Well, list here it is - an invitation to the world's first Virtual Open Space on Virtual Open Space. We hope you like it. We hope you join us! Jay Vogt, for the Design Team, Advisory Team, Open Space Institute, and Big Mind Media
A WORLDWIDE VIRTUAL OPEN SPACE ON VIRTUAL OPEN SPACE What are the issues and opportunities for online gatherings in Open Space? May 13 - June 19, 2002 www.bigmindmedia.com/vosonvos Quick Picture WHAT: VOSONVOS is an online conference about the issues and opportunities for online gatherings in Open Space. This Open Space is not held in an auditorium or a meeting center but in a "collaborative online space" accessible anywhere in the world at any time. In some ways it’s the ultimate open space! WHERE: ONLINE! Through an Internet connection and a web browser, people connect to VOSONVOS at times and from places convenient to them. Once online, they view and may contribute to a record of conversation and activity. In consideration of those who do not yet enjoy affordable access to the Internet and time online, there will be provisions to participate via email. Occasional real-time chats may also be offered. WHEN: May 13 - June 19 WHO: This OS is open to anyone across the world with Internet access. You are invited to join hundreds, if not thousands, of your colleagues from around the world in the first worldwide Virtual Open Space on Virtual Open Space (VOSONVOS) from May 13 - June 19, 2002, online. Who should attend? We envision a fruitful collaboration between regular inhabitants of two worlds - the strong and distributed worldwide network of Open Space Technology facilitators who primarily lead meetings face to face, with or without an online component; and the emerging network of online facilitators who primarily work with online interactions, with or without the intentional use of Open Space principles. No doubt each has much to learn from the other. And each has much to learn about the experience of Open Space online. Why a worldwide Virtual Open Space on Virtual Open Space? For many years the worldwide community of Open Space facilitators has met face to face annually for an Open Space on Open Space (OSONOS) - in other words, a gathering using Open Space to examine the topic of Open Space. This will happen again this fall in Australia (http://www.openspaceworld.org/osonos.html). Past OSonOS events have been held in Monterey California, USA, Chicago Illinois, USA, Berlin, Germany, Vancouver BC, and Canada As more distributed groups turn to online interaction to join them in common work, they seek strong, participatory techniques to guide their processes. Open Space seems to have a natural connection to the distributed, self-organizing potential of online interaction. It seeks to focus attention where there is passion -- another common attribute of the Internet. So what is the intersection? In VOSONVOS, we extend the congenial spirit of Open Space to the online world. What does it mean to come together using Open Space principles online? What is the experience like for participants and facilitators? How is it similar to face to face Open Space, and how is it different? What must we change, as facilitators, to make the transition, and what must we retain? How can we use online meetings in Open Space to extend or even replace our face to face meetings? What can experienced facilitators in Open Space learn from their experienced counterparts in online space, and vice versa? How can we effectively manage cultural differences? How can we "level the playing field" with participants from the Two-Thirds World? In keeping with these questions, our theme will be: What are the issues and opportunities of online gatherings in Open Space? Why virtual? We all know that travel, while exciting, is expensive, time consuming, risky, and tiring. VOSONVOS is an opportunity for the world wide community of Open Space facilitators, and their online facilitator counterparts, to come together in a fruitful exchange without the cost and stress of travel. The dialogue of experienced practitioners limited only by their imaginations, not by their travel budgets will enrich us all. And we’ll learn together by using the medium that is the focus of our deliberations. Join us for an historic gathering from the comfort of your own computer! Why worldwide? Open Space is increasingly a worldwide phenomenon. Books and trainings have seeded facilitators in the East, West, North, and South. Communities of practice have been established and are emerging all around the globe. There is no host country for Open Space any more - it is everywhere! New and diverse challenges are being faced in Open Space. New and diverse languages are being spoken in Open Space. New and diverse cultures are expressing themselves in Open Space. And of course the Internet, and its associated technologies, is worldwide as well. New software for online collaborative conferencing makes practical the bringing together of people and organizations from everywhere, all at once. We can now enter the deep and truly worldwide conversations about facilitation and practice that we have only tasted at past face to face gatherings. What will a Virtual Open Space on Virtual Open Space be like? We don’t know! Join us and find out. But we can promise you this. We will engage in meaningful conversation about the issues and opportunities which you care passionately about. We will attract the most diverse collection of experienced and newly learning Open Space and online facilitation practitioners that have ever assembled, bar none. Very likely it will also be the largest such collection. While past OSONOSes attracted from sixty to one hundred souls, there is no limit on how many may show up for a VOSONVOS. And of course, no issue will be denied. How does it work? If you don’t know, that’s reason enough to join in. Online collaborative conferencing is the wave of the present. It is an increasingly widespread medium for human interaction that moves conversation from a room to the globe. We all need to learn better how to navigate the online collaborative conferencing sea. Future face to face forums in Open Space will be preceded by online conversation, accompanied by online conversation, and followed by online conversation. And of course some future face to face forums will be supplanted by online conversation. This is very relevant for groups who do not have the ability or luxury to be face to face and for people who seek to join hands across all types of borders to work for a common cause. This is a medium for our time, and we need to know it. No, really, how does it work? The VOSONVOS will be hosted by BigMindMedia using their collaborative workspace software, BigMind Catalyst. When you register you’ll receive a web site location and a password. You will gather with other online participants and have an opportunity to post topics for primarily asynchronous discussion (we all don't have to be online at the same time and you log on at your convenience). Should you convene a session in cyberspace, you will be responsible for moderating the discussion among participants over the period of the conference. If Internet access is expensive in your corner of the world, you may also choose to participate via email. New material will be emailed to you so you can read and compose responses offline. And, by the way, what does it cost? You pay what you can afford, with a minimum registration of US$35. We have deliberately set the minimum fee very low to encourage widespread participation, and to keep money from being a reason not to play. Contributions above the minimum of $5, $50, $500, or whatever you are inspired to give will support an Access Fund to provide assistance where needed. You will find all this information within the registration form online. OK, I’m in. How do I register? Go to http://bigmindmedia.com/vosonvos and click "Register" to sign up. And while you’re at it, send the link to a couple folks who might be interested, telling them where you’ll be between May 13 and June 19, and why. It will be great to meet you at VOSONVOS! The VOSONVOS Design Team Jay, Gabriel, Nancy, Barbara, Toni More on OS and Online Facilitation What is Open Space? Open Space Technology is one way to enable all kinds of people, in any kind of organization, to create inspired meetings and events. In Open Space meetings, events and organizations, participants create and manage their own agenda of parallel working sessions around a central theme of strategic importance, such as: What is the strategy, group, organization or community that all stakeholders can support and work together to create? With groups of 5 to 1000 -- working in one-day workshops, three-day conferences, or the regular weekly staff meeting -- the common result is a powerful, effective connecting and strengthening of what's already happening in the organization: planning and action, learning and doing, passion and responsibility, participation and performance. Open Space has been used for over 15 years in over 60 countries. To learn more, see www.openspaceworld.org What is online facilitation? Online facilitation is an evolving art and expanding opportunity to empower groups to work across time and distance. Online work and interactions require facilitation skills beyond those used in face-to-face meetings. Group dynamics in the virtual environment combined with new communication technologies create unique conditions and opportunities calling for specific techniques and an expansion of our consciousness with mindful facilitation. * * ========================================================== osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu ------------------------------ To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu, Visit: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html
