Greetings Christine,
Thanks for your detailed reply. I must admit, I have no experience
whatsoever with doing quasi-public OST events arranged for guilds,
industry-associations and the like. I'm clueless!
As such, my opinion does not have much (if any) validity about those use
cases. I do have some theories however, and I hope I can ask some
questions about OST for guilds & industry associations...
I see it like this:
(1) At one extreme end of the spectrum, there is the very private,
business-org-specific event. A kind of big-family system.
(2) At the other extreme, there is the totally public conference that
anyone can attend, if they pay the money...
* It is an event that has some Open Space of varying quality, in
1/2 day, full day or multiple day formats.
* It may of may not have a Sponsor, it may of may not have
Proceedings. It may or may not have posters on the wall. If it
has Proceedings at all, they are often late.
* "Agile" conferences are commonly at found at this end of the range.
My theory is that quasi-public OST events for and with guilds, industry
associations and the like lie somewhere in the middle of these two
extremes. And I can certainly imagine (theorize) how these events take
on the look, feel, tone, temp and flavor of the very private,
business-org-specific event. They might even effectively BE private
events. It's not like anyone with the fee (if any) can just waltz into
the meeting right?
And so, for now, I want to set these quasi-public OST events aside,
and/or characterize them as private events. Is that OK?
And so, referring to (1) and (2) above, I continue to see very huge
differences between these two ways to use Open Space.
Like, the difference between Night and Day.
Here's one of those very striking differences: in public-conference
events where OST is an add-on in 1/2 or full day formats, getting good
Proceedings is difficult. Or impossible. The Proceedings are typically
late and poorly formatted, or more commonly: /non-existent./
Yet inside private events, you can't pull the people off the task of
Proceedings creation. The task attracts them like a magnet. They
typically wave off any offers of help and take an absolutely huge
interest in the Proceedings generation. They rivet on it.
And this is just one example. There are many more BIG differences. And
so I continue to assert that for public-conference events where OST is a
full day or 1/2 day add-on, a Barcamp or Unconference can and does get
equivalent, similar, as-good results.
Stated another way, Barcamp and/or Unconference can never do what Open
Space does for organizations. And that's because Open Space is optimized
for enabling "development and transformation in organizations. "
And those other two aren't.
Daniel
PS I realize some public, paid, Agile conferences that feature all-day
Open Space do a very good job with Proceedings. Yet this is clearly the
exception, and not the rule where Agile conferences are concerned.
On 10/15/14 11:43 AM, Christine Whitney Sanchez wrote:
Daniel and all,
In my experience, public events have the same buzz and meaningful
results as an in-organization OST. I’ve facilitated a number of them
that were sponsored by a group of organizations in the community. For
instance, Vibrant Phoenix
<http://vibrantphx.com/next-actions/top-ideas/>, was a very productive
economic development OST, sponsored by two mayors of large
municipalities and several local businesses. One of the business
sponsors agreed to be the contact for folks who wanted to take their
“actionable ideas” to the next level. However, there was no budget
and no infrastructure to really keep folks connected the the ideas
they cared the most about.
This is where the public open spaces generally fall short. Because
the ongoing action is not the core mission of any of these
organizations, it is hoped that the participants will self-organize
going forward. With very few exceptions, this does not happen. I
believe that sponsorship for the work after the OST is what is called for.
The Collective Impact
<http://www.ssireview.org/blog/entry/channeling_change_making_collective_impact_work> model
speaks to this. It’s nothing new, really, but does represent a simple
way to talk about the necessary conditions for sustaining collective
action. I now include my version of this model when I talk with
potential sponsors to shine the light beyond the meeting so that we
can discuss their intentions for providing backbone support for
self-organized action going forward.
I especially love public Open Space events and look forward to working
with sponsors who see the meeting as merely the first small step in
collaborative action. There is so much potential!
Warm wishes from a sunny autumn morning in the rain-greened desert,
Christine
Christine Whitney Sanchez, M.C.
Phoenix,AZ, USA •+1.480.759.0262
www.innovationpartners.com <http://www.innovationpartners.com>
Facebook <https://www.facebook.com/ChristineWhitneySanchez> | LinkedIn
<https://www.linkedin.com/in/christinewhitneysanchez> |Twitter
<https://twitter.com/CWhitneySanchez>
On Oct 15, 2014, at 6:33 AM, Daniel Mezick via OSList
<[email protected]
<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:
Greetings To All,
I notice that there are many big differences between
public-conference-type OST events, and OST events arranged for
organizations.
Do you also notice this? Maybe I am imagining this....just making
stuff up...
...maybe not. In many key dimensions, I experience these differences
as striking. Even disturbing.
And so I have been poking around inside the GUIDE (3rd edition) and I
notice that, in some spots, the implication is that the discussion is
about a public event. Up to page 18 for example, this implication is
clear:
<THE GUIDE PAGE 18>
Working With The Client if you ARE NOT the Sponsor
"To this point I have assumed that you (the reader) will be the
sponsor and facilitator of the Open Space, and therefore */it is your
decision as to whether or not to proceed/*...(/emphasis added./)
</THE GUIDE PAGE 18>
My current belief is that having the same person in the Sponsor role
**and** the Facilitator role is probably a very bad idea for an OST
event /inside an organization/. For the typical public-conference
event on the other hand, this seems to work just fine. Kinda like a
Barcamp or Unconference....
Another current belief I hold is that OST is the essential tool for
creating "Development and Transformation in Organizations". It is best
suited for use in organizations.
It is interesting to note how the Barcamp and/or "Unconference"
formats seem to get the same or as-good results as Open Space, in the
public conference setting.
Not so inside organizations! In fact, as of now, I don't think Barcamp
or Unconference has any chance whatsoever at being effective in
bringing about Development and Transformation in Organizations the way
Open Space can. Something about the Sponsor?
Daniel
--
Daniel Mezick, President
New Technology Solutions Inc.
(203) 915 7248 (cell)
Bio <http://newtechusa.net/dan-mezick/>. Blog
<http://newtechusa.net/blog/>. Twitter
<http://twitter.com/#%21/danmezick/>.
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(203) 915 7248 (cell)
Bio <http://newtechusa.net/dan-mezick/>. Blog
<http://newtechusa.net/blog/>. Twitter <http://twitter.com/#%21/danmezick/>.
Examine my new book:The Culture Game
<http://newtechusa.net/about/the-culture-game-book/>: Tools for the
Agile Manager.
Explore Agile Team Training
<http://newtechusa.net/services/agile-scrum-training/> and Coaching.
<http://newtechusa.net/services/agile-scrum-coaching/>
Explore the Agile Boston <http://newtechusa.net//user-groups/ma/>Community.
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