Irv - Rule of thumb is that One Day will get the issues on the table, two days will take you deeper, and for another half day you can leave with a plan for action and folks lined up to move. But that is just a rule of thumb. Major considerations so far as I am concerned are the complexity and conflict (potential or actual) present in the situation. Personally I have never seen a watershed project that didn't have lots of both (complexity and conflict) - and if that is true in your situation, two days would be an absolute minimum. Another consideration that would be very important for me is to make maximum effort to invite everybody who might care about that watershed. That could be a lot of people, and probably more than the membership of your community organization - but it would insure that all voices are heard, thereby raising the probability of long term success. This is one situation where "more" is definitely better. If you were to follow this suggestion, you are likely to end up with a number of people who don't know each other very well. That in itself would argue for more time (2 days)
Harrison _____ From: OSLIST [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Irv Sheffey Sent: Monday, July 23, 2007 7:04 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Brief OST sessions Hey folks, I'm preparing to hold an Open Space session in early September to address the future direction of a community organization engaged in restoring a local river and its watershed. I'm new to OST, this will be my first time facilitating a session, and I've got a couple a questions. The sponsor has proposed that the session be one day and we expect approximately 40-50 participants. I'm aware that OST can be done in a variety of timeframes, but in your experienced, considered opinions -is this enough time to effectively address an issue such as the one I've described. I'd like to propose at least a two day session and I may have some leeway with the sponsor on this. If we find ourselves limited to one day, does anyone have any suggestions on making it as effective as possible? I don't expect a formulaic answer, since that's somewhat counter to OST, but your thoughts would be helpful Thanx! Irv * * ========================================================== [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 * * ========================================================== [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
