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Doug,<br>
<br>
By successful I would mean that I enjoyed myself! And that usually
happens when there's good information exchange. Where there are
ample "AHA" moments. Where people have fun. Where new friendships
and partnerships are forged. Where there's less posturing and
pronouncing and more learning.<br>
<br>
A not so secret secret of Open Space is that often happens outside
of sessions - but I like to think of them simply as butterfly
sessions... Just another kind of session.<br>
<br>
Arlo Belshee gave some advice about what works for him - which is
not to plan his sessions before hand, but instead to see and feel
where the energy is at in the room. It seems like a mix of
inspiration and presence. He didn't talk about his purpose or
intentions, nor did we ask. I don't think Arlo is aiming at high
attendance, but just what works. But he does gets good attendance.
Most people have a good time, and learn things. It helps that he's
really smart and respected, and is good at dialog and humor.<br>
<br>
Harold<br>
<br>
On 7/19/11 8:05 PM, doug wrote:
<blockquote cite="mid:1311127553.2804.279.camel@localhost"
type="cite">
<pre wrap="">Harold--
"How can I get better at convening successful sessions at OST
conferences?" That of course depends on what you intend by
"successful."
I do like your listing of what other people do to get folks to their
sessions, but I do not understand. Does Arlo use this method to get
people to attend, or simply to get the conversation started in his
breakout?
:- Doug.
On Mon, 2011-07-18 at 00:12 -0600, Harold Shinsato wrote:
</pre>
<blockquote type="cite">
<pre wrap="">Harrison and Suzanne,
Thanks for attending my session on how to improve individual session
facilitation!
I totally agree that the "whatever happens" helps deal with the
results of hosting a session, Suzanne. And I also completely agree
that the process of the Open Space itself should not be interfered
with. I'm not looking for an OST intervention!!! Wandering
facilitation trainers - ugh!
My wondering isn't about improving Open Space - it's about improving
myself - and maybe making that learning available to others also
interested in improving their own participation.
For myself, hosting an Open Space conference has been weirdly more
simple than getting people to come to my sessions! Part of it is that
there is so much help for how to host an Open Space. Lisa Heft's
training was indispensable for me. Attending other people's Open Space
events was also incredibly powerful. There's the manual, there's
OSList. And actually hosting and facilitating them was the biggest
training ground of them all. In a way, that's also true for convening
successful OST sessions. Practice. Do it. Learn from doing. Do it
again. What I sense is that there's a lot of the "learn from doing"
that we don't really have to be doing alone. That could be shared.
There's a wealth of experience to get to the learning faster!
Interestingly, the one particular challenge I had with getting the
Open Space to work was the same challenge I had with my sessions.
Getting people to come. It's nice saying "whatever happens" and
"whoever comes" but I think more guidance could be made available (but
again, not in the Open Space). One of the best advice I heard about
this is that it's just about inviting people into the circle and doing
it again and again. But again, I think more could be uncovered. One
thing I just had a sense for myself was to reach out to already
existing communities and participate. The way to reach out is
something I'm still learning. The book "Made to Stick" has helped with
the wording. But I can tell there's more to learn.
There's another bit of advice I received just yesterday from a fellow
software developer who is also an Open Space fan. Arlo Belshee was
attempting to answer the question of an author I respect greatly about
what would work best as a session. I had already said my piece which
reflected my awareness of the community and what topics were the most
interesting, and how that might intersect with his own interests. I
found Arlo's advice even better, and in a way it was related. Arlo
said he never plans his sessions in advance as to what he's going to
say. Instead he reads the room and hears what people are talking
about. And Arlo gets great attendance at his sessions at all the Open
Space events I've seen him at - which have been quite a few. In a way,
Arlo's advice sounded a lot like a Toyote Production Systems practice
(a lean manufacturing practice) called Genchi Genbutsu - "Go to the
source to find the facts to make correct decisions." It's about being
more present and see what's actually going on. Some people already
know and can surface what needs to surface at the right time. I seem
to need to work at it!
This all happened yesterday for me at Seattle Lean Camp, which was a
properly facilitated Open Space Technology conference. Jeremy
Lightsmith did a great job opening the space. Many people wondered
after the event why people are still paying thousands for traditional
conferences when so clearly we get better results for just $50 using
Open Space. It's a good question!
I got another powerful hint at what can help get people to come to
your sessions. At the Open Space evening news on Saturday for Lean
Camp Seattle, the facilitators asked what percentage of the attendees
had been to "Lean Coffee". It was over 50%! Their Lean Coffee was
described as the same thing as Open Space except in just a couple
hours. It's an open forum that happens about once a month at a cafe'
in Seattle to talk about lean management/software issues. Whoever
comes is the right people. They put their topics up on cards, like the
Open Space billboard, and then work their way through the topics in
vote priority order. It's not quite the same as an OST conference, but
multiple people claimed that their lean coffee events were basically
"the same" as OST. Jeremy Lightsmith and Jim Benson have succeeded in
creating a full blown Open Space conference and getting high
attendance by creating the feeling of Open Space in stammtisch style
in advance - creating community and credibility by taking the time to
initiate and invite again and again people into conversation.
There's a lot more to be said here but this is already way too long.
Perhaps it'd be better for me not to ask the question, just be happy
with the guidance that's already available, and be satisfied. I hope I
don't offend by continuing to ask the question and wondering - if
people don't like my question I'm probably going to continue to host
the session and attend just by myself. I seem to do that often! But
I'm going to keep asking: How can I get better at convening successful
sessions at OST conferences?
Regards,
Harold
</pre>
</blockquote>
</blockquote>
<br>
<br>
<div class="moz-signature">-- <br>
Harold Shinsato<br>
<a href="mailto:harold@shinsato.com">harold@shinsato.com</a><br>
<a href="http://shinsato.com">http://shinsato.com</a><br>
twitter: <a href="http://twitter.com/hajush">@hajush</a></div>
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