Hi Lisa and everyone,
These are very interesting exchanges. There is no question that with the principle of following passion and the law of the 2 feet, people can take initiative to go wherever they feel like being. My question is more about caring for ''community''. Can the world OST community and its members as part of that community be best cared for and nurtured if its place of connection are more and more dispersed? With the multiplication of places for conversations, can some core common place or market place stay, not only alive, but healthy and vibrant to support ongoing learning for the new and the not so new? The question becomes where can I post my topic with a safe hope that I will find a critical mass of people who have an interest for the OST theme and who, with their diversity, can share a richness of thinking? How different meetings (conversation sites) can one attend regularly at the same time before becoming overwhelmed as well as dealing with the many learning curves on the technological side? Can we, in the course of running around to different places (see a sample at end of this email *), loose the core conversation place of the community, a place where you know you can easily find others of that big community? Maybe Darwin has the answer: a core OST community will end up where it can best evolve and that will eventually be apparent to all. It's still worth reflecting what we want to influence in this evolution because we do have a part in influencing evolution. Lisa you say: It's the three of us saying 'so we keep feeling / hearing other say' about a resource they and we want -and- 'so let's go play! It's great that you are attending to what has meaning for you. I hear from this that playing in the other existing places for conversation (e.g.s below) has limitations you want to overcome. So to help me at least decide where I may want to focus my energy and resources which have their limitations given other demands, can you describe the added benefits of this new place you are inviting the OS community to go to and to multiply? There may be very good reasons to do it but I would like to have a clearer picture of the new possibilities of this new invitation. * SAMPLE of OST conversation sites out there: - On the international scene, the OS List is already answering a need for many, to connect and share information, advice and support. The information is always current as it arrives instantly by itself in our email InBox - you don't have to decide which of the many other OST web sites you will open today. Many say how it is already a challenge to find time to read everything that is of interest to them on the List. - Other offerings like: Harrison Owen's Blog and web, Link-In OST - The international French blog open to anyone around the world. See http://fosurfo.blogspot.com/ - created 2 years ago by the Regroupement francophone du Forum ouvert (RFFO) just after the French international OSonOS in Quebec. - OSWorld.org web where we are invited to contribute - many internet searchers transit through it and we're invited to visit the web sites of many who developed materials on OST. - Public places that we're invited as a community to keep current on OST knowledge e.g.: World Map, World Scape, World News, Wikipedia, - Just around Open Space Institute Canada Institute (OSIC) we have 3 forms of networks for conversations and information not counting a growing number of individual websites rich with OS information listed on OSIC's website. Looking for insights on the future, in the spirit of having a healthy OS community, Sincerely, Diane * * ========================================================== 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
