Doug (and all those looking for funding) -- I know it is usual to seek funding first so that you can do the work. But I have found that the reverse order works as well or better, and with a lot less problems. Do the work first, and then see what shows up.
I guess that seems a little bravado, but there is some method in the madness. First off, most funding sources (foundations/government) are so constrained by rules and timetables that by the time you actually get some money out of them the issue you wanted to work has resolved, or so transformed that what you were going to do (and got funded for)is either undoable or maybe even counter productive. To the extent that you are going to use Open Space in whatever work you propose, the speed, simplicity, and economy of OST is such that I have never found money to be a problem. In other words, when your up front organization time is about zero, and site costs of the same, or similar, magnitude (and this is where most of the out of pocket expenses come from) -- who needs money? Just Do it! And once done -- you are then in an excellent position to point to something real and go after funding for subsequent iterations and/or maintenance. I grant you that there is a certain lag time between your effort and compensation, but your level of exposure is quite small. True you have invested some time but you might ask yourself whether it is better to spend that time anxietizing and perseverating over the availability of funding -- or take the same time and do something useful. If you have to account for this time in some way, then think of it as an investment in the future, recognizing that not all investments pay off. Probably most don't (pay off), but the experience itself can be more than sufficient pay off. My personal experience is that I always learn something which inevitably finds application somewhere, somehow, sometime. It is also useful to remember sometimes that your person represents something like 1/6.5 billionth of the available human capital. Sort of keeps things in perspective :-) Just to give you some idea of what I am talking about, I offer the several "OSONOS-by-the Sea" gatherings I have hosted. I grant it doesn't quite fit, but all the elements are there, I think. In terms of order of magnitude, there have been (as you may know) two such gatherings. The first entertained some 40 people, and this year we had over 60 -- and in both cases we had a 3 day affair. The conference fee was an exorbitant $25 which turned out to be more than sufficient to the point that we gave most of it away to the Access Queen. We had great space (local church, $300) and a great final day picnic ($250 including an open bar). Organizing time for me was probably on the order of 6 hours per conference, which counts answering emails and creating a webpage invitation. And then of course I had the superb pleasure and privilege of being with most excellent friends and colleagues from around the world for three whole days of magnificent conversation and community. The long term pay off in terms of ideas generated, sharpened, and/or discarded, to say nothing of relationships made or remade is unknowable, of course, but if past experience is any indicator, it will be huge. Just about now I can hear some folks saying -- "That's all very well, Harrison -- but you are Harrison." True of course, which may give me some advantage in the present moment. But it is also true that I have ALWAYS done things like this and there was a time when being Harrison didn't amount to a hill of beans. Saying that doing something like OSONOS-by-the-Sea requires some very special person to do it makes as much sense to me as saying that only a very special, highly trained, globally known person could facilitate an Open Space. That, as we all know, is bunk. Anybody with a good head and a good heart qualifies. Just Do it! Harrison Harrison Owen 7808 River Falls Drive Potomac, Maryland 20854 Phone 301-365-2093 Skype hhowen Open Space Training www.openspaceworld.com Open Space Institute www.openspaceworld.org Personal website www.ho-image.com OSLIST: To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives Visit: www.listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html -----Original Message----- From: OSLIST [mailto:osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu] On Behalf Of douglas germann Sent: Monday, November 19, 2007 8:27 PM To: osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu Subject: Re: more funding community work? Harrison, Kerry, Peggy, Jeff, Raffi and all-- Sorry to have gone quiet on all of you...but you did it to me. Your responses on this topic have sent me off into silence to ponder the meaning of it all. Harrison, following your nose sounds like such a small thing, but it is profound. It tells me I have to be more willing to risk telling the story of conversation and open space. As Peggy asks, is there a money trail in that scent somewhere, enough that will support the work that needs doing? Kerry, I do not know if there is a Roundtree-like foundation in the US, but I suspect there are several. Perhaps someone can help us pinpoint some likely suspects. Anyone? You say "Public decision making and politics clearly are failing" and this reminds me of something Len Traubman (of Living Room Dialogues) says of the peace process, dialogue and building connections between peoples--that it is something of which governments are incapable. So let's take your idea, Kerry, a half step further: Let us package conversation as the forgotten key to the great human work, and then find a champion who will help match it up to funding sources. (Are there people who do this?) Or find some worthy cause which is looking for an effective way to engage people in its work and partner. :- Doug. * * ========================================================== osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu ------------------------------ To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs: http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist * * ========================================================== osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu ------------------------------ To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs: http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist