Hello OS List People,
I've been reading for several months, enjoying learning, and now I have
a question.
A friend of mine, Melinda Salazar, teaches at the public high school in
Durham NH, the home of UNH. (She also teaches a few courses at UNH.)
Her field is peace studies and sustainable developement. She and
another teacher at the HS put on a "Teaching Peace" one-day conference
last year, in April, aimed at NH teachers, and secondarily for parents,
activists etc. from New England. There were the usual keynotes,
workshops, round tables, and I think there were about 85 participants.
It felt good - challenging, new connections, strong spirit - and
they've decided to do it again this April.
I was a participant last year, and she and I have been talking a lot
about the plans for this year. I am not a decision maker re what she
decided to do, but have been sending her tidbits from the OS list,
which she has appreciated. It ocurred to me today to ask directly for
advice. (My work is in community organizing, staffing a regional
coalition: www.keysregion.org and we have used a variety of processes
in our work, but not yet OS, though one of our core coalition members
uses it.)
The question: Melinda and her co-organizer are considering using OS for
the April 2006 Teaching Peace conference. Is it appropriate for this
sort of event?
The day is about 6-7 hours long, on a Saturday, at the HS or possibly
at UNH. With complete agreement that longer would be better (I've
experienced a full 16-hr Future Search, and really "get" the power of
working over a 3-day span), the firm plan for this year is a Saturday
in April. Does it make sense to try OS for all or part of the day? (I
read with interest the "taste of OS" emails a while back.)
I just read the part about "keynote etc. the day before, then OS for
1-3 days works well" -- would a keynote 9-10am, then OS until 3pm, then
a closing circle work? Any suggestions?
Some of the concerns re doing 100% OS: If there is no keynote, no names
or topics on the flyer, will teachers, parents, and peace activists be
attracted to come? This is not a required "in-service" training, so
there is no pre-set audience. It's not the business corporate culture,
where people are used to going away to a hotel for 2-3 days for events.
The participants are largely teachers who are tired by Friday night,
and it's appealing for many of them to come and listen rather than
expect to offer something themselves.
The conference is low budget (the teachers make and sell Teaching Peace
t-shirts to fund it, and there is a registration fee, something like
$15 for the day), so hiring a professional OS designer seems unlikely.
Thanks for any advice that might be offered on the list,
Diane Brandon
Eliot, Maine
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