Dear Suzanne and Chuni,
So much life, beautifully captured in the video interviews.
Congratulations on what appears to be spectacular success!
I know that you and Chuni have held the space for this event over many
months, through thick and thin. Your sincere hearts, wise minds and
skillful actions made it possible for this explosion of passion
bounded by responsibility.
Suzanne, I bow to your ability to support your client in opening the
space. Sounds like he may have caught the OS bug.
Love,
Christine
Christine Whitney Sanchez, Partner
Innovation Partners International
480.759.0262
www.innovationpartners.com
On Jun 16, 2011, at 9:50 PM, Suzanne Daigle wrote:
Hi again everyone!
The New Jersey event held on June 14th and 15th was absolutely
amazing.
For once, I don't feel I can describe what happened in New Jersey.
It is beyond words. And somehow I feel that the success, intensity
and excitement of this event belongs to all of you in this worldwide
community. I know that what happened in New Jersey happens in so
many places all around the world. I feel so grateful and connected
to all of you in the process of doing this work.
To hear people describe how they feel when they are in open space
engaged in topics that they are passionate about defies words. I
will never tire of hearing them describe their experiences.
The stats can only give one sliver of description of what happened
at this 2-day event: 150 diverse people in attendance, many on a
wait list, 73 topics posted; 50+ summary reports and they're still
coming in; hundreds of photos, lots of tweets, about 25 or more
video interviews and a book of proceedings of nearly 110 pages. All
of this in 2 short (or long) days. Many volunteers, a dedicated
committee, the best partner ever (Chuni Li) plus many others (most
of all the participants!) created the magic.
Rather than me describing more, I invite you to check these sample
videos
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-0BWV6Vf-E
and
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFq6NYWb7mg&feature=related.
If you search You Tube and type the key words creativenewjersey, you
will find 20 or 25 more interviews with people talking about
"Revitalizing New Jersey through Innovation and Creativity".
Sprinkled here and there, you will also hear how they felt about
Open Space.
You can also check the event website http://creativenj.org/ which
gives another flavor of what happened.
Sleep deprived these past few days, I could not help but share my
awe and gratitude with you before catching a few winks. I will also
confide that it was tough not facilitating this event, letting the
client take on this role that I love so much. I had provided him
with some behind the scenes coaching. In the end, it felt like the
right thing to do. Today he kindly sent me a note that said: "I now
understand why you were a little regretful about not facilitating.
It was great fun and a real high to see it all happen so
brilliantly. It could be very addictive." In my mind's eye, I smile
remembering the people lined up by his side to announce their topics
and later seeing him pick up coffee cups and arranging the chairs in
the circles for evening news and closing circle. I believe we may
well have another facilitator in our midst. Life will never quite be
the same for him as indeed it has never been quite the same for me
and many of you.
Thank you dear friends for being there always, wherever you are on
this planet, as I once again share with you how I feel and what I
have lived these past few days.
Suzanne
On Sun, Jun 12, 2011 at 5:10 PM, Suzanne Daigle <sdaig...@gmail.com>
wrote:
Dear OS friends and colleagues:
So many times during this project, I have wanted to write to you to
share the exuberance, the challenges, the questioning, the
commitment and the awe, pride and admiration I have felt for
everyone involved in the two-day Creative New Jersey Open Space
event scheduled to take place on June 14th and 15th of this week.
Check out the site http://creativenj.org/ and to witness what’s
happening live this week. You can even twitter if you’d like. Just
don't forget to include #creativenj if you do tweet.
For Chuni Li and me, co-facilitators on this Open Space project with
Creative New Jersey, our work began a little over two months ago.
For the organizing host team, the Vision had started about 18 months
ago.
A compelling white paper described the burning platform of a state
(like most across the country) facing enormous economic, social,
cultural, educational and environmental challenges. It spoke of a
proud history of innovation, creativity and success. Their goal was
a Call to Action to spark a movement that recognizes, fosters and
sustains creativity and innovation as catalysts for a vital,
prosperous and sustainable New Jersey.
After an Open Space simulation, introduced as part of our pre-work,
the organizing committee agreed to go with an OS process. Then
began the work of creating an invitation which led to the theme
question: “How can Creativity and Innovation Revitalize New Jersey?”
Excitement was building with the committee though not without a
certain degree of anxiety wondering how we would attract a group of
150 diverse individuals to commit two full days in mid-June. A
weekly meeting schedule by conference call was established with the
Host Team taking the lead on most of the pre-work assignments. With
each passing week, the energy and enthusiasm kept building. Chuni
and I became resources, assisting and guiding with the intention of
not only helping them have a successful event but also transferring
knowledge about Open Space, the mechanics and the depth of this self-
organizing leadership process.
Mid-stream, we also decided to call upon Gerry Kirk, from the Scrum
Community, an avid supporter of Open Space, asking him to lead us on
the technology side. Chuni became his right arm person, avid to
learn and do. A host website with many simple tools was quickly
created. Again the mission was about transferring the learning to
the New Jersey team of volunteers. Now a few days before the event,
the conversations are happening on line; many participants have
already posted their profiles and we know that the site will be a
welcoming place for blogs, live twitters, summary reports and short
videos to capture impressions and highlights during the event. It
will also serve as an important vehicle to continue the
conversations afterwards and to share ideas and engage action and to
invite more people to join.
Initially the intent was that I would facilitate the event but in
the course of our preparations, a request came asking if we would
agree to have Larry Capo, one of the leads on this project,
facilitate. For a split second I hesitated but then quickly agreed
that yes, this was the way to go. Now as I listen to Larry
counseling others on our weekly conference calls saying “whatever
happens, happens”, “letting go is what we need to do ” or quoting a
passage in Harrison’s Open Space Technology book, I know without a
shadow of a doubt that this was the right decision and that in a
different and very invisible way, I too will be holding space with
him, working at the newsroom.
Today, a diverse group of nearly 170 people have confirmed from
business and industry, education, arts and culture, science and
technology, government, communities, medical and pharmaceuticals,
faith based, media and others.
As I reflect on what has happened these past few months, I can
almost hear Harrison’s voice to us the facilitators of Open Space
saying “one less thing to do” is one more thing the clients can do
for themselves. Chuni and I have contributed in a different way,
wrestling at times as it was not always easy watching our clients
struggle and work as hard as they have. In the end, as we look
forward to our upcoming event, I feel and hear the pride and
ownership of what has been achieved to date and I can only imagine
how wonderful and great it will be when we get to the end of the
closing circle “when it’s over, it’s over”. Of course, we will
know that it’s really just the beginning … of a transformative
change to revitalize New Jersey.
There are no words to express the joy at the emergent collaboration
of working with this wonderful team. Wish us all luck and please
hold the space for us and with us. Thank you Harrison for your wise
counsel and support along the way; Lisa Heft for your expert
guidance on the simulation and pre-work; and Diane Gibeault, my
teacher and friend, for the opportunity to ponder deeply together
and to exchange ideas in Ottawa last week and over the phone.
Suzanne (with Chuni Li)
--
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
--
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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