Bruce, Peg, and all, I have done some experimenting with software that might serve the purpose of making internet connections between Open Space locations. For one reason I think it could work very well, for another reason I am afraid it might not work at all. Which is why I am a little reluctant to give it a try in real life. So far, my experiments have been limited to fiddling with the software. I post this to the list to get your opinions on this and maybe find an opportunity to put it to practice.
It is standard software and it does what it promises to do. That is the reason why I think it could work. It is called forum software and there is an implementation of it running on my website. It is in Dutch but if you want to give it a try, I have opened a special experimental space for the purpose. The idea of a forum is that it is a space where anyone can open a topic and post a message about it. Others can react and contribute to the discussion. Every discussion thread functions as a small group in a break out room discussing a topic. It can be found at: http://www.auryn.nl/forum. When you enter the forum called Experimental Open Space, you can click on a topic to read what was said there, choose "post reactie" to add your thoughts to what is there already, or click on "nieuw onderwerp" to start a new thread of discussion. See? Dutch is not so hard after all ;-) The reason that makes me think it might not work at all is the fact that the software allows participants to exchange just words. Words are an important part of our communication, but especially in Open Space, I think we communicate much more than just our words. A lot happens because we are together and because of the way we are together. The presence of the facilitator, the fact that we open and close in a circle, the difference between butterflies, bumblebees and the others, much of all that is lost when we digitize the communication. Another thing is the fact that Open Space usually works best when it is compacted into a few consecutive days, in which the OS is the main thing that happens. A forum on a web site is a place where you spend a few minutes or half an hour on a day and go on with your usual business the rest of the day. The way I think it would work best is when there is a real physical Open Space going on in a few locations, with each location having its own facilitator who opens and keeps the space. Each location would have a few PC's linked to the internet. The results of each break out group could then be posted to the forum and people could also take part in the discussions in the forum between sessions or while bumblebeeing or butterflying around. That would also open the opportunity for folks who can not attend physically to take part in the forum, but the whole thing would be carried by the locations that do have a real-life OS. I would really like to set up a thing like that, if there would be an opportunity for it. I am eager to find out what you all think of it. While writing all this, I become more and more excited about the idea. I should be doing all sorts of other very important things, but somehow I could not get this out of my mind. Obviously there is passion involved... ;-) Cheers Koos ------------ koos de heer auryn management advies utrecht, netherlands mailto:koos...@auryn.nl http://www.auryn.nl/