Dear Christine Thanks for sharing this beautiful story - still unfolding - for a long time!!! I am always amazed at how come it is so unique (in our so called developed societies) to get the chance to express oneself and be listened to. I wish this will be natural one day. We´ll continue working on it! Warmest regards Thomas Herrmann -----Ursprungligt meddelande----- Från: OSLIST [mailto:osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu]För Christine Whitney Sanchez Skickat: den 7 november 2005 16:07 Till: osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu Ämne: Girl Scouts Open the Space for more than 1,600
Dear Open Space Friends, It has been exactly one month since more than 1,600 Girl Scout National Delegates met in Open Space. I feel deeply grateful to each and everyone of you who helped us to hold the space at the Girl Scout National Convention. I haven't written until now because, frankly, I'm still processing what I experienced and learned and I'm not at all sure I can do justice to telling the story. I'm literally still dreaming about what was perhaps the most powerful experience of my life so far, short of giving birth 3 times. My greatest joy in working on this project has been the incredible people and my personal reflections are filled with gratitude and awe. Foremost, I am grateful to my dear friend and business partner, Claudia Haack, who held the space with me with such grace, resilience and generosity that I was able to give myself fully to opening the space. Our partnership grew and our friendship flourished as we worked on this project together. I think that part of why its taking me so long to digest what happened at the Girl Scout National Convention is that after a glorious day of Open Space, Claudia, our volunteer team and I anchored Strategy Cafes for close to 2,000 participants and generally worked on the fly for the next 3 days of the convention, including a final day with the Themefinding Team which looked across the Open Space and Strategy Café reports. All the while, we were working with close to 100 volunteers who had been trained in OS and World Café and who then self-organized for planning and implementation before, during and after the convention. As a member of the Smooth Operators Team said, It was like you went from a two person operation to a full staff of one hundred! Claudia and I are still in the process of writing up the whole thing, including the Open Space on Governance and the Strategy Cafés and I promise to share that with all of you as soon as it's finished. For now you can check out the online version of the Book of Proceedings at www.girlscouts.org/convention/conversationsummary.asp. For a taste of the excitement, here are some of the highlights and quotes from participants ê Based on the feedback weve gotten the members of the volunteer crew, from the participants, and the leaders of the organization, the Open Space and Strategy Cafés have set the stage for an entirely different kind of convention. o I think this has forever changed the National Council Session no more being staged from beginning to end. Instead, honest dialogue. o Ive never been to a convention that felt so open and as honest as this one. o I'd like to echo that and there is a difference between input and influence and we now have a chance to influence the future rather than simply provide input. ê While the Open Space was focused on the topic of governance, it seems that only about half of the 94 sessions posted were really focused on governance. o Its very confusing. People dont really understand what governance actually means and what it means to the organization. o Governance and operational issues get blurred. o Do we all agree what governance means? o Some delegates do not understand governance because they are operations-based. Do delegates represent the majority? o This organization runs better when it is run from the bottom up rather than from the top down. ê Participants were clearly moved by the experience of being in Open Space, being listened to, feeling supported and how that all relates to what the Founder, Juliette Low, intended. o I think that we are getting back to what Juliette Low started - she started this for the girls and I think we are finally getting back to that today. o I was more of a bee and a butterfly and it was so great to hear the girls and I am so proud to be a part of this grand organization. o Im hoping our national board will always accept this process and participate in this with us. o [I learned that we can] support one another in the ambiguity and anxiety as we answer very hard questions for the organization and that we sustain one another as we try. We need to include more and more girls and younger girls. We need to share these conversations with the people back home and become more girl-centric. o We need to listen to one another and remember what works best for the new girls, for the traditionalists, for everybody. o Go back and do the same kinds of things when we get home...talk, listen, talk, listen and listen more. We can make this an ongoing process during the 3-year cycle." During the opening of the space, I said that at that very moment, there were people all over the world who were holding the space with us. Thank you, dear Open Space family. We and the Girl Scouts have been blessed by your spirit. Namaste, Christine Christine Whitney Sanchez KAIROS Alliance Inc. 2717 E. Mountain Sky Avenue Phoenix, AZ 85048 480.759.0262 www.kairosalliance.com * * ========================================================== osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu ------------------------------ To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs: http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist * * ========================================================== osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu ------------------------------ To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs: http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist
