And perhaps a slight modification to Michael's suggestion -- you might start with the recognition that in OS nobody is required to attend any of it (Law of two feet) ... but for those who want to make sure their contribution is heard and desire to be part of the action, being there for the whole time is by far the best.
I've done a number of gatherings in situations like you describe (Hospitals, communities, schools, non-stop manufacturing plants, etc). If you think about it, being present for the opening (1 1/2 hours) is pretty critical. But once things are underway, people do tend to come and go, even in an "off site" situation. For example, I myself have been known to take naps :-). My experience has been that people who say (up front) that they will just "drop in" very often are the last ones to leave. They just get hooked. So making "full participation" as a condition of attendance doesn't make a lot of sense to me. But informed participation does. Therefore I always say something like, "Full participation is best, but for sure come for the opening so your issues can be part of the discussion. And of course if you don't stick around, you will never find out what really happened." Always seems to work, and in most instances most of the people who care are there for the duration...so I've found. Harrison Harrison Owen 7808 River Falls Dr. Potomac, MD 20854 USA 189 Beaucaire Ave. (summer) Camden, Maine 04843 Phone 301-365-2093 (summer) 207-763-3261 www.openspaceworld.com www.ho-image.com (Personal Website) To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of OSLIST Go to:http://lists.openspacetech.org/listinfo.cgi/oslist-openspacetech.org -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Michael M Pannwitz Sent: Friday, October 25, 2013 9:51 AM To: World wide Open Space Technology email list Subject: Re: [OSList] Help please ~ In the invitation, how do I encourage participation in a whole multi-day event? Dear Chris, How about including this part of your email in the invitation, slightly edited by me "There has never been a meeting of this length in our community before. We are all busy with work and kids, and some are asking, "Can I just come to one or two of the days/sessions instead of all three?" Our meeting is part of a strategic planning process and includes both in-depth discussion and concrete project planning for our school and community. Attending the entire meeting guarantees that you can introduce and discuss your issues and also shape the needed actions and projects. If you want to come to the whole event but cant see how it is going to work for you, call us. We might help with baby-sitting, let your employer know about the need for you to be at the gathering...." So, as sponsor, I would first try to frame the invitation and other ways of contacting potential participants for full-time participation. AND invite people to call if they need assistance. AND I also have found that folks attending part time (never experienced that all come part-time) are taken in by the people at the event... I have found (as facilitator) that people bringing their kids to such events is grand... just make sure there is some space for them and food and bathrooms and the participants seem to take care of it quite naturally (after all its open space in which selforganisation turns up)... and kids also are known to participate productively, they are an asset! With schools and community events and others that involve volunteers I have experienced that a design on Friday afternoon (3pm until 7:30pm), Saturday (10 am to 5pm) and Sunday (best started with a light lunch at 12:30, so that people dont have to cook) and action space from 1:30pm until 5pm allows people to be at the event full time without missing too much of work... Have a grand time with your event! Cheers mmp On 25.10.2013 12:13, Chris Weaver wrote: > Hi OSlist, > > In the role of co-sponsor rather than facilitator, I am crafting an > invitation to a multi-day "all-stakeholder" OST for a public school > and its community. > > There has never been a meeting of this length in this community > before. Everyone is busy with work and kids, and many are asking, "Can > I just come to one or two of the days/sessions instead of all three?" > > The meeting is part of a strategic planning process and includes a > convergence. Continuity in this meeting will be a great asset. > > The sponsoring group can respond to this question of "Is it okay to > just come for part of it?" in several ways: in the invitation itself, > on the online RSVP form (designing fields for people to sign up for > part rather than whole), in conversation with people, and in other > messages to the community (letter from board president & executive > director, etc). > > If you were the sponsor or facilitator, how would you answer this > question? > > Thanks! Chris > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ OSList mailing list To > post send emails to [email protected] To unsubscribe send > an email to [email protected] To subscribe or > manage your subscription click below: > http://lists.openspacetech.org/listinfo.cgi/oslist-openspacetech.org > -- Michael M Pannwitz Draisweg 1, 12209 Berlin, Germany ++49 - 30-772 8000 Check out the Open Space World Map presently showing 415 resident Open Space Workers in 72 countries working in a total of 143 countries worldwide: www.openspaceworldmap.org _______________________________________________ OSList mailing list To post send emails to [email protected] To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected] To subscribe or manage your subscription click below: http://lists.openspacetech.org/listinfo.cgi/oslist-openspacetech.org _______________________________________________ OSList mailing list To post send emails to [email protected] To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected] To subscribe or manage your subscription click below: http://lists.openspacetech.org/listinfo.cgi/oslist-openspacetech.org
