STORIES, the Newsletter of the Open Space Institute (US)

Issue 5,  March 2002

 

Purpose of the Newsletter

The purpose of the newsletter is to make our stories available to each other so that we continue to learn and grow.  We hope they will serve you for education, examples, connection and pleasure.

 

This newsletter is intended for the use of friends and members of the Open Space Institute (US).  It may be reproduced in any useful way with acknowledgement.  When copying, please include the author/contact/ publication at the end of each story.

 

In This Issue:

 

1--Notes from the Editor

2--Open Space Technology for Peace and Prosperity

3--Journalism that Matters

4--Spirited Work at Whidbey Institute

5--Strategic Planning in Open Space

6--Trust the People

7--Using New Technology for Convergence

8--Update on Open Space in Organizations

9--Coming Events

 

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NOTES FROM THE EDITOR

Joelle Lyons Everett, USA

 

Spring arrived on March 20 in Washington State with a storm that swirled snowflakes through the air most of the day and night, left nine inches of new snow on the ground in some urban areas, and closed mountain passes with avalanches.   Not quite what we expected!

 

“Be prepared to be surprised” has been a useful mantra in the past year, as world events have often swirled out of our control.  In calling for stories for this issue, I asked the questions,  Is the world changing? 

Am I?”  I think you’ll enjoy reading the many responses from your colleagues, stories of OST working toward peace in India and conscious journalism in the US, an exciting learning community, space opened for strategic planning with some surprising outcomes, testing new technology for convergence and, especially heartening, OST becoming business-as-usual!

 

May our eyes be open to the springtime around us, may our hearts have enough open space for what life brings.

 

Joelle Everett   jleshelton@aol.com 

 

 

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OPEN SPACE TECHNOLOGY FOR PEACE AND PROSPERITY

Arun Wakhlu, Pragati Foundation, Pune, India

 

At the outset, I would like to express my deep gratitude to Harrison Owen

for bringing  the beautiful process of Opening  Space to so many of us.

Also, I am personally indebted to Anne Stadler for being my Initiator, Guru, Mentor and Fellow traveller on the beautiful journey.  I am also grateful to Fr. Brian Bainbridge, Anil Sachdev, Dinesh Chandra, Peggy Holman and many beloved friends who are working as instruments of love and light on Earth.

 

This brief note describes the use of Open Space Technology for two related conferences held at Asia Plateau, Panchgani (120 KMs from Pune in Western India) in August 2001 and February 2002.  Both these conferences addressed the issue of people working together to make a difference towards restoring Peace and Prosperity in areas, which have seen a lot of violence and explosive conflict. Both conferences were between people harbouring a lot of mistrust.

 

The two conferences were:

 

1.      Indo - Pakistan People to People Dialogue for Peace and Prosperity,

8th - 11th August 2001, 54 participants.

 

A growing mass of well-meaning people, in India and Pakistan, believe that the time has come to positively & consciously bring about a shift in mind-sets, which alone can lead to outer changes and long-term friendship between the two countries.

 

A group of such people, led by the Pragati Foundation in Pune, India, and

the Foundation for Human and Economic Development, USA, had a very inspiring  and energizing Indo-Pak dialogue at Panchgani in the summer of 2001 (8th -11th August 2001 ). It was probably for the first time since 1947, that Pakistanis and Indians, including Kashmiris, sat together at one table, in a spirit of Friendship, Amity and Dialogue and came up with a shared understanding of what we need to do, to bring about permanent Peace.

 

One of the resolutions adopted at Panchgani was that another dialogue should be held, in which the people of undivided J & K could share their authentic heritage and voice their true collective aspirations. It was agreed that the true voice of the people of J & K needs to be heard and their deepest aspirations need to guide actions on the future of the state.

 

The next conference was aimed at the above objective.

 

2.  All J&K People to People Dialogue for Peace and Prosperity,

12th - 15th February 2002, 62 participants.

 

This dialogue was aimed at bringing together seriously committed people, from the whole of Jammu and Kashmir state, in a very inspiring setting. We sought the guidance of Love in silence, besides dialoguing, to come up with practical solutions and proposals for lasting Peace and Prosperity for the people of J & K as a whole.

 

In this dialogue, the purpose was to get together, listen to each other and

re-connect back with the rich and glorious Spiritual, Aesthetic,

Intellectual and Universal heritage (including Kashmiriyat) of J&K. one that has a tremendous relevance in today's times. We intended to work together for Peace and Prosperity for all, inspired by the Universal Spirit, which has guided us all through the ages. This dialogue and reconnection, gave the participants a chance to reconnect with the Underlying Values that forge the Kashmiri Spirit, and realize how deeply they draw from the Human Principles of Love, Brotherhood and the Universal Oneness of all humankind. It was also felt that a solution to the problem of poor Indo-Pak relations, and to the Kashmir issue, can be found within these values.

 

Both conferences were very successful.  Open Space Technology was used in both cases. Here's why I think OST helped so much:

 

1.      One of the needs in the Indian Sub Continent, and Jammu & Kashmir in particular is for people to take responsibility for co-creating a future, which is deeply desired by all. Open Space Technology (OST) gave people an experiential feel of the process of co-creation.  It was a direct way of experiencing the power of Freedom / Responsibility.

 

2.      The process of opening space opened peoples' hearts.  In situations of conflict and misunderstanding this is most important for building trust and courage.  In both the conferences participants commented on how the open, loving atmosphere created in the conference was helpful in healing and re-conciliation.

 

3.      The process of OST and the focus on listening to each other with respect, and honouring all voices gave many an opportunity to voice their feelings freely.  For many people who had never found such a forum, this brought immense relief and deep satisfaction. It was also an affirmation of the basic human right of free expression. It also was an eye opener for people to hear about others problems.

 

4.      There were many moments when people paused in silence to listen to Heart / Spirit / Inner guidance.  This brought in a sacred dimension in the proceeding.  Since silence is neither Hindu nor Muslim nor Buddhist, it was whole-heartedly accepted by all. In an atmosphere charged with religious mistrust, it gave people a feel of the Peace that transcends religion.

 

5.      In both the conferences, there was a lot of sharing of the practical house work at the conference centre (Dish washing, serving food, cleaning up, laying the tables etc).  When you do such things with "the enemy", one strongly realize the basic commonality of life and human needs.  This was a powerful means of connecting us back to our intrinsic humanness.

 

6.      Because of the unbounded field of human expression that OST provides for, many creative expressions like skits, songs, dances, celebrations, humour and meditation emerged.  These helped to bring people into the space of feelings / heart and thereby helped integration.  This was further helped by the cultural programmes that were part of both conferences in the evenings.

 

7.      The beauty of the physical environment (Asia Plateau, Panchagani,

Western India), and the proximity to a lush green forest, and the view of mountains, a lake and open sky, connected people to the elements. This further created a sense of wholeness and integration.

 

8.      The Law of Two Feet, paying attention, being present, and showing up all brought people into integrity. This is the same as reconnection with

spirit.  Ultimately, it is spirit that heals, reunites, inspires and gives

faith and courage for creative action.

 

9.      Many initiatives have rippled out of these two conferences.

With further conversations and invitations, the ripples of loving action and responsibility will reach out still further.

 

Arun Wakhlu   pragatifoundation@vsnl.net 

for STORIES, Newsletter of the Open Space Institute (US)

usa@openspaceworld.org 

For more details about these conferences, visit www.pragatifoundation.org

 

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JOURNALISM THAT MATTERS

Peggy Holman and Stephen Silha, USA

 

PRE-SET:  September 21, 10 days after the tragedy of September 11, we are on the phone with the president of the Associated Press Managing Editors (APME), a North American association of newspaper editors.  After talking with many people he has made the decision to proceed with the APME annual conference in 3 weeks.  What tipped the balance in this difficult decision?  A new concept: whoever comes is the right people.  The entire agenda is recast in these three weeks, including the theme of the Newsroom Summit and Open Space scheduled to end the conference.  9/11 sharpened our focus, had us asking what was really important?  Our theme changed from "Saving Journalism" to "Journalism that Matters." 

 

THE CONFERENCE SCENE:  In addition to the horrors of September 11, the anthrax scare is now in the air.  Newspaper editors from all over North America are here.  As outsiders, we watched, fascinated by the roller coaster ride these folks are experiencing.  They are covering a deeply horrific story, one in which many are directly affected.  At the same time, they are celebrating.  Circulation, which has been dropping for the last twenty years, is skyrocketing.  Stories of teenagers reading newspapers - unheard of - are rampant.  There is a feeling that what they do is an important public service and that they are rising to the occasion: newsrooms and business offices, traditionally at odds, come together making decisions based on what's best for informing the public.  Unselfish acts abound.  For example, the AP makes its photo service, normally cost prohibitive for smaller papers, available for whoever wishes access.  The participants are caught in an emotional tidal wave, buffeted by grief, loss, and disbelief, exhilarated by increased circulation and readership.  The question on every mind: how do we keep this new audience?

 

THE SUMMIT:  It is the last event of the conference.  We open Friday evening with the format that was the norm for every session.  There is a panel of experts discussing journalism that matters.  In 45 minutes, we invite everyone next door, into a room with low lighting, soft music, and small round tables set for groups of four.  We invite them into a World Café conversation.  This is the first time that people are invited to do something other than listen to experts.  The good news: they have a great time (no surprises here).  The bad news (from our colleague on the inside): they're having the same conversation they've been having for the last twenty years.  Good insight for the open space!

 

Saturday morning, the room is set, chairs in a circle.  Early arrivers stare at the room, deeply distrustful of this strange set up.  (We learned during a previous session that research found newsroom cultures to be almost uniformly defensive.  In fact, their defensiveness surpassed even the military and health care.)  We open the space, raising the bar by challenging editors to take their conversations to new places.  We encourage them to move beyond the same old gripes and explore new possibilities.   As always, topics are posted.  And something we've never seen before - two topics are posted AFTER people leave for their sessions.  Turns out the conveners are uncomfortable announcing them in public.  The conversations are INTENSE.  There is little use of two feet as people huddle in tight-knit circles of chairs.  The voices of participating high school and college journalists help take the conversations to new places. Closing remarks are filled with the usual accolades.  One person summed it up: "I got more ideas out of this morning than out of the rest of the conference." 

 

WHAT'S NEXT:  Sunday morning, we meet with the board.  It is unanimous.  They want more.  Two people volunteer their states for the next "Journalism that Matters" summit.  We've accomplished our purpose, the conversations will continue.  You see, this open space was conceived as a step in an ambitious project.  We wish to invite journalists into revisiting the essential purpose and practice of their profession by convening conversations in every state and province, using a network of OS practitioners from around North America.  For us, the desire to do this comes through learnings from Appreciative Inquiry: the stories we tell ourselves shape the way we see and behave in the world; the questions we ask are fateful, directing attention to what we notice and what remains unseen. In addition, our work in organizations has led us to conclude that the communication system is a powerful "strange attractor" in social systems, accelerating and sustaining change.  Journalists are our collective storytellers, asking questions on our behalf.  At the heart of our communications system, journalists are uniquely positioned to contribute to the greater good through the stories they tell. 

 

We believe Open Space is the ideal ground for journalists to re-invent their craft.  If you have something to contribute (funding, ideas, good wishes), let us know!

 

P.S.  Journalists take great notes!  They did the best job of capturing the conversations that we've ever seen.  Take a peek at www.opencirclecompany.com/0110NewsroomSummitReport.htm 

 

Peggy Holman   peggy@opencirclecompany.com  

Stephen Silha     ssilha@aol.com  

for STORIES, Newsletter of the Open Space Institute (US)

usa@openspaceworld.org

 

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SPIRITED WORK AT THE WHIDBEY INSTITUTE

Anne Stadler, USA

 

Spirited Work is a Whidbey Institute program which began the winter of

1999, and is now preparing to enter its fourth cycle (2002).  It meets seasonally face to face and is linked in an on-line learning community supported by BigMindMedia.  Spirited Work has involved more than 90 people.  About twenty-five are repeating participants.

 

 It has evolved from a program offering of the Whidbey Institute into a learning community of practice serving as a laboratory for co-creative collective leadership.  Our practice has been grounded in the fundamentals of Open Space Technology, and Angeles Arrien’s work: The Four Fold Way. Each of us takes responsibility for what has heart and meaning: for evolving our selves, the collective, and our service in the world.  We are learning to live open space principles and the Four Fold Way in our daily lives.  We are also opening space for organizational forms based on our practice.

 

A diverse group of people has been attracted--from the arts, from corporate life, educators, service providers, non-profit directors, old, young and in-between.  Our community includes a native American, Vietnamese, Chinese, African American, African, Bahamian, Indian, Caucasian--so we experience a multiplicity of life experiences and cultures. Our commitment to openness and inclusion has welcomed whoever is attracted.  This has resulted in participation of people from overseas as well as visitors to the Whidbey Institute who happen to be there during one of our seasonal gatherings. People bring their children and there are two young girls who have attended regularly with their parents.

 

Self-organizing using Open Space methodology has led to people expressing themselves creatively in all modalities: art, poetry, music, dance, theater, clearing trails, tending the land, making new additions to the material well-being of the Whidbey Institute.  We express spirit in practical action for the benefit of our community life as well as in our work in the world. So we "chop wood, carry water", e.g., do our dishes, cleanup after ourselves, and help set up and put away whatever we use, and we take responsibility for the exchange of money and material level of our group life as well.

 

Spirited Work emphasizes linking spirit to practical action on behalf of the collective as well as in the world.  Thus, the Stewards, a circle leadership model, has evolved for convening and managing Spirited Work.  Organizational initiatives such as Watershed Legacy, Bountiful Table, Peacetrees Vietnam, and Heartspeak: A Gathering of Grandmothers have benefited from the practice ground provided by Spirited Work.  Participants have applied their learnings in corporate life and higher education, too.

 

In Spirited Work, the Whidbey Institute has a maturing and alchemic community of practice, grounded in principle, animated by spirit, connected both face to face and on-line.  Appreciative inquiry is a method used for tracking the emergence of spirit.  Methods, such as Process Work, which honor and bring forward all voices, facilitate deep democracy group processes.   Story-telling and poetry are habits of communication.  All ages and people from many different backgrounds express multiple patterns of making meaning. 

 

Open Space has provided the framework for the evolution of a conscious

collective.  Collective wisdom arises from reflection on experience.  The

Four Fold Way provides a frame and focus for personal growth and leadership‹as well as for collective growth and maturity.

 

 We feel we are a unique resource for the study of collective intelligence and spiritual wisdom.  As I read the Fetzer Report, "Centered on the Edge,” I noticed over and over I was saying:  "Yes, we experience that in Spirited Work.  Yes, we have/are exploring that."  We have a three year history of crafting a field of practice and study.  Our history is archived in our Spirited Work web site and available for study and reflection.

 

We want to engage with the others for conversation and mutual learning.  We are eager to offer our experience of evolving an open space community of practice in service to our mission: cultivating creative leadership for earth, spirit and the human future--and hope to learn from others.

 

Anne Stadler    annestad@nwlink.com 

for STORIES, Newsletter of the Open Space Institute (US)

usa@openspaceworld.org

For more information about Spirited Work, see   www.spiritedwork.org 

  

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STRATEGIC PLANNING IN OPEN SPACE

Jay W. Vogt, USA

 

“Our founder wants to convene the first national gathering of his family foundation’s staff and project staff in Open Space,” said a senior staff member of the foundation, “so our coming together will be as innovative as the work we do.  Can you create a strategic plan for a new organization in Open Space?”

 

“I don’t know,” I thought frankly.  I’d never done it before.  Harrison Owen says, “It always works.”  But strategic planning is a process I had always done in a very structured, linear way, quite unlike Open Space.  It typically starts with assessment, moves on to mission, and ends with goals and strategies.  One builds on the other.  But if this client was game, I certainly was.  “I think it just might work,” I replied.  “But how?” I wondered...

 

First, we decided to give the participants information.  I asked the staff to prepare a briefing book summarizing everything they knew about the environment in which they did business.  This document went out to all participants in advance.

 

Second, we clarified the givens.  I learned that everything about the foundation’s future was on the table.  “Everything except the mission,” clarified the founder.

 

Third, we discussed the absolutely essential elements of a strategic plan, and picked three:

1) Guiding ideas (mission, vision, and values);

2) Program goals (all goals serving customers);

3) Operational goals (all goals building infrastructure).

These would head each of three walls in the retreat space.  Conveners would post their group’s proceedings on one of the three, wherever they fit best.

 

Finally, we discussed what, specifically, successful work groups would contribute to the plan.  We developed a template for each group to complete:

1) Proposed goal;

2) Indicators and measures of success;

3) Strategies to achieve the goal;

4) Resources needed to achieve the strategies.

 

Thirty five foundation staff and project staff gathered for two days in the fall at a beautiful Vermont inn, briefing books in hand.  The founder welcomed them, and I explained the rules.  “You can talk about whatever you want, but if you wish to be part of the strategic plan, you have to complete a template (goal, indicators, strategies, resources) and post it in one of the three areas (guiding ideas, program goals, operational goals).”  With that we were off.

 

One of the first groups to form was about mission - yes, mission.  It met continuously for over four hours, involving just about everybody at one point or another.  Even the founder agreed that the new mission that emerged was better than the old.  It went to the trustees for their review and approval.

 

Meanwhile, posters popped up proposing goals, some grand, some small in scope.  At day’s end, in the Evening News, everyone asked for a quick review of the day’s guiding ideas and goals.  Despite determined effort, the group’s output seemed slight.  The mission conversation had taken a great deal of energy.  The director was nervous.  Everyone adjourned to the bar.

 

The next day folks returned afire and pumped out goals at a feverish pace.  By early afternoon they were done.   Guiding ideas and goals draped the walls everywhere.  People left early, surprised, tired and happy.  The director knew something great had happened, but still wasn’t sure what.

 

Did we achieve what we set out to do?  Well, yes and no.  We absolutely did some great strategic thinking, and even some solid strategic planning.  But despite our gentle framing of the task, we got results all over the map.  The staff still needed weeks of work to turn those uneven sparks of inspiration into a coherent plan that met their high standards.  The director was even heard to mutter at times, when eyeing the proceedings, about “that damn pile of paper.”

 

Still, they got a great result that served them well, but many organizations would have ducked out or given up along the way.  Strategic planning in Open Space: exciting, productive, unpredictable, and not for the faint of heart.

 

Jay W. Vogt  jay@peoplesworth.com,  www.peoplesworth.com 

for STORIES, Newsletter of the Open Space Institute (US)

usa@openspaceworld.org

 

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TRUST THE PEOPLE

Christopher Schoch, MDLS Associates, France and USA

 

Last January three hundred and fifty members of a major construction firm gathered in Normandy for two days to enter a vision building process begun some 4 months earlier. All levels of management were present and some 260 workers responded to the invitation--aside from the annual Christmas show it was the first time that everyone had come together.

 

Construction is tough work. Site workers pride themselves for being able to withstand extreme physical conditions including fatigue, cold, and the pressures of meeting deadlines. It's the kind of business where, outside of one's immediate work group, there is not much sense of loyalty or trust. On the contrary, a tradition of mistrust is the foundation of management-employee relations.

 

So it was a pleasant surprise to see that more than 70 % of workers made the trip for the first day, a Friday. The organisers expected attendance to drop off sharply on Saturday.

 

 Even though in opening space we are told to expect surprises, this seasoned convener had never seen anything quite like the developments that unfolded. The opening session was scheduled for 8;30 am . At 7:30 most of the workers were meeting in small groups outside the chosen venue--the local fairgrounds, that in fact they themselves had built several years before. It looked like the open space meeting had begun well before the facilitator arrived. Conversation was brisk in the darkness and cold of morning. They were on familiar ground.

 

So what happened when everyone else came and we opened the space in the more or less formal manner that we have learned so attentively? Well, twenty ideas got posted on the marketplace wall--not exactly a tidal wave, n'est ce pas!

 

When it was time for the first meetings to take place, a scattering of people went into the breakout area to attend them. The vast majority--say 280-- took quite literally the description of os as a semi-organized coffee break.

 

The coffee area was bulging at the seams, as the earlier spontaneous dynamics took over once again. In less than an hour, the coffee that had been brewed for the entire day was gone: the caterer sent out an emergency team to bring on more from another site.

 

When it was time for lunch everyone gathered at long tables and the intensity of conversation increased as the decibels rose. As the afternoon theme groups convened, the mega-group began to disaggregate, as people started to get curious about what was going on in the small group discussions. Most just stood and watched, many expressed surprise and interest at the openness of the discussions.

 

At evening news one block of about 30 expressed their reaction by silence--most others used the usual words such as communication-dialogue-sincere-change etc. One very intense discussion had taken place around the poor image and mismanagement of a particular agency. Most of the people in the agency took part in a very hard and frank exchange of views that seriously challenged the manager of that unit. He may not have liked what he heard but by the end of the day he had heard what no one had dared to say openly. A catharsis had taken place and gone full cycle.

 

The next morning not only did everyone return, but a fresh energy surged forward--twenty new themes were added to the marketplace wall, and this time the coffee break area remained entirely empty the whole morning--to the consternation of the caterers who had doubled the number of canisters filled with hot brew. Even the most skeptical participants were now engaged in the process of moving ahead, sharing the feeling of transformation in the making.

 

My colleagues had been very distressed by the way things had begun, seeing signs of resistance in the fact that the large group of people in the coffee area were not living up to our best hopes for them--namely that they would be working in small groups on proper subjects germane to the vision process.

 

To be honest I was bewildered myself, but intuitively knew that when you open space you also respect the folks who show up on their own volition --they will know what best use to make of it.  That first morning’s huge coffee break was important and meaningful to people who have their own special value for time.

 

Each time we open space, let us not forget to honor the uniqueness of the people and the experience.

 

If it becomes predictable, it’s probably time to pass on the baton: Open Space is really not a proven method for getting results as much as a revelator of a group's true and potential needs. Be prepared!!!

 

Christopher Schoch    Mdlschoch@aol.com 

for STORIES, Newsletter of the Open Space Institute (US)

usa@openspaceworld.org

 

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USING NEW TECHNOLOGY FOR CONVERGENCE

Charles "Buzz" Blick, Strategic Listening Institute, USA

 

I’m writing to report on on using technology-supported OST with the 300 member International Board of Directors of the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD), in Boston, March 2001.

The theme of the 1/2 day session was "What Issues Should ASCD Support to Benefit Young People Around the World." 

 

In addition to the fairly standard use of computers to record the results of individual sessions, we used a response-pad technology to help the group create a prioritized list of issues that the association should work on in the future.  During the last hour, session convenors were able to advocate in front of the whole group for each of the 17 topics and then, through the use of the response-pad technology, have the whole group of 150 participants designate first the "importance" of that issue (on a 1-6 scale) for the future of young people, then rank the "difficulty" of each issue to implement.  The software (Group Interactive Feedback Technology - GIFT) used their responses to immediately create a XY chart comparing all 17 items and projecting the results on a large screen.  The results show those courses of action that people thought were most likely to produce the best results with the least difficulty - and vice-versa.

 

This type of convergence process is a vast improvement over the more common use of sticky dots to prioritize items or create action plans.

 

The Board evaluated the OST session as the most useful and engaging part of their 2-day meeting last year.

 

I hope that this sounds useful for other OST practitioners.  Thanks for the opportunity to share this exciting process with others.

 

Charles "Buzz" Blick    buzz@strategiclistening.org    www.strategiclistening.org

for STORIES, Newsletter of the Open Space Institute (US)

usa@openspaceworld.org

 

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UPDATE ON OPEN SPACE IN ORGANIZATIONS

Christine Roess, SDI Communications, USA

 

I feel that I should pass on the reports that I have been getting from the IT organizations of two large corporations where I introduced Open Space and they now use nothing else.  One organization has been using it consistently for the past three years.  I was talking to some of the managers there and they were saying they "don't think people would tolerate ever having a meeting in any other format now because they are so used to the freedom and power of Open Space."

 

In the second company, a major pharmaceuticals corporation, they just got back from their second Open Space (we did the first one about 6 months ago) and the CIO and his senior staff were just chortling with glee--they had gone to Vermont skiing and they were all marveling that they had had 63 separate sessions in the 3 days and apparently all of them produced "real commitments and action" and, as the CIO said, "We did it in just 5 hours a day with the rest of the time left for skiing".

 

Christine Roess    CRoess@SDICommunications.com 

for STORIES, Newsletter of the Open Space Institute (US)

usa@openspaceworld.org

 

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COMING EVENTS

 

OPEN SPACE on OPEN SPACE, Nov. 9-12, just outside Melbourne, Australia.   TheTenth International OPEN SPACE on OPEN SPACE in OZ will be held at Marysville, about 100 minutes drive into the mountains from Melbourne Airport, Victoria, Australia.  It will begin on November 9  (with evening BBQ) and finish with lunch on November 12, 2002.  It will be Spring, with temperatures anywhere between 10 and 25 degrees C, maybe bright sunlight, maybe some rain --Wonderful!  For all the particulars, visit http://www.openspaceworld.org/osonos.html  

 

 

7th OPEN SPACE SYMPOSIUM ABOUT ORGANIZATIONAL LEARNING AND

TRANSFORMATION, April 21-24, Hamburg, Germany.

Visit www.institut-ebus.de for information (in German) or contact Ingrid Ebeling: ie@institut-ebus.de

 

 

VIRTUAL OPEN PSACE ON VIRTUAL OPEN SPACE, tentative: May 13 - June 19, online everywhere.

This online event is an exploration of what it means to conduct Open Space online because the best way to learn about opening space online is to DO IT.  For more information, visit http://bigmindmedia.com/vosonvos or contact Gabriel Shirley at vosonvos@bigmindmedia.com.

 

 

MIDWEST (USA) OPEN SPACE PRACTITIONER'S CONFERENCE, June 7, Peoria, Illinois

Complete details on our first midwest regional open space on open space, to be held in peoria illinois on june 7th, 2002... at http://www.globalchicago.net/midwestos. Please join us if you can... all practitioners, from everywhere, are welcome if you've any reason to be in our neighborhood.

 

 

HAITIAN OPEN SPACE on OPEN SPACE, June  21-24, Port-au-Prince, Haiti

The theme is Using Open Space to Create and Nurture Communities of

Learners.  Go to this link to find the invitation and to learn more:

http://beyondborders.net/OSONOS%20invite.htm 

 

 

ORGANIZATION TRANSFORMATION 20, July 1-5, Two Harbors, MN

This year's theme is Dancing beyond Duality.  For information, visit

www.openspaceworld.org/ot. We are returning to the site of OT16, on the shore of Lake Superior.   For those not familiar with this conference, OT 3 was where Harrison Owen first ran an Open Space conference, in 1985 in Monterey, CA. As always, the conference fee is $30 and rooms are available at the hotel from $59 a night. There are also two camp grounds nearby.  If you have specific questions about OT 20, contact  johndadams@att.net

 

 

OPEN SPACE TRAINING WORKSHOPS

For information on trainings, check www.openspaceworld.com or www.openspacetechnology.com for details.   Here are the 2002 workshops currently scheduled:

 

April 17-20, Ottawa, Canada, facilitated by Harrison Owen, Larry Peterson, lpasoc@inforamp.net and Diane Gibeault, dgp@cyberus.ca

April 22-25, Calgary, Canada, facilitated by Birgitt Williams, birgitt@mindspring.com

May 12-16 Germany, facilitated by Harrison Owen, and Katrina Petri, katrina.petri@t-online.de

May 21-24, Toronto, Canada, facilitated by Birgitt Williams, birgitt@mindspring.com

June 13-15, Frankfurt, Germany, facilitated by Birgitt Williams, birgitt@mindspring.com

June 19-21, San Francisco, California, USA, facilitated by Lisa Heft, lisaheft@pacbell.net

September 11-13, San Francisco, California, USA, facilitated by Lisa Heft, lisaheft@pacbell.net

September 11-14, Raleigh, North Carolina, USA, facilitated by Birgitt Williams, birgitt@mindspring.com

September 24-27, San Francisco, California, facilitated by Harrison Owen and Lisa Heft, lisaheft@pacbell.net

October 9-12, New Zealand, facilitated by Harrison Owen and Anne Pattillo, pattillo@actrix.gen.nz  

October 28-31, Raleigh, USA, facilitated by Birgitt Williams, birgitt@mindspring.com

November 13-15, Brisbane, Australia, facilitated by Harrison Owen and Juliane Bell, julianne@exceptional-events.net

November 26-29, Frankfurt, Germany, facilitated by Birgitt Williams, birgitt@mindspring.com

December 11-13 San Francisco, California, facilitated by Lisa Heft, lisaheft@pacbell.net

Fall 2002 Taiwan, facilitated by Harrison Owen and Gail West, icataiw@ficnet.net

 

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STORIES is published online occasionally by the Open Space Institute (US).

 

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To submit your story, contact Joelle Everett, editor    jleshelton@aol.com