<b style="font-family:Times;font-size:medium;font-weight:normal"><p dir="ltr" style="text-align:left;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt">Greetings!<br><br></p><p dir="ltr" style="text-align:left;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt">

I am an Art of Hosting practitioners at the University of Minnesota and I am currently designing a large half-day Open Space event. The University of Minnesota's main campus is in Minneapolis-St.Paul and we have 4 other campuses in our system throughout the state. For this event, there is a desire to have our campus in Duluth, MN host an OS at the same time and connect with our participants in the Twin Cities. We expect to have 50-75 people in Duluth and 600+ in the Twin Cities. I think we can make it happen technically, but I could use some advice about the design to determine what is reasonable for interaction between the two locations.</p>

<p dir="ltr" style="text-align:left;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><br></p><p dir="ltr" style="text-align:left;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt">Does anyone have experience running simultaneous Open Spaces? Any best practices or tips?</p>

<p dir="ltr" style="text-align:left;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><br></p><p dir="ltr" style="text-align:left;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt">Thanks! More of the context and tentitive plan is below.</p><p dir="ltr" style="text-align:left;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt">

<br></p><p dir="ltr" style="text-align:left;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt">- Jen Mein</p><p dir="ltr" style="text-align:left;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><br></p><p dir="ltr" style="text-align:left;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt">

<br></p><p dir="ltr" style="text-align:center;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt">
<span style="font-size:16px;font-family:Georgia;color:rgb(102,102,102);font-style:italic;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Bringing together members of the University of Minnesota Information Technology Community to connect and engage in the building of a “we” culture.</span><span style="font-size:32px;font-family:Georgia;color:rgb(102,102,102);font-style:italic;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"></span></p>


<span style="font-size:13px;font-family:Arial;font-weight:bold;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Goals:</span><br><ol style="margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><li dir="ltr" style="list-style-type:decimal;font-size:13px;font-family:Arial;vertical-align:baseline">


<span style="vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Kick off the “we” culture. (i.e., help move the IT community past an “us/them” and into a “we”)</span></li><li dir="ltr" style="list-style-type:decimal;font-size:13px;font-family:Arial;vertical-align:baseline">


<span style="vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Provide an opportunity for people across the University system to connect with others with shared interests.</span></li><li dir="ltr" style="list-style-type:decimal;font-size:13px;font-family:Arial;vertical-align:baseline">


<span style="vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Create an environment that is fun and informal and celebrates community.</span></li></ol><span style="font-size:13px;font-family:Arial;font-weight:bold;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"></span><br>

</b><b style="font-family:Times;font-size:medium;font-weight:normal"><span style="font-size:13px;font-family:Arial;font-weight:bold;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Proposed Flow:</span></b><b style="font-family:Times;font-size:medium;font-weight:normal"><br>


<span style="font-size:13px;font-family:Arial;font-style:italic;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Time</span><span style="font-size:13px;font-family:Arial;font-weight:bold;font-style:italic;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"><span style="white-space:pre-wrap">       </span>       </span><span style="font-size:13px;font-family:Arial;font-style:italic;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"> Minutes<span style="white-space:pre-wrap">      </span><span style="white-space:pre-wrap">        </span>Topic</span><br>


<span style="font-size:13px;font-family:Arial;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">12:30<span style="white-space:pre-wrap">    </span>30<span style="white-space:pre-wrap">      </span><span style="white-space:pre-wrap">        </span>Appetizers, Meet & Greet</span><br>


<span style="font-size:13px;font-family:Arial;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">1:00<span style="white-space:pre-wrap">     </span><span style="white-space:pre-wrap">        </span>45<span style="white-space:pre-wrap">      </span><span style="white-space:pre-wrap">        </span>Opening - Creating the agenda</span><br>


<span style="font-size:13px;font-family:Arial;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">1:45<span style="white-space:pre-wrap">     </span><span style="white-space:pre-wrap">        </span>55<span style="white-space:pre-wrap">      </span><span style="white-space:pre-wrap">        </span>Self-Organized Discussions - Round 1</span><br>


<span style="font-size:13px;font-family:Arial;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">2:40<span style="white-space:pre-wrap">     </span><span style="white-space:pre-wrap">        </span>45<span style="white-space:pre-wrap">      </span><span style="white-space:pre-wrap">        </span>Self-Organized Discussions - Round 2</span><br>


<span style="font-size:13px;font-family:Arial;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">3:25<span style="white-space:pre-wrap">     </span><span style="white-space:pre-wrap">        </span>10<span style="white-space:pre-wrap">      </span><span style="white-space:pre-wrap">        </span>Walkabout - Read discussion notes posted on flip charts</span><br>


<span style="font-size:13px;font-family:Arial;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">3:35<span style="white-space:pre-wrap">     </span><span style="white-space:pre-wrap">        </span>10<span style="white-space:pre-wrap">      </span><span style="white-space:pre-wrap">        </span>Feedback in large group</span><br>


<span style="font-size:13px;font-family:Arial;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">3:45<span style="white-space:pre-wrap">     </span><span style="white-space:pre-wrap">        </span>15<span style="white-space:pre-wrap">      </span><span style="white-space:pre-wrap">        </span>Announcements and official thanks</span><br>


<span style="font-size:13px;font-family:Arial;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">4:00<span style="white-space:pre-wrap">     </span><span style="white-space:pre-wrap">        </span> --<span style="white-space:pre-wrap">     </span><span style="white-space:pre-wrap">        </span>End of Session</span><br>


<span style="font-size:13px;font-family:Arial;font-weight:bold;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"></span><br><span style="font-size:13px;font-family:Arial;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">With 400-600 participants; we would likely have </span><span style="font-size:13px;font-family:Arial;font-weight:bold;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">50-60</span><span style="font-size:13px;font-family:Arial;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"> discussions happening over the two rounds. Thus, we will need to identify 25-30 breakout spaces within and around the large group meeting spaces.<br>


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