2009 17th WOSonOS
OPEN SPACE REPORT FORM
Topic Name : opening space in public places
Topic Number
Convenor : Alan
Participants (including Bumble Bees) : Spark, Jackie, Gys, Jorie Wu, sac, Pavel Tsarkov, Michael Pannwitz
Insights, Questions Raised, Possible Actions, Recommendations, etc:
Alan welcomed the attendees and indicated that he would wish the session to be thoroughly
participatory.
He proposes that there are enormous possibilities for bringing people together in ways in which they engage with each other in greater depth than usually happens.
This can happen in public spaces such as cafes, restuarants, hotels, bars and libraries.
A core feature of wat he has in mind is to the co-creation of the spirit or ambiance of an OST gathering.
A prerequisite for this to happen is to have a host present. This person’s role is to provide
light and fun guidelines to the proceedings, underpinned by a depth of experience and insight into what is possible in such a context.
He has been doing this in Hong Kong over the past few months. Feedback has been so enthusiastic that he is inspired to share this and to pursue the project. The name of this is now Conversare from the Latin con versare – to turn or to dance together.
This is part of what he indicates in the invitation to these events :
“We should be more demanding of our social lives. Rather than seeing a successful encounter as a rare gift, we should expect to engineer one regularly. The history of conversation suggests that it’s when there are rules around that our spirit can best be set free. We might be tempted to giggle at the artificiality of a conversation menu or the pretentiousness of [some] dinner parties—and yet we should welcome them for helping us get to the elusive, spontaneous, and sincere bits of ourselves.”
Adapted from 'The Art of a Lively Conversation'
Happenings during this session:
There was very lively interaction and questioning among the participants.
Among this was :
. how to attract people to come? Mainly through my networks and also word of mouth.
. how do you start a Conversare gathering ?. Always by inviting people to have a conversation
withg someone they have not met previously. This means there is no possibility of anyone feeling
left out or not welcomed.
. where does an OST dimension appear? I have posters prominently displayed about ‘Whoever comes are the right people’ and ‘Whatever happens is the only thing that could have.’ Also one which says, ‘Whenever we treat each othe well good things happen.’ And some from the World Cafe such as ‘Share collective discoveries’ and ‘Be aware of patterns.’
These notes were kindly taken by Jolie :
-Using public places for conversations, not just using OST
-Using OS principles as guide line to proceede the Comedy Cafe + one principle : whenever we treat each oher well ,
-Total respect, something good always happen ; that is OS spirit
-Being doing it in HK and receiving good feedback..
-Comedy Cafe- need a facilitator, starting point_AI question to find someone you don’ know (deeper thant networking, no
Business card), to listen to each other, a different way of connecting people. Questions used in the past : what is the most memorable experience you would like to share ? or tell someone who has the most memorable ifluence on you ?
-criteria : 1. content- topic for conversation, dance, singing or conversation
2. training faciliators-careeer options(on-line) for people newly retired
3. need the content, need a facilitator, how to run a business, how to market
4. simplified version of « conversation host » ; convesation engager, building community ,targeting on diferent groups.
-Lots of hotels to be used for this idea. In England, 52 pubs ae closed every week, a great opportunity for doing things differently to attract people to develop pubs as a valued community resource. comdey cafe.
- we, facilitators, know how to hold the space and encourage participation.It’s an easy wayt ot encourage participation
-the purpose of « opening space in public space » to encourage dialogue and participation ,creating opportunities for strangers to connect
-ideas came from « Awaking the dreamer ». 3 critical issues : sustain environment, more social justice/fairness, spiritual fulfillment (bringing people together at diferent way, equal human being to connect well)
