I love the way that we are helping each other understand access and formulate some thoughts here that will lead to more people getting the training and development they feel they need. Thank you so much, David.
My two cents, as Artur would say ---- I love the way you, John, just go ahead and explain the situation and ask for support. And in my own turn, Elena shared with me her dream, I saw every ability to make it possible by calling on my community members, and everybody does what is in their heart or financial scope to do, as is their choice. My perspective from an Open Space trainer experience is that nobody I know ever turns anyone away for lack of funds, most people include some sort of a statement to that fact on their materials, and many try to offer trainings at a price that is balanced between what is affordable and what means something to people at different economic levels. I do, however, ask people who cannot meet the lowest level of payment to pay the most they comfortably can afford, as a way to allow all who need it the same flexibility while providing the site, food and services, which indeed cost money. One of my colleagues offers to help people who ask for scholarship to find sponsorships. It is up to me (I shall only speak for myself) to find ways so that everyone can access my trainings should they have the desire to. That includes a wheelchair-accessible training room, if possible, help with free or low-cost housing nearby, materials available for those with access to technology or not, training experiences designed for visual, oral, verbal and experiential learners, and any other way I can imagine or learn that might allow one more person to join us, teach us, and share with us. And indeed it would include helping that individual who wants to join us to contact OSI to ask if a scholarship or other support would be possible. I have just learned about universal web site information -- some of those thoughts people have put together (ever evolving, I am sure) about how people with differing access to technology and language can receive printed information via the 'net. I bet if we pooled some of those ideas together about physical access, language access, and other forms of access, we would have an enlightening list from which to learn and design. I am starting to design a web site for trainings, and I realize that part of accessibility is sharing with my colleagues links and text in different languages or in other ways tools for widening the access to information about Open Space and trainings. I do welcome from any of you any of this you may wish to share and look forward to your direct or group emails on this. And I definitely see training more people to hold Open Space as the answer, both by training for free (as I do when I individually offer my services pro bono) and by training for shared resources of some sort or other (equals money or mailing list sharing or whatever you imagine). I feel that as a consultant and as a facilitator, my goal is to help people gain or believe in their own skills so they do not need to think of me as the person with all the info. I am, however, happy for them to think of me as one of the people with total belief in them and total support for their success. Let me try my hand at answering some of your questions, Michael...just in the way it works for me. Forgive me if I am interpreting anything you put here incorrectly, but here we go: > where do trainers come from? >From wherever they want to. One of my jobs as a fellow trainer is to extend information into as many different cultures-countries-audiences-age groups-on and on as possible. And to make that information itself as universally accessible and understandable as possible. Whether that is information about trainings or just information about methods so that people can teach themselves. > would we subsidize trainings by trainers who've not hosted one of > harrison's trainings? I would if I felt moved to. I would not if I had no money for this or if I did not feel moved to. Personal responsibility. If OSI decides to support by offering scholarships to my trainings, that would be great. If not, that would be great, too. I know that either way people get to be trained if they want to. > if i offered my own training like birgitt, would i my participants be > eligible for osi scholarships? I would ask if I felt my participants needed this, and it would either be available to them or it wouldn't. I don't see this as preventing anyone from being able to attend my trainings. > what about someone i train who wants to host there own training next > year? They would ask or generate support in a way that felt most appropriate for them. Whomever they asked would try to help them think of funding possibilities. As you can tell, I agree with Michael's thoughts below: > 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. I agree with the following (can you tell I would? ;o) ): > 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. It will. I know it. And she had to make her needs known, which she chose to do. And I chose to create some action in the form of a request. So to me it is all the same passion and personal responsibility stuff. I drive some of you crazy because I am such a process communicator. So here's the 'goal': I support OSI either way because the end is all the same. Personally I vote for supporting people emerging leaders. Although now that I've met Elena (and I know you have seen this too), it is we who are emerging -- she is already there (!). > > for what it's worth, > > michael Yours is worth much more than two cents, Lisa Lisa Heft Berkeley, California, USA lisah...@pacbell.net PS: Lovely to hear from you, dear Michael... * * ========================================================== 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. 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