Dear Harrison, Thanks for your comments. I agree with your remarks on "selling". I'm not really sure why I used that term. I just wnat to make the "offering" or "suggesting" of Open Space as attractive and authentic as possible. Did my draft letter do that- and if you were picking two cases studies (as per your book) that would appeal internationally to as wide an audienceas possible what might you choose.
I don't have your personal e-mail address; hence the reply mode to all. Cheers, Marks Marks & Margaret McAvity Site 50, Comp 16 Galiano Island, BC, VON 1P0 CANADA Tel 250-539-2881 (Gal) Tel 604-827-0305 (Van) Tel 250-539-0146 (mob) [email protected] (us) [email protected] (Marg) ----- Original Message ----- From: Harrison Owen To: [email protected] Sent: Sunday, April 30, 2000 6:19 AM Subject: Re: ADVERTISING ONESELF!! At 12:40 AM 4/29/00 -0700, you wrote: Having had this limited but exhilirating Open Space experience, I'm rather keen to make it known to this network of younger friends in the hope that its utility may spread. Naturally, to some limit, I want to keep my hand in too, and might be willing to go to some places for travel and local needs costs only. It would be a wonderful way ( along with others) to keep in touch with these friends and to travel. However, I certainly don't want to be seen to be "stealing" work from others. What is the present ethical position on such issues with this List Group? Certainly, if I receive a lot of response ( i.e. more than I would ever want to handle), I will be delighted to share the potential assignments with others who might be interested. ******************************************* Speaking personally, it seems to me that the "ethics" of this listserve have always been the ethics of Open Space. We treat each other with respect, we share what we have passion for, and take personal responsibility for the quality of our actions and the safety of the space. Beyond that it is pretty much as St Augustine said in a rather different context -- "Love God and do as you please." When it comes to selling Open Space, there are probably a few things to be kept in mind. First off, it doesn't seem to work very well -- at least it never has for me. I can (and do) offer OS, suggest OS, maybe even "do" OS -- but selling OS in any sense of the word "sell" that I know of usually turns out to be counter-productive. There are some reasons -- primary of which is that nobody owns Open Space. We all do, and so selling something that doesn't belong to you is a little odd. For me, Open Space is free -- it is the natural birthright of every citizen of planet Earth. Of course, we all have to eat, and usually money -- or something of value -- is involved in our food chain. So I charge for my services, but not for the Open Space. I try to make all this clear to a potential client by informing them of their rights. They have the right to take what they know about Open Space and do it themselves, and many have. They could improve the odds by benefiting from experience to date and purchase The Book. They might raise the ante again and attend a training program -- or they could spend an awful lot more money and have me do it all for them. But even then, I let them know that it would not be my pleasure to be their long term Open Space Person. Next time around I would be happy to coach, but they should really think about doing what they can perfectly well do for themselves. -- open space. As altruistic, counter-intuitive, or simply nuts -- as all of the above may seem, I can honestly say that I have never missed a meal as the circumference of my middle will attest. Harrison Harrison Owen 7808 River Falls Drive Potomac, MD 20854 USA phone 301-469-9269 fax 301-983-9314 website www.mindspring.com/~owenhh Open Space Institute websites www.openspaceworld.org
