Stanley Park announces the new Korean Open Space website and adds:

For many of you who find Hangeul (Korean language) rather uncomfortable, please just enjoy viewing two videos of OS events here and here. When the site becomes fully in operation, it will have a section in upper right that serve our friends whose language is not Korean.

I can’t read Korean, but it sure looks like Open Space to me!

Harrison Owen, author of Open Space Technology, Expanding Our Now, The Power of Spirit and The Spirit of Leadership, won the Sharing the Wealth award from OD Network.

The award honors the memory of Kathie Dannemiller, a major force in the founding of OD Network (and the author of a Berrett-Koehler book, Whole Scale Change) It is given to “an individual whose achievements demonstrate their values, innovation and generosity.”

Congratulations, Harrison!

There was another Teleconference on June 25, 2007, with representatives of OS Institutes from eight countries, looking at the future of World Open Space Events and some kindred topics of serious import.

The full notes from that call are now posted at http://www.openspaceworld.org/cgi/netwiki.cgi?WorldOSonOS

The space was held by Thomas Herrmann, and notes prepared by Brian Bainbridge.

You are welcome to explore, discuss, question, and even comprehend what is in the notes, of course.

And to chat with any of the participants listed as you see appropriate.

Cheers and blessings,

BRIAN.

Fr Brian S. Bainbridge

Thank you Joelle Shelton for sharing this piece of inspiring news on the OSlist about Cheryl Honey, originator of Community Weaving, an approach to activating the gift economy for family and community vibrancy and resilience. This approach in part draws upon open space principles.

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer newspaper and Microsoft Corp. honor five people, including an Antioch University Seattle graduate, who make a difference through community service.

Cheryl Honey, who received her B.A. degree in 2006, has been selected to receive a 2007 Jefferson Award for her 15 years spent weaving people together to create a support system for families. The program, named in honor of President Thomas Jefferson, was created nationally in 1972 by Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Sen. Robert Taft Jr. and economic-development expert Sam Beard. The founders’ vision was to create an award, similar to a Nobel Prize, for public and community service, with a special honor for local service “by ordinary people who do extraordinary things.”

The full story can be read in the online version of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

Wendy Farmer-O’Neil announces an April 28th stammtische in Nanaimo (British Columbia) for those who will be unable to attend the Toronto Open Space on Open Space April 27th and April 28th:

In confluence with our friends to the east who will be opening space at the Toronto OSonOS, we are hosting a West Coast Canada Stammtisch on Saturday, April 28th for all of those who want to join us. We will be gathering at Muddy Waters Marine Pub (within walking distance of the Vancouver Ferry) on the water in Nanaimo at 1:00. We look forward to seeing you there!

Directions are available here.

Marty Boroson has developed a video companion to his book, Becoming Me, inspired in part by open space. Acclaimed by spiritual leaders of different faiths, the clip has been posted to YouTube. Becoming Me is a simple, daring, and moving story of your/my creation.

This resource might be considered as another video to inspire one’s open space practice. An addition, perhaps, to this collection?

Veteran Novosibirsk (Russia) Open Space Technology facilitator Elena Marchuk writes on the OpenSpaceRu discussion group that
“a few more have joined the club.”

Elena just finished conducting a Working with Open Space Technology learning workshop as part of the Genuine Contact™ Program in organizational health and balance.

More than 20 participants completed the workshop commissioned by the Community Relations Department of the City of Irkutsk.

Elena notes that “as usual all the learning in the workshop was great.” The workshop participants experienced a mini-OST meeting with action planning on the topic of “Increasing our Effectiveness in Working with the Community.”

The City of Irkutsk asked Elena to conduct the workshop because “the city wanted to learn a method together with neighborhood groups and local NGO’s so that they could speak the same language and make headway in future collaboration.”

Good work, Elena!

Open Space Institute-Russia is convening a stammtisch (local gathering of OST facilitators and people interested in the method) March 17th in Moscow.

Veteran Australian spaceholder Brian Bainbridge will be among the attendees. Galina Tsarkova invites us to “collectively reflect on our experience of holding space in the wide open spaces of Russia. This invitation is for all, including those who have just started out on this path.” For more information, you can reach Galina by email.

The lively Ukrainian OST facilitator discussion list also regularly lists stammisches in Kiev and other Ukrainian cities.

Chris Corrigan offers the heart of years of practicing and listening and living in Open Space, in the form of a book he has written that expresses the wisdom of the Taoist classic, the Tao Te Ching, in the language and sensibility of Open Space.

In some ways this book chronicles the essence of my own emergent practice of Open Space. In looking over it one more time, I realized that almost everything I know about Open Space is somehow distilled into these chapters.

Using a Creative Commons license, Chris is making this loving gift of deep insight freely available for download, here.

Gabriella Ender, the creator of OpenSpace-Online sends news that her software has been nominated for a Top 10 Who Are Changing the World of Internet and Politics award. The nomination text states:

Germany’s “do-it-yourself” OpenSpace-Online E- Participation Real-Time Methodology is a powerful philosophy that has the potential to become one of the most earth shifting Internet meeting and conferencing methods in society, politics, education and other fields. OpenSpace-Online was developed by Change Facilitator Gabriela Ender and her team in Germany (1999-2002). The easy to use innovation enables fast collaboration, knowledge-sharing, problem solving and results-oriented dialogs about urgent topics for small and large groups in real-time without ’human’ online moderators. During the virtual-led and structured working process all participants are equal. It also bridges value-gaps between online and offline collaboration / participation in a wonderful unique way.

You can vote for Gabriella’s contribution at the awards site.

Michael Herman, who has provided lots of resources to the Open Space community over the years, has just released two updated offerings:

Open Space Technology: Inviting Leadership Practice - reviews the basics of Open Space, considers its evolution, and points to its dissolving into the ongoing practice of Inviting Leadership.

Open Space Technology: An Inviting Guide - a short guide for Inviting Leaders, with new meeting/event planning worksheet and notes on sustaining action after the big meeting.

What a nice thing to do a week before he gets married!

(Congrats Michael, from the whole osw.org posting team!)

Michael Pannwitz and friends in Berlin continue to make good progress on their WorldMap of Open Space people and now associations.

All practitioners and practice groups are invited to add themselves to the list. Those looking for a facilitator or learning community will find it an easy way to locate good people.

What started as a simple list of countries where OS had been introduced and used is now growing into a truly global practice directory. Thanks to all who have helped with this!

New friend of OST, Carol Hiltner (Seattle, USA), and OST facilitator Marina Tyasto (Novosibirsk, Russia) will be leading a Peace-Mapping “Summit” using OST in the Altai (Siberia) right before the 14th International Open Space on Open Space (OSonOS). This event will take place during the 2006 International Altai Expedition July 14-August 3.

This Peace-Mapping “Summit” presents an excellent opportunity to deepen our experience of OST, open space, and peacemaking.

You are invited to participate in the 2006 International Altai Expedition and Peace-Mapping “Summit” July 14 - August 3.

Altai is an extraordinary mountain range along the southern edge of Siberia, recognized as the origin of global shamanism…The Expedition will take you to the very remote Mt. Belukha, the highest energy spot in this high-energy region.

We will be joined there by indigenous Altai people, including shamans, and a Russian spiritual group from Moscow. At this sacred mountain, with this powerful group, we will convene an OST “Summit” with the objective of supporting participants to map out our personal “critical paths” to peace using guidelines (Tablets of Light) that originated in Altai. In conjunction with the Expedition, we have initiated a Clean-Up to take out trekkers’ garbage and install outhouses.

For information, see http://www.altaibooks.com/trekinfo.htm or contact Carol@AltaiBooks.com .. Please feel free to forward this information to anyone whom you think might be interested.

The Australian Open Space Institute is hosting an Open Space on Open Space in Melbourne on February 21 and 22. They’d love to see you there.

This is an opportunity for users of Open Space Technology to explore the depth and edges of Open Space Technology, share experiences, challenge and be challenged. Some of Australia’s and New Zealand’s most experienced Open Space facilitators will be attending. You will get the most out of this OSonOS if you have used/participated in Open Space Technology.

If you are new to Open Space Technology you might be interested in Introductory Training May 17 & 18.

For more information about either event, contact Viv McWaters.

From Thomas Herrmann in Sweden:

The Swedish OS-institute was founded the 24th of November 2001 when we had a gathering of Swedish collegues and our friend Koos from Holland!

The purpose of OSI-S is to develop and spread knowledge about Open Space Technology and to work for mutual support and learning between OS-facilitators in Sweden and in the world. We have a board where I was the chairman for 2,5 years, now our friend Agneta Setterwall has taken that role.

So far the Institute has arranged one Scandinavian OSonOS two Swedish online OSonOS´s and co-sponsored the International OSonOS XI. And we have had annual meetings of the board, often during or after the yearly Scandinavian OSonOS.

There are also local groups meeting regularily in south Sweden, west-Sweden and Uppsala which are not “formally” meetings of OSI-S but which are initiatives by members of OSI-S. But then - we are not very formal.

We also started a smartgroups forum where there are about 40 people connected. It was transformed to an Scandinavian forum a couple of years ago. Not very active but a good way to get in touch with like-minded in Scandinavia.

See Open Space Institutes for how to contact Thomas, Agneta and other Institute groups around the world.

Judy Gast writes this week, “…the Open Space Institute of Canada is planning an OS Online event on February 3rd and encourage anyone who is interested (from anywhere) to register by January 27th.”

See CanadianInvitation and OpenSpace-Online for details.

More than ever, Open Space World is inviting and supporting your active participation in this Open Online Space. Here is how to join in on the learning and contribution that is giving shape to this new space.

Welcome to the NEW Open Space World website!

There are still a few things to do to clean the place up, especially with some of the non-English and bookstore pages, but that will be done soon enough.

What do you think of what’s been done so far? Your comments and suggestions are much appreciated. What do you like? What needs fixing? (It’s all so new, and plenty of bugs around, I’m sure.)

Please help too with funding our expenses here, if you can!

UPDATE: Bookstore pages are finished now.

UPDATE: Languages done, too. woohoo!