Just wanted to offer a coda on the meeting mentioned below that I coached from 
a distance. It’s a story by the woman who ran the meeting:
http://www.wecreatehere.net/2014/03/21/leading-my-first-open-space/

That’s one great thing about working with journalists. Sometimes they write 
stories. :-)

Peggy




_________________________________
Peggy Holman
Executive Director
Journalism that Matters
15347 SE 49th Place
Bellevue, WA  98006
425-746-6274
www.journalismthatmatters.net
www.peggyholman.com
Twitter: @peggyholman
JTM Twitter: @JTMStream

Enjoy the award winning Engaging Emergence: Turning Upheaval into Opportunity
Check out my series on what's emerging in the news & information ecosystem








On Mar 13, 2014, at 11:42 AM, Peggy Holman <[email protected]> wrote:

> Michael,
> 
> Ah, the details. You want to know more!
> 
> They had already scheduled an hour and a half to follow up on a conversation 
> that started at a start-up style weekend to create an app for communities to 
> identify and deal with abandoned homes in their neighborhood. (Major floods 
> devastated the area a few years back leading to the issue.)
> 
> So they were looking for a way to take the effort to its next step and in the 
> process identify a longer term home for the project. Seemed like the sort of 
> situation that would benefit from some simple self-organizing.
> 
> Since they have never experienced an Open Space, I sent one of the wonderful 
> videos on YouTube - 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTEO9CQe7Mw.  I chose this one because it 
> seemed so streamlined, with no words to get in the way.
> 
> Since they have such a short time, I suggested something that I often do in 
> this situation: invite people who have a topic of interest to write it a pice 
> of paper and announce it. Others cluster with them and they go find a space 
> for their conversation. No explanation of the principles or law of two feet.
> 
> I modified a great 2-page OS primer that Anne Stadler wrote years ago - 
> http://peggyholman.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/2pageos.pdf - to fit their 
> situation. Instructions below.
> 
> Oh, I also offered to run a session with their team before they do it 
> themselves. I’d be on the phone since I live about 1,500 miles from them. 
> Interesting coaching people with no background in hosting conversations. It 
> definitely puts the “anyone with a good head and a good heart” perspective to 
> the test.
> 
> 
> Peggy
> 
> 
> **************
> WHAT IS OPEN SPACE?
> 
> It is a self-organizing practice which releases the inherent creativity and 
> leadership in people. By inviting people to take responsibility for what they 
> care about, Open Space establishes a marketplace of inquiry and action, 
> bringing out the best in both individuals and the whole.
> 
>  
> PROBABLE OUTCOMES:
> 
> v  Builds energy, commitment and shared leadership
> 
> v  Participants accept responsibility for what does or doesn't happen
> 
> v  Action plans and recommendations emerge from discussions as appropriate
> 
> v  You create a record of the entire proceedings as you go along (optional, 
> as noted in #5 below)
> 
> 
> THE STEPS IN BRIEF:
> 
> Days Before
> 
> 1.     Select a focusing statement or question for your gathering.  It should 
> frame the higher purpose and widest context for your discussion in a positive 
> way.
> 
> (E.G., Something like: How can we move the abandoned homes project forward?)
> 
> 2.     Invite the circle of people: all stakeholders or all the people you'd 
> like to have in the room.  Include the theme, date, place and time of 
> gathering in the invitation.
> 
> Day Of
> 
> Room set up
> 3. Create the circle:  Set up chairs in a circle or in concentric circles, 
> leaving space in the center.  Put blank sheets of paper and colored felt pens 
> in the center of the circle.  
> 
> 4. Set up breakout spaces: You will likely need 5-12 areas where people can 
> hold their conversations. If you have one big room for the main circle, 
> people can move their chairs for the breakout sessions. Ideally, find a room 
> without tables that can hold double the number of people you expect. That 
> gives you lots of elbow room to create a circle. People can move their chairs 
> together to form breakout spaces and bring them back when they form the big 
> circle again.
> 
> To self organize:
> 5.     Set agenda:  Facilitator explains:  the process the group will follow 
> to organize. Invite anyone who cares about an issue to step into the middle 
> of the circle and write the topic and their name, announce it, and then stand 
> near their chair, holding the paper with their topic.  They will be conveners 
> who have responsibility for facilitating their session. 
> 
> (Note: if you decide you want notes, this is the time to let them know. I 
> suggest providing a handout to the people who are facilitating the sessions 
> with the information you want: Topic name, Convener, Who attended the 
> session, Discussion, Next steps. Also include a link on where to post notes 
> or an email address of where to send them. I can give you a sample. All that 
> said, since you want to give away leadership, you may not want to do notes.)
> 
> 6.     When all topics have been named, invite people to join the person 
> hosting the session they want. Let them know how much time they’ll have for 
> the conversations. I’d suggest leaving yourself 20 minutes for the closing 
> activities, so you can figure out in real time how much time they'll have. If 
> the session hosts want to combine their groups because they have similar 
> topics, that’s fine. 
> 
> 7.     People participate in discussions.  
> 
> 8.     Discussion highlights: reconvene in one big circle to share 
> highlights, "ahas" and next steps: simply listening to whatever people have 
> to offer.
> 
> 9.   Next steps: Ask the group for a couple volunteers to take the lead from 
> here. This is also a time to identify any other next steps.
> 
> 10.   Wrap up: Invite people to speak a word or phrase of closure, going 
> around the circle. If you like, you can ask people to make individual 
> commitments, though that can take a little longer.
> 
> After
> 11.     Mail out whatever record is created and an address list to all who 
> came. (optional)
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> _________________________________
> Peggy Holman
> Executive Director
> Journalism that Matters
> 15347 SE 49th Place
> Bellevue, WA  98006
> 425-746-6274
> www.journalismthatmatters.net
> www.peggyholman.com
> Twitter: @peggyholman
> JTM Twitter: @JTMStream
> 
> Enjoy the award winning Engaging Emergence: Turning Upheaval into Opportunity
> Check out my series on what's emerging in the news & information ecosystem
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> On Mar 12, 2014, at 6:48 PM, Michael Wood <[email protected]> wrote:
> 
>> I'm intrigued, Peggy. Was the process basically Open Space or something 
>> else? How much time did you have available and what did you do?
>> 
>> Michael Wood
>> Perth, Western Australia
>> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>> 
>> Message: 1
>> Date: Tue, 11 Mar 2014 14:33:49 -0700
>> From: Peggy Holman <[email protected]>
>> To: Open Listserv <[email protected]>
>> Subject: Re: [OSList] Congratulations Peggy Holman
>> Message-ID: <[email protected]>
>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="windows-1252"
>> 
>> Thanks Suzanne and John. It?s definitely a new role, to focus on a single 
>> organization. 
>> 
>> In fact, I just walked a couple people in a news organization through doing 
>> a 30-person community engagement conversation based on self-organizing 
>> around topics of interest. 
>> 
>> New territory!
>> 
>> Peggy
>> 
>> _________________________________
>> Peggy Holman
>> Executive Director
>> Journalism that Matters
>> 15347 SE 49th Place
>> Bellevue, WA  98006
>> 425-746-6274
>> www.journalismthatmatters.net
>> www.peggyholman.com
>> Twitter: @peggyholman
>> JTM Twitter: @JTMStream
>> 
>> Enjoy the award winning Engaging Emergence: Turning Upheaval into 
>> Opportunity Check out my series on what's emerging in the news & information 
>> ecosystem
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> On Mar 11, 2014, at 7:32 AM, john watkins <[email protected]> wrote:
>> 
>>> Congratulations, Peggy!
>>> 
>>> Sent from John's iPhone
>>> 
>>> On Mar 11, 2014, at 7:29 AM, Suzanne Daigle <[email protected]> wrote:
>>> 
>>>> Peggy opening great big space in the world of Journalism. I thought your 
>>>> Open Space friends and colleagues would be delighted to hear this news.  
>>>> Hearty Congratulations. Exciting news!
>>>> 
>>>> Read yesterday: 
>>>> Journalism that Matters is excited to announce that Peggy Holman, a JTM 
>>>> co-founder and long-time board member is now serving as the organization?s 
>>>> Executive Director.
>>>> http://www.journalismthatmatters.net/jtm_announces_new_executive_dire
>>>> ctor
>>>> 
>>>> --
>>>> Suzanne Daigle
>>>> Open Space Facilitator
>>>> NuFocus Strategic Group
>>>> 
>>>> FL 941-359-8877941-359-8877
>>>> Cell: 203-722-2009203-722-2009
>>>> www.nufocusgroup.com
>>>> [email protected]
>>>> twitter @DaigleSuz
>>>> Call
>>>> Send SMS
>>>> Add to Skype
>>>> You'll need Skype CreditFree via Skype 
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