Hello, dear colleagues -
In this message I am wearing the tiara of Access Queen. At Open Space on Open Space (OSonOS) 2001 a group of us held a few sessions on how to help those of us with lesser financial means or from faraway places get to our annual global in-person gatherings. We came up with an idea for naming, asking and offering resources to share. I volunteered to take the lead in this and our colleague the fabulous Laurel Doersam (Canada) found a name for me - Access Queen. Since then in the season before every OSonOS I have acted as a sort of 'Town Crier' - inviting 'Askers' to have the courage to ask for help and support from their colleagues and inviting 'Givers' to share their resources for Askers. Each year we have had the delight of having assisted numbers of OpenSpaceniks to attend our gatherings. Our resources are not huge sums of money (though I welcome those and if you want to donate do contact me) - but rather a carrot here, an onion there, a homestay here, some pocket money there, sending to Access Queen the proceeds from selling hand-drawn covers of an event's Book of Proceedings among participants of that event or a percentage of a season's registration fees from a community builder such as the Open Space World Map, buying two registrations instead of one to offer a free registration for an Asker, or buying a double-occupancy hotel room and offering a free bed to an Asker - all sorts of ways of cooking up a rich stew of opportunities by naming and sharing resources. And each year, as the tradition was begun by the hosts of the 2001 OSonOS in Vancouver, Canada, after all expenses are paid the host teams of the OSonOS's contribute any extra proceeds back into the Access Queen Fund to support next year's Askers. The Halifax team from OSonOS 2005 graciously donated proceeds to this year's fund, and so very many participants at OSonOS Halifax donated more money into this year's fund by buying each others' arts and books and treasures offered at the Halifax OSonOS' 'Global Village Marketplace' (tables at the OSonOS where you can bring things to sell to help recoup some of your own travel expenses or donate to the Access Queen Fund) and the 'Silent Auction' (more treasures - the highest bidder for an item gets both the item and the pleasure of donating that bid amount to the Access Queen fund). This year old Access Queen has been a bit quieter on the OSLIST - usually I stir the pot a lot of times on the list to share who asks and who offers - but this season I've been taking much-needed time to care for myself and have stepped away from the major flow of email for a time. However with the help of Raffi of the OSonOS Moscow host team I have been moving around behind the scenes to help Askers write proposals for funding requests to different organizations and sharing with the host team input from past OSonOS hosts and past Access Queen discoveries about things to know for hosting people of lesser financial means. The funds we co-created together at the Halifax Global Village Marketplace and Silent Auction - along with the proceeds sent by the Halifax team post-conference - are making their way to Moscow to assist Raffi and the host team in helping fabulous Askers from Nepal, Ukraine, Russia and other countries. These funds will be used for as many people as possible - one person will not get all the funds but several people will get a little bit of help affording a discounted registration or receiving some pocket money for local transport to make that difference in their being able to attend. * If you are registered for or thinking of registering for OSonOS Moscow and wish to donate to Askers by buying an extra registration or offering a free hotel room share, do let Raffi and I know (ra...@bk.ru and lisah...@openingspace.net ). * If you know you will be coming to OSonOS Moscow in August, think about how you can bring some folk art or other treasures that you make or buy from your home community, to sell for donations to the next year's fund at the Global Village Marketplace table. * And think about bringing along a little bit of extra money to buy treasures at the Marketplace table to donate to the fund and come home with something special plus a special feeling of giving, too. * If you are not going but know someone who is, ask them if they have room in their luggage to add something to sell at the table. On behalf of all the Askers and all the Givers, Access Queen thanks you for asking, for sharing, for inviting, for offering, for receiving. Lisa (aka Access Queen) PS: 1: For those of you wishing to come to Russia from other countries, before you seek funding do check with your embassy to see if you still have time to secure a visa appointment - for some countries this may need to be scheduled months in advance and you may or may not still have time for a visa request, appointment and acceptance period. 2: For those of you who have been thinking of sending a proposal to the Open Space Institute of the US (OSI US) to request partial funding to get to OSonOS Moscow, the deadline is June 19 and the requests have been 'first come / first serve'. If you need to see an example proposal (use it, adapt it, adjust it however it may best serve you), see: http://www.openspaceworld.org/cgi/wikiA.cgi?OpenSpaceInstituteUSA/AccessQuee nKing - which also has the email address for the Institute. Of course you can use this template for requests to any organization but if you are using your proposal for OSI US you must also answer how you will fulfill the following values to fit the guidelines of their funding activities: 1) how your experience coming to the OSonOS will help support underserved areas; 2) how you will utilize your experience to reach multiple people upon your return home; and let them know also 3) that you will make a commitment to post on our OSLIST the story of your OS use and outreach experience. ___________________________ L i s a H e f t Consultant, Facilitator, Educator O p e n i n g S p a c e <mailto:lisah...@openingspace.net> lisah...@openingspace.net <http://www.openingspace.net> www.openingspace.net * * ========================================================== 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
