Notes If you are clear up front for the purpose of the notes it becomes clear how and why to use them. One of the original purposes of participants taking notes was so that we wouldn't have to endure an endless litany of " report backs" at the end of the day which offer very little of value. Just take notes, post up a news wall and let people connect with those they missed.
A secondary use of notes is a book of proceedings. Produce one if it is important to do so and it will be used. Don't bother if you have no strategy for it. Not every Open Space conversation or event needs to be tangibly productive. Much like a dance performance. If you weren't there you are not going to get much from my description of it no matter how much I think you should hear about it! :) Chris -- CHRIS CORRIGAN Harvest Moon Consultants Facilitation, Open Space Technology and process design Check www.chriscorrigan.com for upcoming workshops, blog posts and free resources. > On Jan 23, 2015, at 1:19 PM, Leslie Zucker via OSList > <[email protected]> wrote: > > Hi everyone, > Going to the OSI in New York last weekend was the perfect prep for me to open > space last night. Thanks again to the gang who organized it and pulled it > off so beautifully and professionally! > I’m so grateful to get both that gentle tickle and firm knock on the head of > what Open Space is and is not. > > I’m happy to report about my experience from last night and I also have a few > questions for those with more experience… > The theme was “Space for Dance and Dancers” in the Washington, DC area in the > US. It was a Thursday night event (5:30 - 9:00), it was free, catered, at a > super accessible location and widely promoted. > We had 67 RSVP ahead of time and 42 showed up. Not bad at all for the first > time to try this within this community. The follow-up feedback survey has > already gone out and feedback is very positive so far. Hooray! > > A few questions for those with opinions… > > In the Opening Circle, I did mention the importance of the notes for people > (especially funding decision makers in the community) who could not be there > at the event. Nonetheless, the notes are underwhelming. Only about 5 out of > the 13 sessions turned in notes to the newsroom. I’m creating the > Proceedings document now, and I wonder if it merits putting any kind of > paragraph at the beginning referring to the rich discussions that didn’t > always result in notes. I'm feeling the need to provide some context for > people who weren’t there and may be expecting more significant notes. I’m > leaning toward saying something on the first page like…. “The following > topics were proposed by the 42 participants who attended the event. These 13 > topics formed the “Marketplace” [insert picture of the Marketplace] -from > which everyone could pick and choose from. The conversations sessions were > about 45 minutes each [insert agenda] and in some, notes were taken and in > others, they were not. Many times the discussion is informal and > unstructured, and doesn’t always get transcribed from verbal excitement into > a documented representation.” > > If anyone has included something similar in the Proceedings, can I see the > text you used? Any examples would be great! > > Also, in my experience - both as a facilitator and participant- of Open > Space, the Closing Circle generally only includes half or fewer than half of > the people at the Opening Circle. I realize that the Law of Two Feet > applies, and I wonder what anyone does or says to encourage participation all > the way until the very end. Your thoughts or recommendations about doing > this? Verbiage you like would be a big help! > > All the best to all of you out there far and wide! > Leslie > > Leslie Zucker > Trainer, Facilitator and Life Coach for Life's Dancers > +1 (202) 425 7637 > [email protected] > www.lesliezucker.com > > > _______________________________________________ > 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
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