconsultants.com">http://www.harvestmoonconsultants.com
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