<html><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><div>Hi, Sandy - </div><div><br></div><div>I would say it is preferable to have part of the system in a room that lets them do their work efficiently (in Open Space) rather than all of the people in a room that does not support conversation and mixing around much. Besides - you want this to be a good rich example of Open Space - these clients are hesitant so you want to show them how it really looks / how it really can be.</div><div><br></div><div>Just be sure to work with the client on the wording (text) in the program. I have had conference clients say 'open space' in the program and people think that is an open space on the agenda in other words time to go shopping. Which of course they can. But then they tend to get upset when they hear that others have done productive work during that time and they did not know about it from the program information. You do not have to talk about process at all in the program text - most people care about content and relationship - so it is great do describe what people will be working on together - not too much about how. And name it something useful for people to understand what it is. Remember that 'open space' is our inside language.</div><div><br></div><div>I have done this sort of thing before - with a partial group. What I do NOT like to do is a parallel stream in a conference with people coming and going - very hard to breathe into that space and have a sense of any container.</div><div>Best if people come at the start and stay for the duration.</div><div><br></div><div>When I have done this before - the other conference-goers sometimes get upset because they later hear about all the fabulous conversations that happened in the other room and wonder why they did not get to do this fabulous thing. That can be very good for a conference client to see that people would like to do more of this sort of thing... ;o)</div><div><br></div><div><div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-size: medium; "><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-size: medium; "><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-size: medium; "><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-size: medium; "><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-size: medium; "><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-size: medium; "><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-size: medium; "><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div>They are very lucky to have you adding such richness to this conference...</div><div><br></div><div>Lisa</div><div><br></div><div>Lisa Heft</div><div>Consultant, Facilitator, Educator</div><div>Fellow, Columbia University Center for International Conflict Resolution</div><div>Opening Space</div><div><a href="mailto:lisaheft@openingspace.net">lisaheft@openingspace.net</a></div><div><br></div><div>The Open Space Learning Workshop / el Taller de Aprendizaje de Espacio Abierto</div><div> - October 9-11, 2012 - London, United Kingdom </div><div> (before the World Open Space on Open Space in London)</div><div> - December 12-14, 2012 - San Francisco, USA </div><div> - In English y en espaņol: 2013 dates and countries to be announced </div><div><br></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></span></div></span></div></span></div></span></div></span></div></span></div></span> </div><br><div><blockquote type="cite"><br><div class="gmail_quote">2012/5/25 Sandy Gee <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:wildbalance@gmail.com" target="_blank">wildbalance@gmail.com</a>></span><br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-right: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0.8ex; border-left-width: 1px; border-left-style: solid; border-left-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); padding-left: 1ex; position: static; z-index: auto; "> Dear colleagues,<div><b>Me & Request for Help:</b></div><div>I've informally been around OST for over a decade and facilitated a number of events. But this latest I've been asked to do is a challenge I'd appreciate your thoughts/comments on....</div> <div><br></div><div><b>The Challenge:</b></div><div>Its a one day psychotherapy conference with expected attendance of 100+ participants. But unfortunately the venue has already been booked and paid for and the only large enough space for all is an auditorium with fixed rows. The next largest room is a space that could hold a circle of a little over 50 (and no room for 2nd concentric circle). They already want most of the morning to be conventional presentations so the OST slot was to be for the afternoon (maybe with the marketplace the last slot before lunch).</div> <div>I'm thinking that a fixed row auditorium just won't work for OST.</div><div><br></div><div><b>My Idea:</b></div><div>So I'm wondering about having just <i>half the conference</i> do OST! (and the other half sign up in advance to pre-offered workshops) - I've no idea if this could work or if it would be too divisive. This group have always had a very conventional set up before, they're a fairly straight/conventional crowd and the organisers are anyway worried about introducing OST and how it'll go down.</div> <div>But maybe the more stuffy conventional ones could do the pre-scheduled (and big name) workshops (and sign up in advance). And we've got a 50 max space for OST participants.</div><div><br></div><div><b>Comments?</b></div> <div>Has anyone ever tried something like this? </div><div>What are your thoughts? </div><div>Do you think it could work?</div><div><br></div><div>I'd SO appreciate any input!</div><div>Thanks</div><span class="HOEnZb"><font color="#888888"><div> Sandy</div> </font></span></blockquote></div></blockquote></div><br></div></div></body></html>