Phew...."one less thing to do"! Never imagined how important those words might be when I had the crazy idea not so long ago to humbly or brashly throw hat in the ring to have Florida be considered to host the next WOSonOS.
*With a smile and a full heart I first want to say to one and all: "Hey if you want to come and share some space, put your toes in the sand, be with some folks who are doing some amazing things in their community, with family and friends, at work, in the world and many other places, we invite you to WOSonOS in Florida from May 16th to May 19th. We haven't got it too planned yet but we're a bunch of us who are pretty excited about it. We've got the place in mind (St. Petersburg, Florida) and we're imagining wonderful conversations in Open Space with great food, a bit of music and dancing in the evening and just a plain good time sharing, learning, imagining, listening, caring, pondering and connecting around our shared passion for Open Space and Life." *Our idea is to have it be simple and easy in a spirit of whoever comes comes. There's lots of people we're planning to invite -- everyone on this OS list of course plus others who experienced Open Space and loved it, some who are using Open Space (our Technology friends for example) and then the diverse people who have heard of Open Space and feel the pull to know more about it because they too believe in shared leadership, self-organizing and high performance. Yes in our "one less thing to do" planning, we'll be doing the basics as we would if we were inviting people to our home with places to sleep, food available, a room (s) to meet*, *info about how to get there*, *options and choices for different budgets, etc. When people arrive, we're hoping we will all just make ourselves at home, welcoming others and each other, letting our two feet take us where we want to go. *So what we want to say is**:* "We'd LOVE to have you here. Check your schedule, reserve the dates, start checking the Tampa or Orlando airport for flights (no big rush, prices should remain cheap cause it's off-season), Google St. Petersburg to see how beautiful the area is, and just picture yourself enjoying the experience of wonderful new space opening up with people who are passionate about so much, who are taking responsibility and making a difference and who are all prepared to be surprised at whatever emerges. *NOW YOU CAN STOP READING FROM HERE IF YOU WANT**! *And if so, we will let you know the details so you can make your plans, pack your bags and throwin some sunscreen, flip flops and bathing suits. ******************************************************* What I want to say next is that I have not hardly read all that has been written this past week about WOSonOS, past, present and future. After London, I jumped back into my life, enriched by my time there. A big part of me does not want to read it, at least for now, though I honor all who are generously sharing, and contributing wisdom and opinions. So in the spirit of "one less thing to do", for now what I want to simply do is get the ball rolling, slowly, gently and lovingly with all those folks who I had called, Skyped and emailed about 3 to 4 weeks ago, who wanted to be part of this. If I rallied such a big group (30 or so as a Global and Local team), it's because I pictured we would have the excuse to do a few others things in the process of imagining who might want to come that we'd like to invite to Florida. And those few others things are about exploring how we can connect in different ways beyond our wonderful OSlist using the many new technologies available to us that may perhaps open up new spaces to share who we are and what we are doing in ways where we can hear each other, see each other and feel each other across the miles. Somewhere in between our OS list and the OSonOS in different countries and the WOSonOS, perhaps we might be inventing and enhancing in the virtual world new ways to connect more often. I hope you will all forgive me if I decide for now to trust that we are planning into 2013 with the cellular knowledge of all those who have come before us, starting with an empty wide open space where everything is possible to be co-created for the next WOSonOS. Prior to stepping forward, I did review the 32 page document pulled together by Lisa Heft, our wonderful Access Queen, which contained the pearls of wisdom of many WOSonOS past. Daunting I'll admit but somehow I felt as I do now that having the joy and courage to host this with others will be more a "pull from the future" than a "detailed review of the past". I just want to jump into the "now" of it and delight in where it will take us... picturing and trusting that many others will be jumping in along the way. Whatever happens, happens! To help on this journey of "one less thing to do", I will be reading and recommending to others, over the course of the next 6 to 7 months, a few books that a dear Open Space friend recommended last week with the suggestion that it should be savored. - lao tzu: tao te ching "An English Version by Ursula K. Le Guin" - Do Nothing & Do Everything" An Illustrated New Taoism written and illustrated by Qiguang Zhao Who knows what may emerge out of all of this empty co-creative planning space! Perhaps a bit of silence and a soothing coming home to who we are and all that is which we love that we call Open Space, which really cannot be named cause it's just life. In closing, breathing in and breathing out, please know that if you don't hear back about WOSonOS 2013 in the next little while, it's cause, we're getting the train out of the station with a few things to do before we can invite plus there is that nagging little thing called "earning my living" that all falls into the mix. With a whimsical smile, buckets of appreciation for all who are excited and want to help, and a happy heart going into this, I say THANK YOU! Suzanne -- Suzanne Daigle NuFocus Strategic Group 7159 Victoria Circle University Park, FL 34201 FL 941-359-8877; CT 203-722-2009 www.nufocusgroup.com s.dai...@nufocusgroup.com twitter @suzannedaigle
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