Amen to the time consuming nature of "invitations". Of course, if you don't have a discrete list with an established relationship to each member, the material nature of the activity isn't "invitation", but marketing and promotion... I haven't worked on a public event where the promotion was not the hardest part.
Cheers *John Baxter* *CoCreate Adelaide Facilitator, Director of Realise consultancy* CoCreateADL.com <http://cocreateadl.com/localgov%E2%80%8B> | jsbaxter.com.au <http://www.jsbaxter.com.au/> 0405 447 829 | @jsbaxter_ <http://twitter.com/jsbaxter_> *City Grill— An Election Forum More Magnificent Than Any Ever Seen <http://citygrill.eventbrite.com.au>!, Saturday 18 October 2014Connect with your candidates, get your voice heard by joining with others in your community, and Influence the future of the city* On Thu, Oct 16, 2014 at 3:31 AM, Peggy Holman via OSList < oslist@lists.openspacetech.org> wrote: > I’d echo Christine’s observations about infrastructure. So much of that is > something that you can take for granted in an organization and requires > some thought when dealing with public settings. > > A couple other distinctions I’ve noticed: > > Organizational events are high context. A calling question is asked within > an existing culture. That’s both a blessing and a curse. It means that > there’s much that doesn’t need explaining. And it means there are > unconscious habits of relating and behaving present. Not bad. Just the > territory. > > Examples: I was recently with a group that had an internal clock for half > an hour meetings. It was interesting watching their rhythm shift over the > course of the Open Space. For that same event, I spent about 10 minutes > with the leadership team before we started encouraging them to be > themselves and participate, like everyone else. They bring a unique and > valuable perspective, as do others. And their voices carry a weight they > might not appreciate because of their place in the hierarchy. So if they > found themselves the center of attention, I suggested that it’s a good time > to ask a question that gives the focus back to the group. Or use the law of > two feet and go elsewhere. > > Public events don’t have the context of an existing culture. So the > calling question may have a much wider variation in meaning to people who > come. And there may be fewer existing relationships and norms. Again, not > bad. Just different. > > Many years ago I was part of a team that did a public event with a calling > question so broad that people had multiple interpretations of it. The > question: *How do we support a movement toward the conscious evolution of > increasingly conscious social systems? *(See > http://www.thegreatstory.org/ev-salon2.html). A number of people on this > list were part of it. People showed up because they were attracted to the > hosts or something about the question spoke to them. It was wild, fun, and > creative. And there was a demand on the second day to hear from the > organizers what we meant by the question, just for more context. > > The other thing I’ve learned is that the process of invitation can be much > more intense for public events. In organizations, the bulk of participation > is internal. While there are certainly issues with ensuring a spirit of > invitation, who to invite and how to reach them is pretty straightforward. > > For public events, I find that if you want a diversity of folks, inviting > can be the most time consuming activity of all. I did some work with the > Forest Service years ago to look at the future of the forests in the San > Bernardino Mountains in California. They were heading into a rough fire > season, felt they’d done everything they could do to prepare. While they > had the public’s attention, they wanted to look to the future, 50 years > out. We worked with them to identify the range of people who cared, > including state, local, federal, and regional government, community > organizations, chamber of commerce, insurance companies (small, but > influential), ranchers who leased land in the national forests, > environmental groups, and on and on. Getting the word out to all these > folks took some thought. > > Peggy > > > > > _________________________________ > Peggy Holman > Executive Director > Journalism that Matters > 15347 SE 49th Place > Bellevue, WA 98006 > 425-746-6274 > www.journalismthatmatters.net > www.peggyholman.com > Twitter: @peggyholman > JTM Twitter: @JTMStream > > Enjoy the award winning Engaging Emergence: Turning Upheaval into > Opportunity <http://www.engagingemergence.com> > Check out my series on what's emerging in the news & information ecosystem > <http://www.journalismthatmatters.net/the_emerging_news_and_information_eco_system> > > > > > > > > > On Oct 15, 2014, at 8:43 AM, Christine Whitney Sanchez via OSList < > oslist@lists.openspacetech.org> wrote: > > Daniel and all, > > In my experience, public events have the same buzz and meaningful results > as an in-organization OST. I’ve facilitated a number of them that were > sponsored by a group of organizations in the community. For instance, Vibrant > Phoenix <http://vibrantphx.com/next-actions/top-ideas/>, was a very > productive economic development OST, sponsored by two mayors of large > municipalities and several local businesses. One of the business sponsors > agreed to be the contact for folks who wanted to take their “actionable > ideas” to the next level. However, there was no budget and no > infrastructure to really keep folks connected the the ideas they cared the > most about. > > This is where the public open spaces generally fall short. Because the > ongoing action is not the core mission of any of these organizations, it is > hoped that the participants will self-organize going forward. With very > few exceptions, this does not happen. I believe that sponsorship for the > work after the OST is what is called for. > > The Collective Impact > <http://www.ssireview.org/blog/entry/channeling_change_making_collective_impact_work> > model > speaks to this. It’s nothing new, really, but does represent a simple way > to talk about the necessary conditions for sustaining collective action. I > now include my version of this model when I talk with potential sponsors to > shine the light beyond the meeting so that we can discuss their intentions > for providing backbone support for self-organized action going forward. > > I especially love public Open Space events and look forward to working > with sponsors who see the meeting as merely the first small step in > collaborative action. There is so much potential! > > Warm wishes from a sunny autumn morning in the rain-greened desert, > > Christine > <clip_image002.png> > > Christine Whitney Sanchez, M.C. > Phoenix, AZ, USA • +1.480.759.0262 > www.innovationpartners.com > > Facebook <https://www.facebook.com/ChristineWhitneySanchez> | LinkedIn > <https://www.linkedin.com/in/christinewhitneysanchez> | Twitter > <https://twitter.com/CWhitneySanchez> > > On Oct 15, 2014, at 6:33 AM, Daniel Mezick via OSList < > oslist@lists.openspacetech.org> wrote: > > Greetings To All, > > I notice that there are many big differences between > public-conference-type OST events, and OST events arranged for > organizations. > > Do you also notice this? Maybe I am imagining this....just making stuff > up... > > ...maybe not. In many key dimensions, I experience these differences as > striking. Even disturbing. > > > > And so I have been poking around inside the GUIDE (3rd edition) and I > notice that, in some spots, the implication is that the discussion is about > a public event. Up to page 18 for example, this implication is clear: > > > <THE GUIDE PAGE 18> > > Working With The Client if you ARE NOT the Sponsor > > "To this point I have assumed that you (the reader) will be the sponsor > and facilitator of the Open Space, and therefore *it is your decision as > to whether or not to proceed*...(*emphasis added.*) > > </THE GUIDE PAGE 18> > > > > My current belief is that having the same person in the Sponsor role > **and** the Facilitator role is probably a very bad idea for an OST event > *inside > an organization*. For the typical public-conference event on the other > hand, this seems to work just fine. Kinda like a Barcamp or Unconference.... > > > Another current belief I hold is that OST is the essential tool for > creating "Development and Transformation in Organizations". It is best > suited for use in organizations. > > It is interesting to note how the Barcamp and/or "Unconference" formats > seem to get the same or as-good results as Open Space, in the public > conference setting. > > Not so inside organizations! In fact, as of now, I don't think Barcamp or > Unconference has any chance whatsoever at being effective in bringing about > Development and Transformation in Organizations the way Open Space can. > Something about the Sponsor? > > Daniel > > > -- > > Daniel Mezick, President > > New Technology Solutions Inc. > > (203) 915 7248 (cell) > > Bio <http://newtechusa.net/dan-mezick/>. Blog > <http://newtechusa.net/blog/>. Twitter > <http://twitter.com/#%21/danmezick/>. > > Examine my new book: The Culture Game > <http://newtechusa.net/about/the-culture-game-book/>: Tools for the Agile > Manager. > > Explore Agile Team Training > <http://newtechusa.net/services/agile-scrum-training/> and Coaching. > <http://newtechusa.net/services/agile-scrum-coaching/> > > Explore the Agile Boston <http://newtechusa.net//user-groups/ma/> > Community. > _______________________________________________ > OSList mailing list > To post send emails to OSList@lists.openspacetech.org > To unsubscribe send an email to oslist-le...@lists.openspacetech.org > To subscribe or manage your subscription click below: > http://lists.openspacetech.org/listinfo.cgi/oslist-openspacetech.org > > _______________________________________________ > OSList mailing list > To post send emails to OSList@lists.openspacetech.org > To unsubscribe send an email to oslist-le...@lists.openspacetech.org > To subscribe or manage your subscription click below: > http://lists.openspacetech.org/listinfo.cgi/oslist-openspacetech.org > > > > _______________________________________________ > OSList mailing list > To post send emails to OSList@lists.openspacetech.org > To unsubscribe send an email to oslist-le...@lists.openspacetech.org > To subscribe or manage your subscription click below: > http://lists.openspacetech.org/listinfo.cgi/oslist-openspacetech.org > >
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