-- [ From: c chapman * EMC.Ver #2.5.3 ] -- Expanded recipient data: To: Sheryl Erickson \ America On-Line: (seerickson) To: Drake (e-mail) \ CompuServe: (71643,1036) To: Gleiberman (e-mail) \ America On-Line: (paulgleib) To: Kaipa (e-mail) \ America On-Line: (pkaipa) cc: Baumbusch \ CompuServe: (75202,3306) cc: Paulson \ America On-Line: (arpconsult) cc: Blum (e-mail) \ America On-Line: (mblum5305) cc: Crowley (e-mail) \ America On-Line: (choco4) cc: Drake (e-mail) \ CompuServe: (71643,1036) cc: Gleiberman (e-mail) \ America On-Line: (paulgleib) cc: Peters (e-mail) \ America On-Line: (davidleep) cc: Shovelton (e-mail) \ CompuServe: (101557,3135) cc: Stuart (e-mail) \ America On-Line: (b1stuart) cc: Thomas (e-mail) \ CompuServe: (104423,1673) cc: Thomas (e-mail) \ CompuServe: (104423,1673) cc: Caveoat \ America On-Line: (CaveOat) cc: Wiebe (e-mail) \ America On-Line: (rwiebe)
Peg and all, Thanks for keeping us all up to date. I'm going to broach a subject which I think needs discussion: How to operate as a community across two countries. Before I go into the content, let me say that I'm an ex- patriat USer and even though I've been in Canada now as long as I was in the States, I still find that my awareness sometimes needs raising on this issue. I know from having been brought up in the US that we have been instilled with an attitude that the world revolves around the US and that others need to adjust to us, not vice versa. I would really like it if members of OSI could take it upon themselves to become more aware of how this operates. One of the beauties of Open Space is that it allows power imbalances to be leveled. However, as we organize, I see those imbalances creaping back in. Let me give you some examples. 1) Peg wrote > PUBLICATION OF AT WORK > The special issue of Berrett-Koehler's At Work was published in March. Edited > by Anne Stadler, it contains a dozen stories of Open Space in business , > non-profit and government. You can get a copy by contacting Alis Valencia of > Berrett-Koehler at 1-800-929-2929. The phone number 1-800- etc. is not accessible from Canada. It is possible to have an 800 number which works in both countries or to have two numbers but many companies don't. When sending a number to people in both countries, please check to see if it works in Canada and if not, include an alternate number. Please send me a number where I can contact Alis. 2) Peg also wrote: > We are planning a mailing in the fall with Berrett-Koehler and OSI of Canada in > conjunction with the publication of Harrison's book. Please note the name difference between the two OSI's. OSI of Canada identifies itself as being located in Canada while OSI doesn't identify its location as the US. I know I talked with people at OS on OS about this and the people I talked to couldn't or didn't want to see the significance. It really is important to not assume ownership of the world in the name. To anyone who was not familiar with the history of the institutes, it would seem as if OSI Canada was a branch of OSI when in fact OSI Canada organized first. 3 )There is often an assumption that US currency is the "norm." This shows up in things like conference/workshop registrations and memberships. In my experience, when a conference/workshop is organized in Canada, the registration form will have the price in both US and Canadian dollars. This is often true for memberships as well. This mostly isn't true for things organized in the US in my experience. I just want you to know that to join OSI (US) may mean a trip to the bank to get a bank draft in US funds. I have tried in the past with other organizations to send a Canadian check for the amount (exchange added), only to have it returned to me because the bank or organization didn't know how to deal with it. What is the policy of OSI on this right now? I would like to see OSI deal with Canadian checks as it will simplify things for Canadians (make it the same as for people in the US) and make OSI (US) more accessible for people outside the US. I do hope I've written this in a way which increases understanding and accessibility between borders. I invite comments and feed-back. -- Connie ankh...@prodigy.com
