At 12:58 PM 6/21/99 +0930, you wrote: >Ever experienced a 'nested' Open Space? A full blown OST forum set >within a conference. ********************************************* I rather suspect that Open Space done in combination with a more traditional conference format is the most usual way -- at the very least it is done very often. It would not be my preference, but it is certainly possible. There are, however, certain considerations I find useful to keep in mind (see pg 27 in the User's Guide -- 2nd edition). The first one is -- when you are doing Open Space -- do Open Space. Breaking it up with formal presentations tends to be (always is) a real slow down. Just about the time people are ready to fly -- they are told to shut up, sit down, and take notes. I advise folks to do the formal stuff first, and then go into Open Space. It is possible to put the formal stuff last -- but the problem is that people get the Spirit of Open Space and tend to carry on in that fashion. This can be very hard on the egos of featured speakers when people start using the law of two feet!
A second thing is to do a whole day in Open Space. I recognize that wonderful things can and do happen in less time -- usually a great experieince -- but nowhere near what I know to be possible given a little more time. If formal sessions have already been scheduled, it is always possible to fold them into the Open Space, but the "presenters" need to know in advance that bumble bees and butterflys will be present in abundance. In short The Law of Two Feet is operational. Next Fall The Organization Development Network will hold one day of its annual meeting in Open Space. There are a number of sessions that people have proposed in advance -- but we will all start at the same place (probably 1000 of us) in a large circle. Previouslly offered sessions will be posted along with all the new ones. Based on prior experieince with this, I would expect new offerings to outweight old ones by 2:1. Once everything is posted, we are off to the races for a whole day. Should be a good one. Harrison Owen 7808 River Falls Drive Potomac, MD 20854 USA 301-469-9269 (phone) 301-983-9314 (fax) email [email protected] Website http://www.tmn.com/~owen Open Space Institute website http://www.tmn.com/openspace
