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<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=937595102-30062007><FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff size=2>Hi Esther</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=937595102-30062007><FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff size=2>I completely agree with you - people often spend days just
taking in information and not being able to process. The diversity of people
makes it perfect for OST. </FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=937595102-30062007><FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff size=2>Donna Clark, Rachel Assuncao and I are facilitating a full
post conference OST session following the National Health WOrk and Wellness
Conference in October in Toronto (<A
href="http://www.healthworkandwellness.com">www.healthworkandwellness.com</A>)
as an opportunity for delegates to make meaning of the many sessions they
attend in the two main conference days. the theme is Navigating the Chaos:
Creating Strategies for Leading a Mentally Healthy Workplace. We process
facilitated a half day workshop last October in Vancouver, and participants in
our session were extremely appreciative of the opportunity to actually interact
since even the lunch hours were filled with somebody talking at
you.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=937595102-30062007><FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff size=2>We proposed the OST to the organizers last year and they
accepted our abstract.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=937595102-30062007><FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=937595102-30062007><FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff size=2>The only time it has not worked well for me is having the
OST inserted in the midst of a conference as a concurrent session...in
competition with the Minister of Health making an announcement...so the law of
two feet was in play and the delegates all went to hear about what was next in
health care.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=937595102-30062007><FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=937595102-30062007><FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff size=2>So, I suggest a post conference format. Typically
participants say the OST is the best part of the
conference.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=937595102-30062007></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=937595102-30062007><FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff size=2>Go for it and good luck.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=937595102-30062007><FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff size=2>Michelle</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=937595102-30062007> </SPAN></DIV><BR>
<DIV class=OutlookMessageHeader lang=en-us dir=ltr align=left>
<HR tabIndex=-1>
<FONT face=Tahoma size=2><B>From:</B> OSLIST
[mailto:OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU] <B>On Behalf Of </B>Communications
Esther Matte<BR><B>Sent:</B> June 29, 2007 02:09 PM<BR><B>To:</B>
OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU<BR><B>Subject:</B> OS as post-conference
session<BR></FONT><BR></DIV>
<DIV></DIV>Hi everyone,<BR><BR>At the end of August, there will be, in Montreal,
a "Forum social québécois" - like the Social Forums that happened in Bresil and
around the world in the last few years, but with a focus on Quebec society. They
did their programming in a very open manner, people registering sessions they
wanted to hold. Too bad I didn't find out about this thing earlier, as I would
have proposed an OST format for the whole thing! <BR><BR>So, I'm playing with
the idea of proposing an OST session for the end of the event. My goal is to
have some of these people experience OST because I think it could be a very
useful tool for the participating organizations. What would be great is that if
any of them are then interested in exploring OST further, they could participate
to our OSONOS in French, in September.<BR><BR>I'm thinking of a 4-hour session,
with a theme like "What have we learned at this Forum and how will we use it?"
These events can be very stimulating and inspiring, leaving people full of
energy, ideas and good intentions. However, once back to the "real life", the
day-to-day stuff tends to overtake calendars and it's ofen very difficult to
follow-up on the original good intentions. So an OST post-conference session
could give people space, a time and a place, to focus on which learnings are
most important to them, discuss how they can use it, network and start planning
what they will do next. <BR><BR>However, I see a potential problem: there will
be lots of people coming from all kinds of sectors and backgrounds, some quite
formal, like unions, some quite informal, like citizens groups. And there are
many "tracks" to the Forum, like Human Rights, Environment, Public
Services, Work, Social Economy, etc. So there will really be no common basis, no
unique focus. <BR><BR>Maybe a theme like "<FONT size=2>what more do we want to
learn and share and teach and discover with each other before we all go our
separate ways‘ could work better. Or "what next", so that the people in one
"track" might decide, in their sessions, to come together to my OS session
to plan the next steps. <BR><BR>I have a feeling it's a good idea, but not sure
how to work it out. Any experiences, thoughts, warnings? I will greatly
appreciate any comment.<BR><BR>I still haven't approached anyone with my idea.
Just playing with it for now. I need to see this happening clearly in my head
first :-)<BR><BR>Thanks a million!</FONT> * *
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