<br clear="all">Phew...."one less thing to do"! Never imagined how important those
words might be when I had the crazy idea not so long ago to humbly or
brashly throw hat in the ring to have Florida be considered to host the
next WOSonOS. <br><br><b><font>With a smile and a full heart I first want to say<font> to on<font>e and all</font></font>:
"Hey if you want to come and share some space, put your toes in the
sand, be with some folks who are doing some amazing things in their
community, with family and friends, at work, in the world and many other
places, we invite you to WOSonOS in Florida from May 16th to May 19th.
We haven't got it too planned yet but we're a bunch of us who are
pretty excited about it. We've got the place in mind (St. Petersburg,
Florida) and we're imagining wonderful conversations in Open Space with
great food, a bit of music and dancing in the evening and just a plain
good time sharing, learning, imagining, listening, carin<font>g, <font>pondering<font><font> and</font> connec<font>ting arou<font>nd our shared passion for Open Space <font>and Life."<br><br></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></b><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font>Our idea is to have it be <font>s<font>imple and easy<font> in a spirit<font> of whoever com<font>es comes. <font>There's lots of people we're planning to invite -- everyone on this OS list of course plus others <font>who exp<font>erienced Open Space and loved it, some who are using Open Space (our Tech<font>nology friends for example) <font>and then the diverse people who have heard of Open Space and <font>feel the pull to know more about it be<font>c<font>a<font>use they too believe in shared le<font>adership, self-organizing and h<font>igh perf<font>or<font>mance.</font></font></font></font></font> </font></font></font><br>
<br></font></font></font></font></font>Yes <font>in our "one less thing to do" plan<font>ning</font></font>, we'll <font>be doi<font>ng the basics as we would if we were inviting people to o<font>ur home<font> <font>wit<font>h </font>places<font> to sleep, food available, a room<font> (s) to meet<font><b>, </b><font>info about how to get there<b><font>, </font></b><font><font>options <font>an<font>d choices <font>for different budgets, etc. </font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font>When people arrive, we're hoping we <font>will all just <font>make our<font>selves at hom<font>e, <font>welcoming other<font>s and ea<font>ch other, letting our two feet take us where we want to <font>go. <br>
<br><b>So what we want to say is</b><font><b>:</b> "<font>We'd LOVE to hav<font>e you here. <font>Check your s<font>chedule, reserve the dates, start checking</font> the Tampa <font>or Orlando airport for <font>flights (no big rush, prices should remain cheap cause it's off-season)<font>, <font>G</font>oogle St. Petersb<font>urg to see how beautiful the <font>area is, and just pic<font>ture yoursel<font>f <font>enjoying the experience of wonderful new space openin<font>g up with people who are pass<font>ionate about so much, who are taking responsibility and ma<font>king a<font> diff<font>er<font>ence and who are all</font></font></font></font> prepared to be surprised at whatever emerges<font>. </font></font></font></font><br>
<br><font><b>NOW YOU CAN STOP READING FROM HERE IF YOU WANT</b><font><b>! </b>And if so, we will let you know the d<font>etails <font>so you can make your plans, pack your b<font>ags <font>and </font>throw<font> in some sun<font>screen, flip flops and bathing su<font>it<font>s<font>.</font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font> <br>
<br><font>*******************************************************<br></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font><br><font>W<font>h<font>at I <font>want to say next is that I have not hardly read all that has been written this past week a<font>bout WOSonOS, p<font>ast, present and <font>future</font></font>. After London, I ju<font>mped back into my life, enri<font>ched by my time there<font>.<font> A big part of me doe<font>s not want to r<font>ead it<font>, at least for now, </font>though I honor all who are <font>generously sharing, and con<font>t<font>ributing wis<font>dom and opinion<font>s. <font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><br>
</font></font></font> <br></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font><font size="4">So
in the spirit of "one less thing to do", for now what I want to simply
do is get the ball rolling, slowly, gently and lovingly with all those
folks who I had called, Skyped and emailed about 3 to 4 weeks ago, who
wanted to be part of this. If I rallied such a big group (30 or so as a
Global and Local team), it's because I pictured we would have the excuse
to do a few others things in the process of imagining who might want to
come that we'd like to invite to Florida. And those few others things
are about exploring how we can connect in different ways beyond our
wonderful OSlist using the many new technologies available to us that
may perhaps open up new spaces to share who we are and what we are doing
in ways where we can hear each other, see each other and feel each
other across the miles. Somewhere in between our OS list and the OSonOS
in different countries and the WOSonOS, perhaps we might be inventing
and enhancing in the virtual world new ways to connect more often<font size="4">.</font><br> </font></font><font size="4"><br></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font>I
hope you will all forgive me if I decide for now to trust that we are
planning into 2013 with the cellular knowledge of all those who have
come before us, starting with an empty wide open space where everything
is possible to be co-created for the next WOSonOS. Prior to stepping
forward, I did review the 32 page document pulled together by Lisa Heft,
our wonderful Access Queen, which contained the pearls of wisdom of
many WOSonOS past. Daunting I'll admit but somehow I felt as I do now
that having the joy and courage to host this with others will be more a
"pull from the future" than a "detailed review of the past". I just
want to jump into the "now" of it and delight in where it will take
us... picturing and trusting that many others will be jumping in along
the way. Whatever happens, happens!<br><br>To help on this journey of
"one less thing to do", I will be reading and recommending to others,
over the course of the next 6 to 7 months, a few books that a dear Open
Space friend recommended last week with the suggestion that it should be
savored. <br><ul><li>lao tzu: tao te ching "An English Version by Ursula K. Le Guin"</li><li>Do Nothing & Do Everything" An Illustrated New Taoism written and illustrated by Qiguang Zhao</li></ul><p>Who
knows what may emerge out of all of this empty co-creative planning
space! Perhaps a bit of silence and a soothing coming home to who we are
and all that is which we love that we call Open Space, which really
cannot be named cause it's just life. <br></p><p>In closing, breathing
in and breathing out, please know that if you don't hear back about
WOSonOS 2013 in the next little while, it's cause, we're getting the
train out of the station with a few things to do before we can invite
plus there is that nagging little thing called "earning my living" that
all falls into the mix.</p><p>With a whimsical smile, buckets of appreciation for all who are excited and want to help, and a happy heart going into this, I say THANK YOU!<br></p><p>Suzanne<br></p><br><br>-- <br>Suzanne Daigle<br>
NuFocus Strategic Group<br>7159 Victoria Circle<br>University Park, FL 34201<br>FL <a href="tel:941-359-8877" value="+19413598877" target="_blank">941-359-8877</a>; <br>CT <a href="tel:203-722-2009" value="+12037222009" target="_blank">203-722-2009</a><br>
<a href="http://www.nufocusgroup.com" target="_blank">www.nufocusgroup.com</a><br><a href="mailto:s.daigle@nufocusgroup.com" target="_blank">s.daigle@nufocusgroup.com</a><br>
twitter @suzannedaigle<br><br>