I would greatly appreciate any words of wisdom any of you may have in combining Open Space and CyberSpace. I am co-chair of an international conference for an organization. It is our annual conference and the association's members are advisors and consultants from many disciplines who serve family owned businesses. The theme is "Continuity and Change: Expanding the Possibilities." We have engaged Harrison Owen to facilitate the last three days of the four day event.
We have also engaged an academic host to create an online conference that will continue the face to face conference in an asynchronous environment. The first stage of online information about the conference is posted at <A HREF="http://ffi.org/2_New/fall98conf.htm";>Conferences</A> (or, if you can't use that link try: http://ffi.org/2_New/fall98conf.htm.) But my question to you has to do with utilizing online resources prior to the conference itself. I have been asked to moderate an online discussion area at the association's web site to answer questions about OS. I am also thinking of creating a bulliten board where people could begin to share ideas they have for breakout sessions. I am hesitant, though, about anything that would take away from the chemistry of OS am wondering if any of you have experimented with this application of online technology with "the marketplace" prior to the face-to-face gathering. I have been in a couple of online OS events and things worked out well, and have lead a few OS events of various lenghts. I am wondering though about mixing the two. Thank you for your thoughts. Joe Paul
