Marvelous story,
Sandy! So rich and powerful...
Why
don't we create an annual context in the OSLIST for the “Best New Tale on OST”?
For this year I will vote for Sandy's story.
Artur
---------------
From: Sandy Gee <[email protected]>
To: [email protected]
Sent: Sunday, November 18, 2012 6:41 PM
Subject: [OSList] A 3hr OST slot at Conference
Hello again lovely OS community,
I posted a question asking for advice on here a few months ago. It was about
organising a 3 hour OS slot in the afternoon of an Existential Psychotherapy
Conference in a non-ideal setting - A very formal and smart space with an
auditorium in fixed tiered rows.
I benefitted hugely from all the input I got here as well as at Lisa's workshop
in London and at WOSONOS.
It happened on Saturday and I'd like to report that it was a great success!
Though the organisers had been very nervous about it and the setting was pretty
challenging I was well prepared and had found ways to address all the
difficulties...
For the OS introduction and marketplace I followed Harrison's idea of making an
approximate circle by putting 2 rows of chairs in an arc across the front of
the auditorium facing the tiered rows (the chairs just going right across where
there was a raised platform). It took a number of devices to get them to
co-operate with sitting there - a 'welcome to Open Space' PP slide projected
onto the screen, with the request to 'please sit in the chairs across the front
and the first 3 rows of the auditorium'. I reinforced it with 'DO NOT SIT IN
THIS ROW' signs on all the upper rows (and string blocking off the rows on the
other side). And then when I saw that they were nervous and reluctant - strong
personal appeals to "please come forward and sit across the front - nothing
special or spotlighting will be asked of you, we're just trying to create a
sort-of circle". The reluctance was very understandable as they had been in
that space earlier with 3 big name
speakers just presenting and them all as passive audience. And indeed this is
the style previous conferences have all been.
I used humour about the awkward and uneven circle - telling them that the
varied height circle was intending to communicate our equality! And I was able
to easily link it all to the conference theme which was 'Challenging Contexts
and Uncertain Landscapes'! Indeed this seemed to help break the initial ice.
I followed your idea Lisa of 'implying the circle' by placing the principles
around the perimeter of the circle (having to invent some creative ways of
doing that using string and pegs in places to avoid anything attached to the
walls) and by circling around the space as I gave my introduction and
explanation of the process. Thank you too Lisa for your advice in your
'thoughts and Ideas' PDF, in which you suggested setting up my living room with
the themes on the wall and practicing circling the space and speaking aloud
whilst imagining being there. That helped me to get more clear and concise. It
helped me to notice where I had a tendency to get repetitive or
long-winded/unclear and discipline myself to keep it simple and brief enough
for the short time I had. I also typed out pretty much what I would say with
coloured sub-headings to orientate me if I should get a bit lost in the nerves
of it all. I only looked at it once, but the process of writing
that and then just having it there helped. This was a much more formal, bigger
and more time constrained situation than I've done OS in before and all this
helped me cope with that.
Actually the awkwardness and obvious inconvenience of using the auditorium in
that way in some ways helped make the transition to the informality and
'mucking in' quality OS needs. Following their initial reluctance to sit in the
awkward circle - I was pleased and surprised that they got stuck in quite
easily with the paper and pens for writing up their topics - some handing paper
back for people to write in their rows before coming forward and others even
speaking first with a just blank paper in their hand and then writing up what
they'd said more concisely afterwards.
We started a bit late but easily got through the marketplace in the 45mins and
off they went to their 1st sessions (11 topics in each of the 2 sessions). (I
managed to wangle an extra 15 minutes on initially proposed 30 minutes by
encouraging the organisers to let me take more of the time for the OS closure
out of the whole conference closure - thanks for that idea Lisa).
For session topic zones I used laminated orange A4 sheets with letters on
bamboo poles cable-tied to the chair legs (like at WOSONOS 2012). I attached
velcro re-usable cable ties to the top of the poles which i could then thread
through slots in the laminated A4 sheets to create 'zone flags' (easier to
dismantle and transport) for each of the circles of chairs. These were set up
in other rooms than the auditorium (according to a layout plan I'd drawn up)
and this worked well.
We had a challenge with the agenda wall being created in the auditorium but the
topic zone areas being in a separate part of the venue. That made it
impractical for people to refer to the auditorium agenda board when
bumblebeeing between sessions. So we simply got moveable boards and, after the
marketplace, we moved them to the hall outside where the OS topic sessions were
taking place. We used light A2 foam boards, used 'dual tack double-sided tape'
to 'post-it' them to the auditorium wall, then were able to remove and
reposition them, after the marketplace, onto doors in the hall.
The closing session was back in the auditorium in the awkward circle at the
front and by then people had got comfortable with participating, so freely
offered snippets of their experience of both the process and the content. Many
were energised, enjoyed it, felt excited and had started conversations they'd
wanted to have but didn't know how. One said that this now felt like a
community in a way that it never had before. A few expressed discomfort with
aspects of the process - feeling conflicted in having to decide whether to stay
or move, being much more aware of the encounter with the people rather than
just the material for discussion, feeling grumpy and rebellious about
notetaking and how they felt it interrupted the process. But even those who had
found it uncomfortable also expressed that they'd got something from it. And
the content that they fed back about was expressed with interest, excitement
and edginess. A couple expressed surprise that it
worked when they had felt sure it couldn't!
Interestingly one of them expressed a sense of slight stiltedness and
flattening of the energy to be back in the formality of the auditorium for the
closure after the freedom of the Open Space sessions and suggested that if we'd
just got people to re-position the chairs in the larger room where the sessions
had taken place it would have retained more of the energy of OS. I hadn't
imagined that this could be possible due to the numbers, but by that point we
were down to about half the participants so it actually could have worked.
(About a third left at lunchtime and another third before the OS closure -
apparently very usual at this conference and partly a result of an overly long
and packed agenda). Interestingly - another case of that 'once they've had a
taste, they resist any going back into a more constricted space' phenomena!
I personally received a lot of great feedback both directly and in how people
interacted with me - many people seemed to find me easily approachable and came
and talked to me or just dropped in a comment in passing. A lot were very
appreciative, two gave me very specific feedback on how I had been a great
facilitator (unflustered when things went wrong, informal, warm, clear). A
couple expressed dilemmas - what they wanted to do, but felt too shy (I
encouraged them to dare to do it anyway and they did), another felt a bit bad
about not having taken notes (I encouraged him to consider - was there anything
now they were finished that they'd like to share with the rest of the
conference? and just write that - which he did).
All in all there was a real energetic buzz, people were excited and
appreciative, several things had been started that there were plans to carry
forward further and it looks very likely that Open Space will be part of next
years conference.
Thank you everyone who helped me with your great ideas and generous
encouragement. I'm thrilled and look forward to more...
Sandy Gee
[email protected]
_______________________________________________
OSList mailing list
To post send emails to [email protected]
To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected]
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 [email protected]
To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected]
To subscribe or manage your subscription click below:
http://lists.openspacetech.org/listinfo.cgi/oslist-openspacetech.org
