Dear Rolf,
thanks for the thorough research.
I enjoyed reading your notes.
Looking at your personal interpetration, my brain immediately focused on
"a lot of interaction took place in the breaks".
It is this interaction in selforganized smaller groups that HO noticed
at the traditional "conferences" that the OT (Organisational
Transformation) gang had once a year.
The "coffee breaks" were alive, intense, folks laughed, etc... in stark
contrast to the planned part of the conference.
Thus, he came up with an approach that had "coffee breaks" at its
center. Adding stuff like circle and the Market Place open space began
to unfold... and evolved into OST which is still unfolding...
Hope you can come to the WOSonOS in Berlin in October not far away from
the Humboldt University that was founded in 1810...
Greetings from Berlin
mmp
Am 09.08.2023 um 20:38 schrieb Rolf F. Katzenberger via OSList:
Hi Bhav and all,
A bit late to the party, but I've researched a little and would like
to share a little context with you. The post on LinkedIn briefly
quotes a secondary source, which includes only a few paragraphs on the
*1828 Berlin Gathering ("Versammlung")*.
*There is also a comprehensive 57-page report (in German) on this
gathering*, published by the organizers (Humboldt and Lichtenstein) a
year later. It is downloadable from
https://de.wikisource.org/wiki/Gesellschaft_Deutscher_Naturforscher_und_%C3%84rzte
Interestingly, one goal of that report was to satisfy the large
interest in "how the preparations were made, since this might be
useful in case the gathering was to occur in a large and populous
place again" (page IV). The content of the report is truly amazing and
answers all related questions; plus, it gives an account of how things
played out, in practice. It states that organization started 9 months
ahead of the gathering (p. 1). Organizers were aware that the number
of participants would grow considerably, compared to earlier years (p.
2 & 4; today it is assumed that ultimately around 460 men attended).
*A few key points of the report*:
1. Besides the participants, around 600 local dignitaries received
tickets. So there was a selected "audience", too.
2. Every day 10am-2pm, there was a "public gathering" for all
participants. Every participant had a reserved, numbered seat
(p.12), and both the selected audience and the participants had
their own, separate entrances and seating spaces. There was also
kind of a gallery with access completely open for everybody. There
is a sketch of the room setup in the annex, it resembles a school
setup with rows of tables facing a presenter stage.
3. The public gatherings were expressly meant for /lectures/
("Vorträge"), and considering roughly 460 participants would of
course not allow for everybody of them giving a lecture. At the
beginning, the lectures of the day, and their sequence, were to be
shouted out loud; at the end, the same for the lectures of the
following day (p. 11 & 12).
4. A few separate rooms were reserved for conversations and
communications ("Mittheilungen", literally: "sharings"),
presentations and demonstrations that were not of "wide interest",
where members of specific "sections" (topics) would gather (p. 12
& 22)
5. After the daily public gatherings, participants would have lunch
together at 20 tables, 24 persons each, in a huge hall.
6. The afternoons were reserved for excursions.
7. On the second day, "sections" had formed for "geognosis and
geography"; "physics and chemistry"; "anatomy and physiology";
"zoology"; "botanics"; "practical medicine"; also the sections had
agreed on when and where they would meet (p. 22); the naming
changed a bit later, and the sections had elected chairmen (1-2,
per section) (p. 31)
8. The report states that on the evening on the second day, members
of the "sections" gathered in large numbers at the "Cafe royal"
and more lectures and presentations were given (p. 23 & 24);
interestingly, the report mentions both lectures ("Vorträge") as
well as conversations & communications (which is my interpretation
of "Mittheilungen"); it seems to be clear that /both/ happened,
from the records of what happened in the sections (p. 32 to 55):
lectures; handouts of new maps and other documents; presentations
of medical case studies etc.
9. On the evening of the third day, the "sections" gathered again; it
was noted that more rooms were provided, and some rooms were
cleared more, to allow for more space. (p. 24)
10. At the end of the event, suggestions for a follow-up event were
presented and there was a vote (p. 24)
11. On the last day, a specific interpretation (!) of of the statues
was discussed and won a majority: the event organizer was to
decide, together with the members of the respective sections which
lectures were "suitable" for the large, daily public gatherings;
but also, nobody should be stopped from from giving their lecture
during the large, daily public gatherings.
*My personal interpretation*: in various places, it is mentioned that
a lot of interaction took place in the breaks, and during the
excursions. The extensive reports on the gatherings of the "sections"
(as mentioned under 8.) make these gatherings look quite like
predecessors of "barcamps" (everybody brings and shares something, and
participates); however, the lists of documents and materials handed
out and/or shown make it clear that most of what was shared must have
been "prepared at home".
Cheers,
Rolf
Bhavesh Patel via OSList wrote on 28.06.23 07:14:
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/true-inventor-unconference-tim-o-reilly/
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Michael M Pannwitz
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