hello all, not sure i understand the need for additional funding for trainings. the short answer to "why so expensive?" is that that is the going rate for this kind of training. another answer: "because that's the price the organizers choose."
a bit longer answer might be "they're not always that expensive, sometimes the organizers lower the price." as a host of the chicago trainings with harrison, i always considered it a privilege to be a part of the open space story in that sort of way. i never turned anyone away for lack of funds. my question about the funding discussion dave opens now is this: is the funding for the participants or the hosts? hosting has its own benefits, and those are not all non-cash. running a training brings credibility that can be turned into cash in the larger marketplace, over time, with more and more training participants and with client organizations. providing funding to participants seems more like subsidizing would-be trainers and puts us in a mode of certifying trainers in a way that we have always resisted certifying practitioners. i think this is a slippery slope and one we need not attempt. if what we want is more trainings, we need more trainers. how would we feel about buying plane tickets for all those who would like to be trainers to go to potomac maryland and attend a train the trainer course by harrison. and then, of course, there is the question of what he would say that he hasn't already been saying? seems it comes down to two sayings for me... (1) we really do live in open space (meaning it's not just a method we use here and there, but it's an approach to living and working in human systems, which we teach and share and spread by how we are everyday) and (2) that passion needs to be bounded by responsibility (which leads me to ask what we are most passionate about here). if our passion is for more trainings available to more people, then we need to support an increase in the number of folks who feel ready, willing and able to teach others directly. yes, one way to do that is to subsidize trainings, thus raising the effective average price paid for trainings, making the offering of such events more profitable and attractive. this seems more likely to raise existing trainers' incomes rather than create new trainers. harrison's efforts to expand the ranks of the trainers seems much more direct, more effective, and more in line with our shared practice. and then i come back to my sense that the offering of trainings, with or without harrison, is a privelege that has real, and economic, benefits on its own. so how do we create more training opportunities by creating more trainers? where do trainers come from? would we subsidize trainings by trainers who've not hosted one of harrison's trainings? if i offered my own training like birgitt, would i my participants be eligible for osi scholarships? what about someone i train who wants to host there own training next year? in the end, i think we support trainings best by supporting trainers like laurel who came forward some time ago saying, "i need to become a trainer quickly, how can i do this?" we offered advice and resources and story. she did her work and brought it back to share. viola, a new trainer. if other emerging leaders like elena come forward, or are brought forward by friends like lisa heft, with real needs for supporting an emerging practice, then i think we do ourselves a much greater service by funding those. would be great to have her in san francisco this spring. i hope her dream comes true. for what it's worth, michael p.s. chris weaver emailed me earlier this week asking "why so quiet" these days. was nice to have somebody checking in on me. guess i'm not so quiet anymore. sorry i couldn't be more concise here. <grin> -- Michael Herman 300 West North Avenue #1105 Chicago IL 60610 312-280-7838 voice 312-280-7837 fax http://www.michaelherman.com -evolution at work - online book on open space -michael herman associates - consulting -globalchicago.net - online open space -websites worth visiting - community -michael's open notebook - journal mailto:mher...@globalchicago.net "(David Koehler)" wrote: > Dear OST Friends: > > A discussion took place at the Open Space Institute - US board meeting > (via > telephone) last month that is worth sharing. In fact, I took on the > responsibility to convey this discussion. It had to do with > accessibility to > OST training programs. I began the discussion by asking the question, > "Why > are the training sessions for OST usually so expensive?" > > As we talked about this issue, a more important question came out, > which was > how to make training opportunities more accessible for people > everywhere. > The concern I have is, if we recognize a need to be more inclusive in > bringing people into the OST community, then how do we provide more > access to > training? And cost is certainly one of the barriers we must overcome. > > The issue of inclusiveness was one of the prominent themes of the > Berlin > OSonOS this past fall. So the challenge is not just for any single > country, > but a challenge worldwide. > > OSI-US has made a commitment to providing help in making OST more > available > to people and groups everywhere who may need assistance. In our > membership > renewal letter that will soon be emailed out, we have stated the > following > guidelines for granting assistance: > > "We are setting aside funds to offer assistance for a variety of > things > related to open space. Whether it is providing books or helping to > secure a > facilitator to do training, we can be of help. The goals developed > are as > follows: > > · To support under-served areas > · To support involvement in open space > · To leverage recipients action and resources with OSI-US actions and > funds > · To have commitments from recipients to share the stories of their > OST > experiences." > > We would ask that anyone who can help us improve upon this effort, > please do > so. Raising and dispensing funds is just one idea for making training > > opportunities more accessible to people everywhere. What else might > we be > doing? > > Thank you, > > David Koehler > Member, OSI-US Board > * * ========================================================== osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu Visit: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html =========================================================== osl...@egroups.com To subscribe, 1. Visit: http://www.egroups.com/group/oslist 2. Sign up -- provide an email address, and choose a login ID and password 3. Click on "Subscribe" and follow the instructions To unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of osl...@egroups.com: 1. Visit: http://www.egroups.com/group/oslist 2. Sign in and Proceed