I have done this on a number of occaisions, including offering seven OST sessions within a larger conference on early childhood development. I think that we offered them as Open Space sessions but with the theme highlighted in the conference program and a small description about the format listed in the conference program as well At that conference we gained a couple of OST junkies who came to all seven sessions regardless of what they were about just because they loved the format.
The only issue with doing this is making sure there is enough time and that the room is set up right. It tends to be outside of the orbit of most conference organizers to imagine a breakout session that requires only a circle of chairs and a wall. So make it easy on them and let them know what you need. If you have less than 2 hours, my experience is that it is better to sacrifice a closing circle than it is to cut the discussion session short. If you are running up against a break in the conference proceedings, you might get away with a one word check out, but I have found that most conference goers will want to get out of the room right after the session is over to get back to their networking. Despite Open Space offerings, the best part about traditional conferences is still the coffee breaks! Chris On 3/27/07, Larry Peterson <[email protected]> wrote:
Depends what you mean by "short". I most recently led an OS event in a 3.5 hour session as part of a housing conference. A client organization had used it and suggested that folks try it. It was not OS for the sake of experiencing OS. I worked with the conference planning committee to identify a key theme for the organization that would draw participants – this one was dealing with NIMBY. It was position in the conference materials in relation to the content and OST was mentioned as the approach –the conference description was an "initiation" and it was describe that way in plenary. It went well and those who came and played loved the conversations and the OST. Larry Larry Peterson Associates in Transformation Toronto, ON, Canada 416.653.4829 [email protected] www.spiritedorg.com * * ========================================================== [email protected] ------------------------------ To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of [email protected]: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs: http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist
-- CHRIS CORRIGAN Facilitation - Training Open Space Technology Weblog: http://www.chriscorrigan.com/parkinglot Site: http://www.chriscorrigan.com Principal, Harvest Moon Consultants, Ltd. http://www.harvestmoonconsultants.com * * ========================================================== [email protected] ------------------------------ To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of [email protected]: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs: http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist
