Lisa Heft (Vice President, Open Space Institute USA, past OSLIST Poet Laureate and Fellow, Columbia University Center for International Conflict Resolution and host, WOSonOS 2008) will be facilitating Open Space Learning Workshops in San Francisco on the following dates: May 28-30, July 21-22 and December 17-19, 2008. She will also facilitate this workshop in Atlanta, Georgia USA on April 9-10, 2008.

Co-create a theme, experience a several-session Open Space, taste how action planning works in Open Space, learn about all the pre-work (invitation, planning, design, theme, logistics, documentation), variations, ‘what ifs’, ‘when not to’s’ and more. You will also receive a copy of the “Open Space Idea Book”.

For more information, contact Lisa Heft.

from Jack Martin Leith in Bristol, UK:

Barry Owen has established an Open Space Technology group on Facebook, the social networking site. The group already has more than 80 members from a wide range of countries.

If you are unfamiliar with Facebook groups, they are a place where group members can post relevant links, photos and videos, participate in discussions on specific topics, and leave messages for other members. Also, the group administrator - Barry in this case - can message the whole group with news, stories and so on.

Barry set up the group primarily as a repository for Open Space related stories, but I got involved last week (my official role is “UK correspondent” - thanks Barry, I feel like a CNN reporter) and have been busy uploading photos and links. Any member can do that - no fancy title required!

How do you become a member?

If you’re already a Facebook user, click here, log in and click on Join this group, which you’ll see at the top of the right hand sidebar. That’s all you have to. You can start posting to the group immediately.

If you’re not yet a Facebook user, go to www.facebook.com and enter your details into the boxes that appear below Sign up for Facebook.

If you only want to use Facebook to access the Open Space Technology group, you can provide the barest details on your profile and not bother with the Friends bit. But once you’re in you’ll probably get hooked. Many people find it a useful extra way of keeping in touch with their friends and acquaintances.

If you have ay questions or concerns, please contact either me or Barry and we’ll do our best to help you.

Hope to see you on Facebook!

Jack Martin Leith

Fr. Brian Bainbridge sends this from Melbourne, Australia:

Some 7 parish reps (16 persons) in Open Space Sessions, Looking together (a major miracle, perhaps) at what to do LOCALLY about adjusting to the imminent reduction in numbers of priests available in their zone/region. Some came to fight/defend against the future (inevitable) changes. Others with different agenda. By the end of the day – another major miracle – all seemed together about options to address this eventuality.

There have been a series of such attempts, but never using Open Space. It’s a wonderfully potent situation and may just change the nature of the Church in Australia. Stand by for the next extraordinarily exciting development.

Questions about Open Space in Churches or Australia? Email Brian

This is to let you know that 5 french executives will exchange on their OS practices in Paris on April 3rd. If you happen to be in Paris then you are invited and welcome. You will find hereunder the details of the event and how to confirm your participation. Contact Philippe SLIOUSSARENKO for complete details.

MHG Europe a le plaisir de vous inviter à la réunion sur le thème :

LA METHODOLOGIE OPEN SPACE

Une démarche de conduite de réunion en petit ou grand groupe ou une nouvelle façon de s’organiser et de penser ?

Avec la participation de dirigeants ayant pratiqué l’Open Space :

§ M. Sylvain AUGERE, Directeur de l’Animation des Réseaux de Formation, UIMM
§ M. Emmanuel CAUX, Directeur Général Région France Nord, STARWOOD HOTELS AND RESORTS
§ M .José PIRES - GOMES, Président, GROUPE FRANCE BOISSONS
§ M. Hervé MARTIN, Directeur Général, SENSITIVE OBJECT
§ M. Emmanuel MASSY, Directeur Marché Gares, GROUPE ELIOR

Nous poursuivrons ensuite nos échanges autour d’un cocktail dînatoire. Dans l’attente de vous recevoir, je vous adresse mes plus sincères
salutations. — Philippe SLIOUSSARENKO

Larry Peterson says:

Read the notes from another great conversation, in February, among contacts from institutes and groups from 8 countries around the world. We focused on Worldwide OSonOS which will be held in San Francisco so check it out. We also explored the possibilities for upcoming events in Taipei, Taiwan and Berlin (or another European location).

There were also some great stories of development in various countries and groups.

Thomas Herrman facilitated and Larry Peterson took the notes.

See you in San Francisco!

This just in from Switzerland, about a meeting for practitioners upcoming on March 19th — contact Catherine Corbaz to join this group:

There will be a meeting in the french speaking part of Switzerland to discuss about the way to promote OST in our area. We may talk about the creation of a website or how to use the existing possibilities. A possible Swiss open space institute might be a perspective (that would meant include the german OST facilitators) or to improve the connection with the blog the Canadian created. The meeting will be on the 19 of march.

Best regards from Switzerland (it’s snowing !!! at least)

The World Open Space on Open Space (WOSonOS) is a conference in and about Open Space — for facilitators, organizations and colleagues who use Open Space.

Join us July 21 through 28, 2008, in San Francisco, California, USA. “What Can We Learn / Share / Teach / Explore / Discover with Each Other about our work in Open Space around the world?” That is what we want to find out!

This year, a full week of events includes an Open Space Learning Workshop (July 21-22), an Author Evening with Harrison Owen and the launch of his Third Edition of Open Space Technology: A User’s Guide, and several days in and about Open Space with colleagues from around the world.

Online Registration

The author of the Change Management Toolbook, Holger Nauheimer is going to present his training course, Be The Change, in Boston, April 4-5, 2008 (with a half day free presentation on recent trends in Change Management on April 3, 2008). See the conference flyer and registration page.

Singapore-based Prabu Naidu shared this recently after Opening Space in Tehran:

On 4th February 2008 some forty producers and managers from the radio division of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) converged in one of the studios that was the venue of an Open Space Technology (OST) session to discuss on the theme “Radio Management in Iran”.

The participants who came to the session - based on open invitations announced on banners throughout the studios - had a desire to contribute to the future of Radio in Iran, they came, enjoyed the collegial networking and contributed ideas and thoughts.

The Open Space was facilitated by me. The event was co-sponsored by the Freidrich Ebert Stiftung and IRIB.

In the full day session, six concurrent market place discussions were held over two time slots of one hour each. There was deep conversations and many ideas generated on the theme. During the action planning; six key ideas were voted to be worked on next and six leaders accepted the responsibility to take the ideas to the next step.

The next day on 5th February 2008, a smaller group of ten participants in the morning and another ten in the afternoon attended a training session on Open Space so that they will be equipped to conduct Open Space sessions on their own in the future. These participants had also attended the full day session the day before. The participants intend to use Open Space to engage their own staff as well as their listeners in improving their programmes and services.

The two-day proceedings were beamed live on the Internet for IRIB staff outside Tehran to follow.

Prabu was part of the hosting team when I taught Open Space in Sinagapore some years ago. And this, to me, is the most amazing thing about the practice of Open Space. We never really know where it will lead, or turn up, next. Good to see such fruits still ripening, many years beyond the first plantings. Way to go, Prabu! And may the Iranian harvest be bountiful, as well!

FO rapport et historique français: Forum ouvert sur le Forum ouvert – Aller plus loin dans l’action, à Brownsburg-Chatham, Québec, le 13 octobre 2007. Rapport et historique (pdf)

Précédemment: 1e Forum ouvert sur le Forum ouvert international en français: Val David (Québec) Canada, 14 au 16 septembre 2007. Thème : Aller un peu plus haut, un peu plus loin dans nos connaissances et nos pratiques du Forum ouvert. Rapports de discussion (pdf)

Thanks (and congrats!) to Joern Geisselmann, Adviser for Public Participation & Capacity Building at Shining Stone Community Action, for this report from mainland China:

On May 15th Shining Stone Community Action (SSCA), a Beijing-based NGO promoting participatory urban governance, conducted what was perhaps the first Open Space event organized and facilitated by a mainland Chinese organization entirely on its own. SSCA decided to include a one-day Open Space into one of its training courses on participatory community development following a training on the Open Space methodology in April 2007 by Stiftung Mitarbeit, a German foundation dedicated to the promotion of public participation, and CANGO (China Association for NGO Cooperation).

The theme of the event was “Public Participation in Community Development”. Participants included community workers, NGO representatives, and residents. Since Open Space is so different from typical Chinese meetings that tend to be very formal and hampered by hierarchies we were worried at first how participants would respond to the unusual latitude given to them. However, this concern vanished quickly as participants began taking the initiative proposing topics they wanted to discuss. The enthusiasm and resourcefulness of participants continued to astonish us throughout the event and Open Space turned out to be the highlight of the 3-day training. In fact, about a week later a participant informed us that they had enjoyed Open Space so much that they had already conducted a community meeting using some of the Open Space elements.

For more information, please contact Ms. Song Qinghua, Director of Shining Stone Community Action.

Christopher Carfi posted a nice summary of work done in a breakout session in Open Space last year, following the Consortium for Service Innovation Annual Summit in Orlando.

His summary is about the work, not the process. And that’s the point. Real work gets done in Open Space — and becomes the center story of the event. I wonder how many other participants went out posted their notes.

His posting represents the kind of “action” that keeps real work moving, based on personal passion and responsibility, but never shows up on the screen when people ask, “How does action happen?”

This group should know something about getting things done. The conference sub-theme: the economics and social elements of mass collaboration.

In December, EventManagementBlog featured an interview with Harrison Owen in December. They likened the use of OST to “Open sourcing your event.”

Harrison shared the following today on OSlist:

Every now and again we seem to get ourselves involved here on OSLIST in
creating and comparing “elevator speeches” about Open Space. I have never been very good at all that, but a young Korean friend caught me early in the
morning on the shuttle to the airport. Given the hour I wasn’t sure how it
would all turn out, but I guess it is a good picture of The Hat. And for
sure it is the shortest speech I have ever given. If interested, check out

http://youtube.com/watch?v=TDi0GLTO9ao

Jost Wagner is a Thailand-based German facilitator and consultant working in the Asian region and beyond primarily working on development issues. He sent this news and video from Bangkok:

Media fighting stereotypes - a short Open Space Session in a unique environment.

In September 2007 the German Friedrich-Ebert Foundation (FES) organised an Open Space Session during the Asia-Pacific and Europe Media Dialogue taking place in Germany and jointly organised by Deutsche Welle and Asia-Broadcasting in order to create a dialogue about the role of media - especially TV and Radio - can play in fighting stereoytpes and discrimination. Participants were senior members of broadcasting authorities and broadcasters from Asia and Europe and many other invited guests from politics, industry and civil society. The Session took place in the former German parliament in Bonn - a very unique and challenging environment. The Open Space was facilitated by Janice Lua from Singapore and Jost Wagner - a Thailand-based German facilitator. FES sponsored also a production of a short and nice video.

The space looks a bit unusual, but clearly the spirit of this event was completely Open Space. That you can hear in the many participant comments in the video. Nice work, Jost and Janice!

Event Report about “Worldwide OpenSpace-Online on Open Space Technology”

A large international group of Open Space Technology Practitioners from around the globe look back to a fantastic worldwide community gathering. On June 30th/July 1st, 2007 almost 100 OST colleagues and friends from 25 countries joined this unique Internet event. The flow of socializing and knowledge sharing was extremely powerful and joyful. Right after the 4.5 hour OpenSpace-Online® Real-Time Conference, Harrison Owen sent the following message to the OSLIST:

“Thanks to Gabriela Ender and her wonderful crew, we were treated to a marvelous global gathering. And we didn’t have to go anywhere! Actually I tuned in from my dock on the lake (WiFi reaches just that far) - so there I am with a fresh breeze in the face, water lapping at my feet and in constant communication with friends and colleagues from all over the world. The software is seamless, and if you have ever been in the Open Space, it feels just like the real thing. But I do have to admit that I missed the eye-to-eye contact, and maybe more than that the hugs that seem to be a regular feature of Open Space. But that is a small thing. Gabriela has done a wonder. She should be proud and I know that if you ever have a chance to experience OpenSpace-on-line for yourself or with/for a client, you will not be disappointed. It is the real thing - sans hugs. Harrison”

You are warmly invited to download a 14 page event report including evaluation (PDF) about this Global OST Community Conference:
http://www.OpenSpace-Online.com/event-report_070707.pdf

Cheers,
Gabriela Ender

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

From Diane Gibeault in Ottawa:

This article on OST was recently published by the Meetings & Incentive Travel magazine. It that may be useful to support our explanations of Open Space.

They quoted Harrison Owen, Larry Peterson, Michelle Cooper and myself. In my opinion, they captured essential points and reflected pretty well what OST is about. …but I may be biased. Click here to see.

Meetings & Incentive Travel, a division of Rogers Publishing Limited, has been Canada’s leader in the meeting and incentive travel industry for over thirty years. M&IT magazine, M&IT-e, meetCanada, IncentiveWorks, and the CMC directory specifically target professionals in Canada who plan and organize meetings, conferences, conventions, expositions, special events or incentive programs.

Worldwide OpenSpace-Online® Real-Time Conference for OST Practitioners:

“Open Space Technology (OST) - What have we learned and where can it lead us next?”

OST facilitators from around the globe are warmly invited to join a 4-hour OpenSpace-Online Conference on Open Space Technology (OST) on June 30th / July 1st , 2007 (depending on the time zone).

What is OpenSpace-Online®?
The general purpose of the OpenSpace-Online Real-Time Meeting Methodology is to enable organizations to consciously act as “life long learning organizations”, to empower interest and work groups as well as change facilitators to independently co-create the future for the greater good of society, and the whole planet by overcoming the limitations of time and space. The self-contained online methodology is setting worldwide new innovation standards for global e-collaboration by enabling holistic and highly participative architectures to link multifaceted ways of face-to-face and on-line activities in business, community, education, health-care, social and governmental settings.

This Global Open Space Community Conference is addressed to OST facilitators, practitioners and sponsors who are interested in sharing thoughts, ideas and resources about Open Space Technology. The conference also provides opportunities for greeting old Open Space friends and for meeting new Open Space colleagues.

*How do we support communities and organizations to become enablers of ongoing Open Space?

*How do local and global crises influence us,our clients and our work today and tomorrow?

These are just two of the questions that could be raised as we consider present and future issues and opportunities for opening and holding space. We look very much forward to your participation and your own specific questions, issues and ideas!

Further information and free of charge registration till June 24th, 2007 (thank you to NEULAND, whose sponsorship enables a free of charge community event):
https ://www.OpenSpace-Online.com/event/070630/index.php

Warmest regards
Gabriela Ender and Co-Inviters

Deborah Hartmann and Esther Matte worked together to open the RoCoCo camp event recently in Montreal. They did that in French and in English, taking things paragraph-by-paragraph, repeating everything in two languages. Then they came to the OSLIST to talk about how others do it. Harrison Owen offered an elegant approach…

When Michael Pannwitz and I did the Open Space for 2000 in Wurtzburg, Germany — we did everything all at once. The situation may have been a little different as most people spoke German and some English. Also in the plenary session (Opening) we had simultaneous translation. But in any event we did a duo. At the start Michael went one way in the circle, I went the other — and after we crossed at the starting point, we just wandered all over, everywhere. When we started I announced that Michael was not going to translate, rather he would do his thing, I would do mine, and hopefully we would end at the same place, which I think we did. It took a little longer, but we also had a lot of fun doing it together. The best part was Michael’s comments on what I had to say. One time after a rather lengthy discourse on my part (maybe 30 sec.) Michal came in with just a single word. Everybody howled. Wonderful!

Michael posted this invitation to the first-ever World Open Space on Open Space in French yesterday, and here from Marquis Bureau is the invitation itself in French:

La voici en grande primeur : l’invitation au tout premier Forum ouvert mondial sur le Forum ouvert en français. L’événement se tiendra à Val-David près de Montréal, au Québec, Canada, les 14, 15 et 16 septembre, sous le thème Aller un peu plus haut, un peu plus loin, dans nos connaissances et pratiques du Forum ouvert.

Les couleurs automnales et la beauté particulière de l’endroit contribueront certainement à la richesse de l’expérience que nous vous invitons à vivre avec nous.

Nous vous serions reconnaissants de nous aider à diffuser notre invitation. Nous avons trouvé une auberge qui offre plusieurs options d’hébergement, à prix plus que raisonnable.

Nous avons hâte d’accueillir des participants de toute la Francophonie. La date limite d’inscription est le 13 août 2007.

Au plaisir de vous rencontrer à Val-David!

Le comité organisateur

Étienne Beaulieu, Louise Brissette, Marquis Bureau, Diane Gibeault, Roch Landry, Esther Matte

Pour de plus amples renseignements :
Louise Brissette: louisebrissette (a) ipsai.net
ou Roch Landry: roch (a) rochlandry.com

Click here for registration form. (Word)
Click here for complete details. (PDF)

Or www.ipsai.net or www.rochlandry.com

Jo Toepfer, who held the space for the 15th Worldwide Open Space on Open Space on days one and two, writes:

Thank you for support. The thing is over now and I am totally exhausted and (guess what) happy! you will hear more stories…

Andrew Ballance, in a post to the Change Management Blog, writes of the Kyiv OSonOS:

The core of what I achieved in this Open Space was an appreciation for (and maybe even some understanding of) the different frames that other practitioners, some highly experienced, hold.

Andrew also reports that

Our Vikings (Thomas and Eva) presented Lisa Heft’s invitation to host the WOSonOS in 2008 in San Francisco…The generosity of the invitation was completely irresistible…The decision was thus inevitable. In 2008, the WOSonOS will be in San Francisco.

Need some visuals from the space? A few are available here. Thank you Olga Datsko of Lugansk, Ukraine!

We look forward to learning more soon!

I suppose this should really be in French, and maybe it will be reposted that way. But for now I have it in English…

Our invitation to the very first World Open Space on Open Space in French which will take place September 14, 15 and 16 in Val-David near Montreal, Québec, Canada is now available.

The theme is Aller un peu plus haut, un peu plus loin, dans nos connaissances et pratiques du Forum ouvert. (Reaching New Heights in our Knowledge and our Practices of Open Space).

Fall colours and the particular beauty of Val-David will no doubt contribute to a very rich event for all of us.

Please help us in disseminating our invitation. We found an inn proposing a variety of lodging options and prices.

Deadline for registration is August 13, 2007. We look forward to welcoming participants from the world Francophonie.

Warmly,

The Organizing Committee

Étienne Beaulieu, Louise Brissette, Marquis Bureau, Diane Gibeault, Roch Landry, and Esther Matte

For additional information, please contact:

Louise Brissette or Roch Landry