This is just bloomin' fantastic and open space! Outrageously wonderful! Well done and do keep us posted on the developments.
Warm wishes Amanda Amanda Bucklow Independent Commercial Mediator http://www.amandabucklow.co.uk > On 26 Mar 2015, at 14:29, Lucas Cioffi via OSList > <oslist@lists.openspacetech.org> wrote: > > Hi All, > > This is cross-posted on the NCDD listserv, and I'm sharing it with the OS > List, because-- even though it's not about OST-- it's about opening space, > and I welcome your thoughts! > > I was partially inspired by Michael Herman's quote from four days ago: >> "the other thing i do is never set out big circles in the breakout spaces. >> i set three chairs to mark each breakout space, with more chairs piled to >> the sides. the three chairs are pushed right together close, their front >> edges forming a closed triangle. set this way, they are impossible to use. >> the first person has to move them to whatever distance feels right to them. >> after three people come, everyone needs to move them to make room for >> others. in this way, i dictate nothing. they literally open the space at >> the center of each breakout group. i've done it this way every time since >> my first time, when i set big chairs and watched some small groups squirm in >> spaces that were too big for them." > > > I happen to live in Charlottesville, Virginia where a recent violent arrest > of a student and race-related protests have gotten some national media > attention. Over the past two days I tried an experiment in creating pop-up > civic space for dialogue. > > This is designed as an alternative to how Starbucks conducted its Race > Together initiative last week which has had mixed reviews. I wrote up my > thoughts below and attached some photos so you can get a feel for the > experience. > > My goals were to "bring dialogue to people" and to create a simple, > repeatable process that others might improve or replicate, even without > resources. > > This is not to detract from formal and well-resourced dialogue programs. I > believe there is also a vital need for public dialogue in the margins like > this when no resources are available. > > I'm wondering what your thoughts and suggestions are for improvement. > -- > Lucas Cioffi > Co-Founder, QiqoChat > Charlottesville, VA > 917-528-1831 > > > > > Note: The article and full size photos are here: http://americantownhalls.org > > The American Townhall on Anything > Over the past few years, I've worked with a few volunteers to experiment with > different methods for having productive discussions on difficult topics like > politics. > Our current effort is The American Townhall on Anything, a playful yet > important opportunity to connect with fellow Americans for meaningful > conversation. > > The goal for this experiment is to create "pop-up civic space" where people > can have productive political discussions. This effort is similar to open > source software; no one owns it, and anyone can build on it and modify it to > make it work for their community. > > There is no official organization making this happen. These are just ideas > that we hope will catch on, evolve, and adapt as they grow to have greater > impact. > > You are invited to take these ideas, improve them, and build on them. Here's > what we've learned so far: > > Day 1, March 24th > > With my dad visiting from out of town, I wanted to have some fun, meet some > people, and help him get the feel for the community. I've been thinking > about doing something like this for a few weeks now, and (finally!) I had > someone who would sit there with me so I don't look so alone. Thanks, Pops! > > We took my four dining room chairs and walked them over to Charlottesville's > charming Downtown Pedestrian Mall. With some paper and tape I put some signs > on the back of the chairs such as the one you can read above. > > Using indoor dining room chairs wasn't intentional (I didn't have any other > chairs), however they probably helped to catch people's attention because > they were both unusual and inviting. > > My father and I just started talking about topics that were important to us. > We had two open seats and people would read the signs and drop in to join us > for some conversation from time to time. > > Over the course of two hours, we met all types of great folks with > interesting stories to share. We talked about the weather. We talked about > race, religion, politics, and power. We connected in some surprising and > rewarding ways. > > One person walking by asked an intriguing question with a warm smile: "Is > this performance art?" My answer: "I don't know." Perhaps it is, or perhaps > it should be. I have to think about that. > > Day 2, March 25th > > On Day 2, I wanted to kick it up a notch. I wanted to bring our traveling > road show to the grounds of the University of Virginia where there has been > significant racial tension over the past week due to an arrest outside a bar. > > We didn't go there to talk about any specific topic. We wanted to just "open > some space" and see what people wanted to talk about. This was an experiment > to test how students and university staff would react to an opportunity to > exercise their right to free speech. > > I was anxious, because I didn't know how this would be received. After all, > these are strangers sitting down to have some potentially difficult > conversations. I didn't want to create a space where someone would feel > uncomfortable, misunderstood, or disrespected. Fortunately everyone felt > comfortable, and we had some great conversations. > > We didn't state any ground rules. People simply defaulted to being humane. > Perhaps there should be ground rules. I don't know. > > On this second day, we were more effective in communicating what was > happening; we posted small paper signs 50 feet out in both directions along > the main walking path so that people had more time to understand what was > going on and that that they were absolutely invited to join the conversation. > Our simple handwritten signs were in color and said "FREE SPEECH - Talk > about anything." > > Sometimes when people would walk by, we would ask them jokingly, "Are you > here for the free speech?" People got a laugh out of that. > > Students were curious. The chairs filled up quickly. Several other students > took photographs and we heard some very positive comments as people were > passing by: "Great idea!" and "I'm headed to class, but how long are you hear > today?" and "Are you going to be here tomorrow too?" > > After 30 minutes, it started raining, so we packed up and went home. All in > all, we were able to quickly validate our hypothesis that people would be > receptive to this type of experiment on a college campus. > > I wanted to see whether the students would move the discussion to some > difficult topics on their own, but the rain cut us short. Given what I saw > today and given my experience participating in a formal > student-faculty-community dialogue programs at UVA last year, I expect all > participants would have dealt with difficult topics in a respectful and > productive way if they came up. > > Next Steps > > This was energizing and fun, and I'm not quite sure what happens next. > > I'm active in some online communities of dialogue facilitators, so I'm going > to share this story with some friends in the National Coalition for Dialogue > and Deliberation and elsewhere to see what they think. > > Given that the new Starbucks "Race Together" dialogue initiative has had > mixed results (many people did not want dialogue forced upon them), I'd also > like to (delicately) try a modified version of this inside experiment a > Starbucks. > > If I try something in a Starbucks over the next few days, it will be very > different-- it would be just a sign-- a silent invitation-- and people can > choose to sit down and join the conversation if they'd like. > > What do you think? > > Where do we go from here? Well, if I/you/we can create a simple, repeatable > process for opening "pop-up civic space" like this, then others might do the > same, and we might all surprise ourselves with what is possible. There is > certainly a need for more productive dialogue in our country. > > Please do get in touch: he...@americantownhalls.org > > > <Screen Shot 2015-03-26 at 12.50.09 AM.png> > <Screen Shot 2015-03-26 at 12.50.34 AM.png> > <Screen Shot 2015-03-26 at 12.50.41 AM.png> > <Screen Shot 2015-03-26 at 12.50.51 AM.png> > _______________________________________________ > 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 > Past archives can be viewed here: > http://www.mail-archive.com/oslist@lists.openspacetech.org
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