hello dirk, a bit late on this, but here are my notes from the agile/xp conference in 2002... http://michaelherman.com/cgi/wiki.cgi?AgileXpUniverseFacilitatorNotes ...these were originally posted here on oslist. i think this was the first agile/xp conf with an open space track. we did well. more spaces opened as a result. give a ring, if you'd like, to talk more about what happened there and how what you want might be same or different.
best, michael 312-280-7838 On Dec 3, 2007 6:24 PM, Dirk Riehle <d...@riehle.org> wrote: > Hi Deborah, > > thanks! This was very interesting; there is a fair overlap between Agile > and the OOPSLA folks. > > > XPdays NorthAmerica: > > ----------------------- > > We used to run the Opening Circle in parallel to a tutorial. When we > > stopped doing that, the complexion of the event changed. It felt more > > like a party, there was more flow between OS and tutorials, because > > poeple understood the rules of engagement in the (very new to them) > > Open Space area. Now, these are small events, 30 to 50 people. > Not sure I understand. By having the opening circle before the tutorial > (so everyone could attend) people got more comfortable with open space > and it all worked out better? Things got more fluid? > > > Agile conferences: > > ------------------ > > At Agile2006 (1100 participants) the Opening Circle was run opposite > > about twelve other tracks. Turnout was small (20 people?) and very > > disappointing for some of us who attended - we felt OS hadn't been > > given the attention it needed at that event, to let it really energise > > people. Mind you, some great sessions still took place! However, in my > > opinion, this is an antipattern. Making the Opening Circle more of a > > plenary event (maybe only putting one or two events opposite it?) > > might help. Some of us would like to see the whole event opened with > > the Opening Circle, but it's a real conundrum, with 1600 people > > expected at our next event. Multiple, concurrent Opening Circles might > > be fun! We'll see what this year's committee has in mind - I'm not on it. > This was one of my biggest worries that too many competing events drain > the open space not because people value it less but simply because they > don't know what it is! And how beneficial/enjoyable it could be to them. > > So that's why I'm pulling out a whole open space day before the core > conference and in parallel to workshops and tutorials. (At OOPSLA > workshops/tutorials run Sun + Mon, the core conference runs Tue to Thu.) > My hope is I can build up interest before the conference that people > already put down Monday as their open space day. To help them with this, > I'm trying to get recognized research leaders to "sign up" to hold > sessions at the Monday open space day. We want to pre-organize that on a > wiki. I'm not an open space facilitator, I'm just a participant, and I'm > probably quite clueless about the effects of all this. Does anything > speak against the wiki build-up, effectively having an early version of > the wall/open space schedule on a wiki before you see on a wall at the > conference? > > Cheers, > Dirk > > > > > > > Communications Esther Matte wrote: > >> Hello again Dirk, > >> > >> Woke up this morning wondering if it would work to have the wall > >> divided in three parts: the individual scheduled events grouped on > >> say the left part of the wall and the rest open to topics people will > >> put up, the right side being reserved for "new topics" after the > >> opening on the Monday. You would open the space on the Monday, and > >> then people would self-manage for the rest of the week, and closing > >> on the last day. > >> > >> I can see this working in my head with break-out rooms, at least a > >> few for discussions, and one for the News Room and posted reports so > >> that anyone can walk in and read if they wish to, even while someone > >> is presenting in the main hall. Now in real life... any thoughts anyone? > >> > >> Cheers from snow-stormed Verchères :-) > >> > >> Esther > >> > >> At 23:00 2007-12-01, you wrote: > >>> Hello everyone, > >>> > >>> I'm involved with a variety of research conferences and would like > >>> to better understand how you can fit open space into a research > >>> conference with a set time-grid and competing events. I searched the > >>> OSList archives and the web but didn't find anything so I hope it is > >>> ok to ask here. (And a pointer to a previous discussion would be a > >>> perfect and much appreciated answer.) > >>> > >>> The research conferences I'm involved in typically have a fixed time > >>> grid with two morning slots of 90min (30min coffee break in > >>> between), lunch, and two afternoon slots of 90min (also 30min coffee > >>> break in between). We have had open space at two such conferences > >>> now, and in both cases it worked, but open space remained in > >>> competition with "the regular program" i.e. set talks. We tried to > >>> schedule the open space opening and ending to be without competing > >>> event but that made them very early (late) i.e. at 8am and at 5pm. > >>> The reason open space worked was certainly the excellent > >>> facilitators we got, but also the enthusiasm of folks at these about > >>> 100 people conferences. > >>> > >>> I'm trying to bring this now to a much larger research conference, > >>> which has > 1000 people attending. I only have control over "my > >>> track" but that track has considerable influence. Open space is > >>> viewed as an experiment as it has never been done before at this > >>> conference. I get one day with no competing events (Monday) and then > >>> three days of the main conference (Tue-Thu) with lots of competing > >>> events. On Monday we can structure the day the way we want it, on > >>> Tue-Thu we have the aforementioned 90min sessions with coffee breaks > >>> and lunch in between. Typical problems I expect and wonder how to > >>> deal with them: > >>> > >>> - plenty of folks who attend don't know much about open space > >>> - many folks will show up in the middle of the day or just 30min > >>> late not knowing how it works expecting to participate > >>> - the competing events will make people come and go in a disruptive > >>> way (but maybe that's just the law of the two feet :-) > >>> > >>> This year (2008), we have two specific additional challenges > >>> > >>> - we have no idea how many people will actually show up for the open > >>> space part > >>> - space is at a premium, we may have to share a large hall so I > >>> wonder whether that's disruptive as well > >>> > >>> Also, does it make sense to have open space afternoons (rather than > >>> full days)? I'm thinking of reducing event competition by having > >>> open space in the afternoon only on the three busy days > >>> Tuesday-Thursday. > >>> > >>> The event will take place in Oct 2008 and we'll try to be smart > >>> about it until then to take some of the guesswork out of the > >>> equation. I.e. early engagement like inquiring about expected open > >>> space participation at registration time. > >>> > >>> Also, I'm a big fan of wikis, and intend to build up buzz and > >>> pre-organization on a wiki leading up to the conference itself. > >>> > >>> Any thoughts would be appreciated. > >>> > >>> Dirk > >>> > >>> > >>> PS: We will be looking for a facilitator. Obviously, this is a paid > >>> job, though the research conference itself is not rich. Here a first > >>> blurp: > >>> > >>> Open Space Facilitation Engagement Oct 2008 Nashville TN > >>> > >>> For OOPSLA 2008, we are looking for an experienced open space > >>> facilitator near Nashville, TN. Your engagement will be to > >>> facilitate one full (and hopefully intense) day of open space + > >>> several half days. Part of the job is explaining open space to those > >>> who don't know it yet---which we expect to be many as this is the > >>> first attempt of having open space at OOPSLA. OOPSLA is a >1000 > >>> people computer science (research) conference, but we expect a > >>> significantly smaller number of people to participate in the open > >>> space part only (current estimate is between 100 and 300). Location > >>> is Nashville Convention Center, time and date is October 2008, with > >>> initial and occasional consultations before then to prepare for the > >>> meeting. For further questions, please contact Dirk Riehle, > >>> d...@riehle.org > >>> > >>> -- > >>> Phone: + 1 (650) 215 3459 > >>> Web: http://www.riehle.org > >>> > >>> > >>> * > >>> * > >>> ========================================================== > >>> 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 > >>> > >>> __________ Information NOD32 2697 (20071202) __________ > >>> > >>> Ce message a ete verifie par NOD32 Antivirus System. > >>> http://www.nod32.com > >>> > >> > >> * > >> * > >> ========================================================== > >> 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 > >> > >> > > > > -- > > > > Deborah Hartmann > > Agile Process Improvement Coach > > Lead Editor for InfoQ.com/Agile > > deborah.hartmann.net > > 416.996.4337 > > > > "My advice is to do it by the book, > > get good at the practices, > > then do as you will. > > Many people want to skip to step three. > > How do they know? " -- Ron Jeffries > > * * ========================================================== > > 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 > > -- > Phone: + 1 (650) 215 3459 > Web: http://www.riehle.org > > > * > * > ========================================================== > 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 > -- Michael Herman Michael Herman Associates http://www.michaelherman.com http://www.openspaceworld.org http://www.chicagoconservationcorps.org 312-280-7838 (mobile) * * ========================================================== 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