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These are the proceedings from meetings of the Open Space Institute.
  • Title: Board Proceedings March 2016
    Meeting Date: 21 Mar 2016

    Board Proceedings from 21 March 2016

    In attendance were Karen J. Davis, Harold Shinsato, and Tricia Chirumbole

    Agenda

    - Peace and High Performance 2016
    - OSI Purpose
    - Replace President
    - OS Definition/Description

    Peace & High Performance

    Good news - a little over $2K surplus. One of the things in the future - looking more at what that means for us financially. What do we want to do with that?

    The research piece is the really important one to regroup on. I like the idea of putting the money into that. For Karen. There was much more time and energy put in this year than in the past. I'm hoping in the future not to putting in as much effort. Liked that it is what the OSI is about.

    Tricia - Great to hear that we made a profit. Like what I am hearing about potential ways to move forward with that. Proceeds from the event. Did you envision as something collectively held by the OSI? Is there other support you hope for in the future?

    Karen - In terms of original - there were a couple of us who just felt it was important for people to get together to learn about Open Space. There was never the intent of making money. We lost money. And often what was happening, split it among Harrison and Debora Gilbert and Ralph Copelman. That was never more than a couple hundred. These last two years we have been making some. More people are able to pay. A place where people may not have another opportunity. There was a lot of underwriting of people participating. There was a shift in the financial side of it. In terms of the time and energy, our getting the registration up and in the way that it was clear and understood and not duplicating efforts. There is an effort to support people finding places to stay, working around people being here. That was taking a lot of energy in juggling. There are the decisions that need to be made in terms of the contract and the agreements with International House and the catering operations. There were new variables for a new vendor. And a new leadership in International House. When we may have the space next time. We have to wait until July or August to confirm the dates. International House has preferences. Hold the faith and hold the vision. We're beginning to work out - this being the second year in a collaborative way.

    The technology added this year - to get information needed - had to go to 2-4 different places instead of it all being together.

    OSI Purpose

    Maybe engage some people in research. Paul Levy. He is associated with a University. There are definitely some other people interested.

    In depth interviews. Various things with it. For whatever reasons - large clients. They're not really statistically sample sizes in the commercial or public sector for everything they do. Focus groups. Open Space. Innovation section. Iterative processes. More for integrating large numbers of stakeholders products. We'll do coding for meaning making. You code them and group them. And then summary statistics.

    Larry Peterson - had to do with research. One of the earliest Doctoral Dissertations.

    Possibly convene a conversation with people on the OSList. A research conversation.

    Maybe have brochures available for Agile 2016

    Karen - have some individual dialogs with other people on the board. Even have another look for when to commit to meet together to continue this conversation.

    Conversation - kick off the open space hotline- invite the people to talk for 2-5 minutes. Ask a few key people. Michael Hermann started getting on. It's a good idea. It could even be monthly.

    Sweet note from Marie Nelson. How much she valued coming on the hotline even if she hasn't been there.

    Replace the President

    Although Suzanne Daigle has wanted to step down as president, we did not feel we had sufficient attendance to address this.

    OST - Description/Definition

    Authority - don't think we should have the authority to define Open Space. We should find a way to co-create it with the community. Identify our purpose.

    Doesn't have to be a convergent description.
    Can be divergent.
    A More Beautiful Question.

    If we could include in the conversation - questioning the lower case "open space".

    On the hotline - has the thing about purpose.

  • Title: Board Minutes November 2015
    Meeting Date: 16 Nov 2015

    In attendance: Suzanne Daigle, Linda Stevens, Karen Davis, Kevin O'Brien, Daniel Mezick, Harold Shinsato

    There was small attendance at the last meeting.

    Drop in birthday party

    We did a dry run with Harrison Owen, Lucas Cioffe, and Michael Herman. Harrison didn't stay long. They were able to do a bit of online art together. Lucas and Michael have been charming to work with. It went smoothly and quickly, announcement went out. Suzanne has sent out personal invitations over the weekend. Anne Stadler got really involved. Lucas is really appreciative that we're able to test this. We are going to send a cheat sheet and a reminder. I've been getting lovely notes from around the world. There are some other people, put the International House event together. A little request, Lucas never brought any of this up. If we get 100 people, different times in the day. Can I help the OSI to help out. It's a big event. Well, if they'd like to give $50. We vote to send up to $200 expenses.

    International House

    Susan Baskerfield - had a lengthy chat about Frederik Laloux's work. Suzanne suggested she just come to New York. Susan just wanted to know more about the housing. Suzanne spoke to a number of others. For registration information, she will wait until she get the registration page link. It will be Martin Luther King weekend as ususal.

    This gets very complicated. International House needs to know each person in each room. Handling the logistics of that is a bit challenging. Suzanne is willing to take that on like she did last year. We don't have International House information on the invitation. Karen holds the full financial responsibility to provide support to anyone who has limited financial ability. Karen can use discounting and even making the event free at her discretion. Be sure you cover your costs. Karen's not doing that to make money. If we have more than 45 people, then we could shift to another space. Then it costs $3000 a day. We accidentally got access to that room one year. Those are issues that are up in the air.

    Have a face to face after the International House event. Suzanne mentioned how exhausted we all were after the last event. We decided not to hold one.

    QiqoChat

    Lucas offered QiqoChat for online Open Space events. We could use it for conversations with Anne Stadler, as Suzanne Daigle suggested for a "front porch chat" format. Regular occasions until we have qiqochat 24/7. That's part of Lucas' vision. If you have an annual meeting and use QiqoChat - it gives us an opportunity to use it.
     

  • Title: Board Minutes
    Meeting Date: 18 Oct 2015

    Participants: Suzanne, Linda, Tricia

    Note Taker:  Linda

    Bin Gardener:  Suzanne

    Moment of Silence and Check – in

     

    Discussion Topics:

    1.    IRS and State of Washington Forms

    The IRS sent (via Peggy) a form, and Suzanne contacted both the IRS and the State of Washington to assure that she was sending the right information needed to maintain our nonprofit status and sent back the form via registered mail.

    2.    January 2016 at International House – January 15th – 17th

    International House for January 2016 is confirmed for High Performance and the Practice of Peace including rooms for lodging. Interested attendees are already showing up.

    3.    Informal discussions about a host of topics including OSI US, Hotline and hopes and dreams about Open Space in general.

    Without the necessary quorum, no decisions were made. 

    Next Meeting:  Monday, November 16, 2015 at 5:30 p.m. EST.

  • Title: Meetings Note
    Meeting Date: 20 Sep 2015

    Participants: Harold, Tricia, Dan, Suzanne, Karen, Kevin

    Bin Gardner: Harold

    Note taker: Kevin

    Moment of Silence and Check – in

    Discussion Topics:

    1. Amazon Affiliate status has earned the institute money off of nuts, herbs, and some non Open Space related book sales

    2. OSI Chapters

    -       Agile Boston has had 9 or 10 Open Spaces since 2009

    -       Resolutely socializing Open Space around Boston

    -       No formal membership right now

    -       Could pay $700 to $2000/yr for chapter status back to OSI to make it official

    -       Agile user groups could be affiliated OSI

    -       Agile Boston could be the pilot chapter

    -       Mark Kilby in FL has also been using Open Space heavily in Agile group meetings

    -       The board is supportive of deepening the conversation around Chapters (or circles) on the agenda.

    3. There is a desire to start planning International House 2016

    -       Suzanne has started inviting. Already has 4 people tentatively signed up.

    -       We don’t have the space confirmed yet at International House. Asked for Friday, Saturday, Sunday time slot.

    -       Harold would like to start the Eventbrite invitation now

    4. Theory U and Open Space – Otto Sharmer work promotes concepts that blend well with Open Space. Many people who are taking his class are people that could find open space facilitation useful in it’s simplicity.

    5. Gathering virtually with long term experienced Open Space practitioners to share wisdom with those who are seeking it. Conversations would be question oriented. Explore deeper ideas that we’re often too busy to deal with. Have a core group of people involved to handle the technical aspects. Imagine something like this could be happening once a month. Could fall into a regular pattern one a month or once every two months. Once other piece, is that we speak from listening for guidance. It is a way of opening to the whole field of spirit via conscious conversations.

    Next Meeting: 19 October 2015

  • Title: Board Meeting
    Meeting Date: 16 Aug 2015

    Participants: Karen,Tricia, Harold, Linda, Kevin, Suzanne, Daniel

    Bin Gardner:  Harold

    Note taker: Suzanne

    Moment of Silence and Check – in

    Discussion Topics:

    1.    Harold describes the work he did in creating two pamphlet pieces one on OIS US and the other a resource on “how to Open Space”.  He again asks the board to provide comments or suggestions (design, photos, language). To date only one board member responded. Those who have seen it agree that it is really well done, captures the nuance and intent of Open Space and OSI US.  Harold looks forward to making it available to groups in the future; unfortunately it was not completed on time to be used at Agile Washington

    2.    Harold navigates the bin to move items completed in the “Done” Trello lane.

    a.    $250 gift for VOSonOS; sent to Lucas’s address

    b.    $250 for Poland WOSonOS

    Harold will send a copy of the thank you notes received from each to the Board.

    c.     Open Space Learning Opportunities document that lists all training events for the time being will be posted on OSI US and Open Space World. To date, Harold has posted events that have the title Open Space training without any further criteria.  It would require a longer conversation to really determine what fits as Open Space training as there have been instances where clearly it did not follow the intent of Open Space. Need to have conversations on “how” to Open Space, how does one learn to do this; would be helpful to have a common understanding of this. There has been resistance in the past in the community to defining this. There is agreement that it’s not easy to define, like myth, religion and yet defining it better is worth doing.

    d.    OSI Membership sign-up shifted to an annual $15 minimum with $50 recommended; only one sign up to date.  Will be waiting before publicizing more until the map work is done.

    3.    Go over items moved to the “Doing” column

    a.    Elder Wisdom Virtual Invitation

                                                   i.     The idea for this came from VOSonOS which Anne Stadler attended. As Suzanne was listening to Anne, she recognized the huge wisdom that exists in Anne and in many others in the Open Space community that is not being captured in the OS list – the stories, the unique perspectives and she was prompted to reach out to Anne and others to explore the possibility of having a QiQoChat that would invite story telling, wisdom sharing and conversations. To date only preliminary conversations on this.  Suzanne will follow up. Lucas Cioffi and Michael Herman are keen on this too as is OSI US.

                                                 ii.     Discussion around oral sharing vs writings in books or the OS list.  Some video is available of Anne (recent TV interview, recent interviewing with Harold at Whidbey Island, etc). Suzanne will share those links.

                                                iii.     Harold also suggested that it would be very valuable to have lively fireside chats  or lean coffee type of conversations to also capture this elder wisdom which could be recorded and put out there for the community as Youtube videos.

                                                iv.     Dan mentions how important it is to capture this wisdom; Karen says all these ideas are great and that the emphasis should be on story telling and that the real value will be having several people interacting, having an intimacy in the conversations. Linda also agrees though urges to keep it simple, to keep the Open Space principles in mind, to be inclusive and intentional in our invitation.  Linda and Karen between them have over 50 years of experience in Open Space. Lots of wisdom that we don’t want to lose

                                                  v.     Harold mentions DVD videos from India with Anne in earlier days with people having mgt conversations, experiencing the same struggles that we experience today. Of real historical interest even thought the quality of the footage may not be the best.

    b.    Initiative around Open Space and Indigenous Communities; Harold, Linda and Karen very interested in this topic. Lots of experience in the group. In fact Karen is involved in the publication of a 2nd Edition book on this topic, which is not out yet. She will provide information on this although respecting the timing as the 2nd edition is not out yet; it may be the information she shares will be from the 1st edition.

    4.    Discussion on the note that Suzanne sent giving her notice to resign as President in 2016

    a.    Suzanne shares her perspective about OSI US and how it invites us to live open space by initiating projects that we are individually passionate about and want to take action on, inviting others to join. For her, it is more the individuals that are part of OSI US and what they bring that the Board itself.

    b.    She also expresses her hopes that roles like Harold’s (financial, OS list maintenance, etc.) should tie anyone in this work precluding them for example from taking others roles (i.e. Harold as president).  Harold acknowledges that there is a lot of leg work involved in the treasury work. Dan Mezick asks Harold if there was someone who could do those functions well, would he consider taking on a role such as president. Harold answers yes.

    c.     Harold then comments on what Suzanne has said, mentioning that OSI is more than the sum of its parts, that it’s more than just individuals, that there is an important role for OSI US but it’s never been clear what it is authorized to do or not do. He feels there is a need and an opportunity pick up the emergent structure in a light way, to have the authority to help the OS body move forward while embracing others institutes and others willing to work. There is a concern by some in the Open Space community that if we institutionalize Open Space, it will ossify. It is agreed that that these are important questions; need to clarify what we mean, have a common understanding, an emergent understanding.

    5.    Tricia takes the lead to initiate a working meeting separate from our board meetings (would include email communications) to work on this topic, to explore the reason OSI US exits, to explore how we can be stewards in a different it being an institution. She will also look at a visioning exercise to walk us through this important topic.

    6.    Harold closes the meeting with the idea of OSI US becoming a 501c3 Umbrella Organization providing the opportunity for Open Space chapters to be established so people have a place to go to explore and learn about Open Space. This is a topic that will be discussed perhaps as part of what Tricia is initiating. Karen indicated she thought it sounds contradictory to the intent of Open Space, Harold responds that if we make the policy clear and clean enough, that would not happen and indeed it would be a service to many including the Agile community which is increasingly adopting Open Space. 

    Next Meeting: September 21, 2015

     

     

  • Title: OSI Board Meeting Notes
    Meeting Date: 19 Jul 2015
    Note Taker: Linda Stevenson
     
    Participants: Tricia, Harold, Linda, Kevin, Suzanne, Daniel
     
    Moment of Silence and Check – in
     
    Discussion Topics:
     
    VOSonOS 2015:  Suzanne - insight on the power of one person who invites others and the amazing success of the first VOSonOS. 
     
    Action:  Give some financial support for qiqochat to support VOSonOS in Poland and some financial support for WOSonOS in Poland.
     
    Bin Gardening:  Harold - celebrate the accomplishments on the work that has been done; pick up the important things from VOSonOS; big stuff was upgraded to the website; cleaned up the membership data base and membership map; everyone has three roles:  student, doer, teacher; moved onboarding stuff into the website; would like bin to be made public and visible on the website.
     
    Action:  Suzanne will have a conversation with Karen about making the bin public.
     
    Agile Open Space Guild:  Harold – keeps on going!
     
    OSI Membership:  Harold – Encourage people to become members and ask for an annual amount and go $50. recommended with a $15. minimum.
     
    Board Membership:  Kevin – have elections reflect the dynamic of the community; Harold – board membership rules vs. Anne Stadler’s “committed conveners”
     
    Action:  Invite Anne Stadler and others to share wisdom and check out Anne Stadler video on the OSI website.
     
    OSI and Institutes Around the World:  Suzanne – introspection for OSI on Artur’s comments at VOSonOS; need to be cautious with tax status; want to be inclusive.
     
    Action:  Have a good discussion on institutes around the world.
     
    Clear vision and mission:  Tricia – we’re not just supporting a board; we are serving a vision and mission; Harold – complicated and a lot of the community views us in this model of board hierarchy – do we need to rename ourselves?  Initially, there was a lot of community input to form the institute, and we need to return to this to avoid the impression of hierarchy while keeping to the rules and commitment; Tricia – make the bin public, and let people self-select if they want to come to a meeting – an ongoing market place; Harold – start with making Trello public; Suzanne – it should be reviewed before going public; Kevin – just do it.
     
    Action:  Suzanne will review it.
     
    Support at the Agile Conference:  Tricia – will ask Joe to make an OSI resusable banner; Suzanne – we will pay Joe.
     
    Next Meeting:  Scheduled for Monday, August 17, 2015 at 5:30 p.m. EDT.
  • Title: OSI Board Meeting Notes April 20, 2015
    Meeting Date: 19 Apr 2015

    Note Taker: Linda Stevenson

    Bin Gardner: Suzanne Daigle

    Present:

    Suzanne Daigle, Karen Davis, Daniel Mezick, Kevin O’Brien, Harold Shinsato, Linda Stevenson

    1.) Concerns were raised around the Board’s monthly online meetings’ structure and efficiency.  Possibilities to     address these issues included:

    ·       Dragging things out of Trello to pre-set an agenda three or four days before the meeting by a meeting volunteer convener, and the agenda could be refined at the beginning of each meeting

    ·       Learning the McCarthy style check-in

    ·       Naming/owning all items in the Trello bin

    ·       Distinguishing between operations and policy making

    ·       Using a grab and go email policy like Agile Boston

    ·       Making the best use of online tools for online meetings

    ·       Deciding the notetaker ahead of time (but for facilitator role?)

    ·       Using a spreadsheet like the OS Hotline

    ·       Keeping to 90 minutes with a mid-way break

    ·       Letting our mission “to hold space for Open Space” be our guide

    ·       Keeping our commitments

    ·       All activating whatever we are passionate about

    ·       Do we need both a convener and a facilitator?

    ·       Is the group being the authority a problem?

    2)     The Trello bin was cleaned up

    3)     Add a “Bell of Awesomeness” to the onboarding process and use it judiciously

    4)     Goal setting could be replaced with direction setting

    5)     Hold a conversation on structure serving the goals and emergence

    6)     IRS tax filings 990 and Washington State Annual Report are done

    7)     Online Agile coaching for OST folks is going well with 6 people on the last call, good questions, emergent lessons, and a fabulous teacher

    8)     The 501c3 policy and criteria writing will focus on WOSonOS and the January OS

    9)     We can experiment with sociocracy (background of holocracy) which is Scrum’s big brother and start by checking out Wikipedia and lerning more

    10)  Harold will form a subgroup to investigate sociocracy including Joh Buck’s work on collaborative governance (www.sociocracy.info) and make a recommendation for us to consider with Daniel as a point person

    11)  Keep in mind that “less is more” and our simplicity has led to some amazing meetings and emergence from a very deep place of being

    12)  Check out the McCarthy boot camp

    13)  More dialogue can happen in a safe space on the issues around the appropriate amount of structure

    14)  Harold is starting a video project on an unfolding Open Space Manifesto

    15)  Harold is  beginning Open Space training conversations

  • Title: OSI US Board Meeting Highlights
    Meeting Date: 16 Mar 2015

    OSI US Board Meeting Hightlights – March 16, 2015 (5:30 to 7:15 p.m. EST)

    Attending: Tricia Chirumbole, Chuni Li, Suzanne Daigle, Karen Davis, Linda Stevenson, Harold Shinsato, Dan Mezick, Kevin O’Brien

    Note taker:  Suzanne Daigle

    Bin Gardner navigating the Agenda: Harold Shinsato

    Meeting begins with 2 minutes of silence followed by member check-in

    1. Bin Clean-up Harold advises that he has cleaned up the Trello bin and walks us through the things that he did moving stuff to done, creating a column of parked indefinitely if there has been no activity, including a column called “stuff to consider” which we can then move into the bin for discussion leading to action. 
       
    2. On line Agile Coaching Class for interested Board members and invited Guests
      To date Linda, Karen, Tricia, Harold and Dan are participating. First training call is scheduled for Tuesday the 24th of March from 4 to 6 pm. (2 hours giving participants time to sort out the technical login, etc). Other classes will last about 1.5 hours.  Tricia asks about inviting attendees and the suggest is that we each try to invite 5 people. Linda asks whether a pre-requisite is a depth of experience in Open Space. The answer is yes. 
       
    3. Kudos and acknowledgment of Dan Mezicks Open Space client videos by Linda and others. All agree that these speak to the need and potential of our work and the power of video to get the message across.
       
    4. International House Retrospective from January Harold and Karen report that the Open Space Gathering 2015 was a success in terms of participation and financially ($2100 surplus). This was the first year that OSI US officially partnered on this event and it was noted that all OSI members participated and were actively involved. In addition to the financial benefits of using OSI US’s 501C3 as a pass through, it was felt that the goals of this annual gathering fit well with the OSI US mission and that the event itself met all the established guidelines for use namely that there be complete transparency in managing all of the expenses and revenues with no financial exposure to the Institute. 

      While noting all the positive benefits, it was acknowledged that using OSI US as a pass-through does create quite a bit of work at the treasury level and it could become extremely onerous if we were involved in many such events.There was some discussion about expanding the use and value of our 501C3 without increasing work for us at the Board level as a service to other institutes or Open Space groups. Should we go in that direction, Harold says that it probably would require paid staff to handle the books
       

    5. OS Hotline Michael Herman requested permission to post the link to the hotline on Open Space World.org.  Everyone enthusiastically agreed noting again the huge value and richness of the discussions that occur on the hotline every week. The group expressed their deep appreciation to Tricia for leading this effort.
       
    6. Orientation and Welcome of New OSI Board members: While appreciating the on-boarding procedure document that was developed for new members with information on the mission, vision and values of OSI US, Dan, in an earlier email to Chuni, suggested that a simple, repeatable and perhaps more elaborate group-level welcoming ritual could help by going beyond the informal way that people have of getting to know each other which can potentially be somewhat unwelcoming.

      A rich and enthusiastic discussion ensued from this suggestion leading to a first new ritual of ringing “a bell of awesomeness” to welcome Doug and Dan as new board members. All agreed that having emergent light structures, which provide spontaneity can be highly effective counteracting the fact that we rarely meet face-to-face.  Those who have been on the board talked about how invaluable the off-site board retreats have been. (ie. Florida) in building deeper relationships.  Setting up a bit more structure can help, according to Dan, and as he reminds us, nothing needs to be set in stone.
       

    7. Expert Open Space Directory- A Berrett-Koehler suggestion that came from Peggy Holman via email 11/16, 2014, which they call a “distinguished group”. From the BK note to refresh our memory:  “The qualifications to be in a distinguished group are loosely set by the organizers of the group.  They would either submit a list to us, and as people requested membership in the directory, we would consult the list and identify them in this group, or they would reference the organizer of the distinguished group during the application process, and then we would check with the organizer to get a formal recommendation to join.” 

      Picking up on the BK idea, it was felt that such a directory or list of experienced Open Space facilitator/trainers would be helpful. Karen asks if we know what other groups have done (Appreciative Inquiry, Future Search, World Café) in submitting to this list.  Karen who knows Juanita will seek her out to ask. We then had an open discussion of what the possibilities might be on this feeling this will be an increasing need because more and more people will want to know about Open Space in the future.

      We did have some minimal discussion on this topic at an earlier meeting. In the spirit of Open Space, while recognizing the benefit and need of this, it is not evident how a group such as ours would determine who is an expert. The inclination would be that people self-identify instead and that we involve others.

      Kevin talks about the Linked-in model where people can endorse others for their skills. He mentions the W.L. Gore model where others recognize a person’s expertise. What’s nice about Linked in is that it’s easy to endorse. Linda asks if we just couldn’t use Linked in directly and ask the community to use the endorsement feature. Kevin responds that we can’t search by endorsements in Linked in. Harold does not like that Linked in controls the information. Nonetheless he feels that Linked is a good model and thinks that creating something like it connected to a map could be doable. There is further discussion about Linked in that people could be gaming the process or not being as thoughtful or serious in their endorsements. Harold mentions that just because you have a lot of endorsements doesn’t mean that you are good.

      Tricia see this as an opportunity to involve others, to institute something that is superior to formal models. It’s an opportunity to involve the OS community.It invites us look at expertise and also who you actually trust who is doing this work. It’s an opportunity to involve the OS community.

      Karen acknowledges that there’s been some good thinking and good ideas. I think this could be a major move for the Institute but perhaps it would be good idea to step back a bit first. Chuni wonders if this initiative is in the spirit “one less think to do”. Kevin responds by saying: I’m excited by the idea and would be happy to offer whatever I can but I also respect what Chuni just said.
       

    8. Spacify – Suzanne mentions that she is working with Mark Kilby (Agile Orlando) who is looking into a possible Open Space tool for the newsroom and that he has asked her if she’d assess it with him and Diana Weber of Valpak. They will be hosting and facilitating Florida Open Space Agile 2015.  Suzanne asks if there’s anyone on the Board interested in looking into it with her.  Tricia volunteers.
       
    9. Next OSI meeting We will continue to use ZOOM and the request is that we send a year-long schedule that we can integrate in our schedules. Suzanne to follow-up

     

  • Title: Board Proceedings December 2014
    Meeting Date: 15 Dec 2014

    Meeting minutes OSI-US December 15, 2014

    In attendance: Tricia, Harold, Linda, Suzanne, Karen, (Kevin butterfly)

    We did a minute of silence. We did check ins.

    More transparency

    The annual meeting. Great getting Daniel Mezick involved so he could get more involved in the OSList. There were technical problems for the first 20 minutes. There were people from Europe. people couldn't hear Linda. After about 20 minutes she gave up. Christine Koehler spent 0.35 Euro to participate. Karen thought the annual meeting went well.

    Peace & High Perf - for January

    We have 2 people registered so far. I know it's going to work out. Suzanne - did you have any conversations with any of the folks that Chuni mentioned? Karen hasn't heard from them. Pittsburg contingent hopefully coming. Suzanne has a suite.

    Face to Face in NYC 1/2015

    Informal Sunday meeting. Formal meeting Monday January 19. Specific goals- specific measure. Chuni might have a location in NYC, but we could hold it at her parents house. 10am to 5pm. We probably will use Open Space, though we might or might not have more than one track. Karen is working on the location. Since we are in NYC - we can bring in food or go out to eat.

    OS Hotline should have page on OSIUS.org site. Harold will give Tricia the link to send to Open Space World.

    Adding Daniel Mezick - what is the role of the OSI-US. It's holding space for open space. It's not like.. we've had our issues and controversies. We're not being like a mega- controlling presence. Suzanne has found it hard to find our place so we don't overstep our bounds. Like we don't hold a power role. But the flip side we're searching for our identity. I don't know if we've wrestled. Here's what we're about.

    Karen - historical piece - if someone wanted to be a part of the Open Space Institute board - they only had to say so. We can do anything over the course of the year. Part of the deeper conversation for the face to face. and our goals. Karen may not be able to hook in again because she's arriving at her destination. Why has this come up? Suzanne had a chat with Harold as a sounding board. Let's give it time and space.

    Kevin - transparency part - what is the board's mission, ownership and stewardship for - the types of activities making that more open seems like - that's the part we're talking about? We're not as transparent as we could be about today.

    Suzanne - struggling with the word with transparency. Nothing we have to hide. The timidity. Holding space for a spoken or unspoken bound. Read about 7 or 8 years of the notes for the OSI-US notes. A lot of the conversations are similar to ours. Peggy started this a long time ago and was in that role of heading it up for quite a while. Harold and Suzanne were invited, people didn't seem to come. Don't know how it was in the past. We all agree -

    Karen - I'm on stage now - in the past one of the things that often happens. The annual meetings there would be someone (WOSonOS) someone had some energy - when they were at that meeting. Make it transparent - these are how things have been operating.

    Suzanne - when we had the conversation at the membership meeting - are people are holding back because of this or because of that - if they do say something it might get shot down - authority or that - struck on that for all these people coming forward - people are truly choosing.  Maybe people would not say how they feel. This is an example too of not just looking at the facts of what is being said. Being there present or holding space. Social Medial work - you can lurk on Twitter.

    Suzanne - the energy is starting to bubble up. Not imposing it. Serving them - what would that look like - would the on us of responsibility lie on us.

    Linda - a larger context - people may not realize that things are happening so fast. OST is about to come out of the shadows. It's going to change the consciousness of how organizations come together. It's going to fit in with the future of work. A broad overview - then asking the questions that Harold is pointing to. What do you need? Get people's interests. If they're still looking at this as the old OSList. A lot of this is being triggered. Wait a minute - what else is out there - that's great. But I was struck by Chris Cloth - haven't seen him for 20 years - of course I remember him. Get some of the old timers envigorated. Get them wanting to come to January. A context piece. Linda would help write. It's kind of - taking a stand right now. Who are the experts? List of experts are going to come out one way or another. We have as the institute to honor the integrity of the process and serve the community. Help us shape what we'll be looking at as the institute.

    Suzanne - what this is inspiring in me - in an expanded way of transparency and self-leadership - when you see these people on the list - if we are asking about some of the things they are - they could be participating. People that are interested. Dan's being a spark plug on a bunch of things. There could be others that care deeply that see the shift that are happening.

    Linda - Projects that are invited - for that to occur. Tricia's group - people who are newer - a lot of people on the OSList that have been around for 20-30 years. They've realized they are not going to pay the bills with OST and have done other things. There could be a wonderful invitation to them to inform the new people of what is happening. And Dan's games have brought people out of the shadows. Sharing their expertise, and stimulating conversations. There is a real chance to take a leadership role, one that is very open. I'd be happy to start with what that larger context could be stated as - and tie it into the survey monkey. Use it as a rallying call. You've been waiting for this for quite a while - we've been privy to the hotline which Tricia has pioneered. Bill Jensen's research. Not everyone understands that. But we do. But the timing couldn't be better. In doing that, we're honoring the list in a way it's an invitation. It's a way of communicating that have dropped into the shadows and are comfortable there. It's time - it's all open space anyway. There's a need for awareness here.

    Suzanne - Tricia do you have any thoughts? What is Linda is describing for a bigger context. They're not all newbies. Paul Levy. They've been doing OST.

    Linda - people with depth and experience are not as active. Highlight what we are excited about. To get people to NYC. To get people to the Hotline. We'll be doing the survey too. Get ways for people to contribute. People who do have passion will come forward. Maybe other ideas. In this whole process, we keep our eyes open for people we want to invite onto the board. This needs to happen yesterday.

    Tricia- culture of the board - we can be- the next steps emerging . More inclusive and open. Invitational. Clarify our mission and put that out into the cosmos and see what develops. Get people interested. I'm happy to keep the line open, and see more invitations coming from the OSI board, that is emerging right now. Identifying our vision and inviting. Keep the energy flowing different manifestations of engagement.

    Harold removed David O'Neill, Ed Laboy, and Phelim McDermott from the OSI-US Board email list.

  • Title: Board Minutes October 2014
    Meeting Date: 20 Oct 2014

    In attendance: Suzanne Daigle, Linda Stevens, Harold Shinsato, Karen Davis, Tricia

    Guests: Jasmina Nikolic

    Board Elections

    Suzanne, President. Tricia, Vice-President. Harold, Treasurer. Linda, Secretary.

    WOSonOS in Serbia Report From Jasmine Nicolik

    Where do I start? It was amazing. First of all?

    Some asked: How did you facilitate the event?

    When everything started I opened the space. I just wasn't feeling ok with that because I wanted to participate. I thought about co-facilitating. Everyone wanted to help. We did the morning news and evening news in turn. Different people. She just closed the space in the end.

    It was strange in a way, but powerful. It changed into more freedom. So especially they were talking about that and approached her that the first night felt strange, and then saw how free they felt.

    It was very touching. People tried to share to things. Space was shared. Noticed for example Harrison was also much more involved than normal. He spoke more.

    Access Queen. Face to face conversations. Didn't have time to organize the online things. People come, really to be there, be there, in the now. Couple of conclusions around that point I think Michael Pannwitz or someone else, he never felt so much in the now, in the present, as in that open space. Access Queen was really strange. I didn't have the capacity life changed unexpectedly. Wanted to keep things simple. I will do what I can, I want to create a space. I couldn't organize Access Queen. It felt strange to get connected with the idea. It was too much. Then I read something on the OSList, that people talked about the Access Queen, and self-organize it. People found capacity for that and it was really good. So when we came, they put in the AQ and silent auction. The first topic that opened the space - how to make the AQ sustainable. So there was no breakout room for that, and just went and set up the silent auction. People felt totally ungrounded during the first circle. They went outside the room. All the rooms were out on the roof. Just the AccessQueen was on the inside. Every occasion they talked about the AQ. Taking too much space. It didn't feel right. Didn't want to say anything. Then they talked about money also. It echoed in the room. There was no transparency. Strange. People asked. Not much money. Situation when we needed to write an invoice people paid in cash. Then we asked, there was money from one person. To who to address the invoice. They're sending their money to Lisa Heft.

    Suzanne Daigle asked, How was your budget? Did some people have no money?

    We had 3 people asking during the event if they could pay less. The lowest was $200. 3 asked if could pay $100. One asked before coming to Serbia. There were three, didn't want to insist, there are more people that are not paying as much as they said they would.

    Suzanne Daigle: Willing to give us a report, share transparency, what it cost, all the inputs. Will share it right now. Whatever happened with Towa?

    There were a lot of people, I didn't assist. Long lunch. Met early in the morning. Towa was the convener. Still raising the action reports. This was after the WOSonOS. The whole Monday. The purpose to help the world change. Complete project to make a difference in Open Space. Who was in this group, Israeli Girls, Foreign Girls, people who had one more day.

    Opened a lot of space for herself. Went to Scrum Gathering. Energy was there. Strangest day in her life.
    Session on enoughness. That was "wow" , Christine Koehler, what is enough for us, what happened to her, I was taking care of the space, catering and all the things. All of a sudden, I spoke with Iwa over something trivial, hey come on you are in politics now. What is the name of the party. The name of the party is enough. Round breakout room on enoughness. Then she approached them. The faces were in another dimension, not trivial at all, they didn't react - they were in space, but then she couldn't leave. It was strange - can see on the photos - sat on the chair - guy - space creating - then she listened - Christine shared something super deep, part of her life. Everyone else shared. We sang this song. Suggested. Like a healing song. And hug each other. Really tight.

    Then what happened next, personal, felt a hug from someone sitting next to me. Didn't want to leave the hug. Stay there forever. Had a talk. This was really powerful. We continued talking. Speaker from Hamburg. More emotional, Going to Berlin - Scrum Gathering - Open Space was life changing for him. One of his topics. Berlin Scrum Gathering.

    His topic was - we know so much - we trained ourselves - been to so many open spaces. Reading a lot. How can I use it to help myself. So vulnerable. His post on his FB. He finally found his place. Thanks to the Open Space - he feels more relaxed. Everything has more meaning. It's much much nicer spoke. Markus Wittwer. Story continues - session in Berlin - more on facilitation than on Scrum. Very very impressed that their technique - six chairs - paired - you have a pair of I chairs, pair of You chairs, a pair of We chairs. Speak from my own. Check sitting in the right chair. Should I be sitting in an I chair, or You chair. WE chair -start coming to solutions. Happens then ,someone from Open Space, there was france. This was the first open space for her, she decided just before. Wrote an email - registration was closed - just come. She was amazing too. Now it seems that they will gather to have that training, people from Open Space, interested in attending the training on 6 chair method.

    Suzanne Daigle: What were your comments about Harrison?

    I felt somehow maybe it was a projection. I should leave a lot of space to him. Not inviting him all the time, I think he felt grateful for that. He felt Belgrade as an open space. He had a story about sitting in a pedestrian walk. He could feel the open space, the essential one. I think also there is this big political thing, you know the Balkans, and then creating some energy during the event, because people in the Balkans and the Ukraine. Not only Ukraine, like tip of the iceberg of something else, Harrison talked a lot about that. One thing he said, it's difficult to be here and to know what is going on and not to feel scared. There is a lot of, you can feel it, a lot of war narrative, there is something wrong going in the world. Balkans in the middle. Putin from Russia, 2-3 days ago. It was military parade. And the last one we had 30 years ago.

    Harrison was involved with everything in the Cold War, communism, the U.S., he could sense it. And then the vice rector - he spoke at the opening and he also spoke about that. Pretty much, no one asked for it. And then Pernilla wanted to talk about the politics also, come to Serbia, politics so much was a topic. Towa also wanted to talk about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Action planning had a lot about how can we make peace.

    Right now I'm not an optimist about politics in the region, what we are doing is not random - has an agenda. We'll see what happens.

    It's like right on the skin - more senses involved. Like Poland - less tolerance somehow - I got registrations from people, over the phone, guy from Poland asking is there anyone from Poland - use the same car and share the cost. Then I started laughing - 12 people from Poland. Realized that they didn't know each other. Some knew each other, groups didn't know each other. Sent him an email, and they did share the cost and came by 2 cars, 8 people from Poland. Then I knew Poland the next host, because you can tell. People coming, and eager - eager to talk about Poland. Situation of Open Space - want to aggregate somehow and correlate. They had some initiatives like self-organized training for Open Space. At least 5 topics on Poland. There was a conflict between 2 of them. And then I remember Towa supported one of them to take a stand and talk about Poland. So they had a separate round table for themselves in breakout room. When we came to invitations because we had it in the schedule, last day: contacted China and would not ... and then what happened - Harrison said we have a tradition - in Europe and outside Europe. Here we have people that clearly want to invite and there is energy, and they are really inviting. And then it just I don't know how to say it, people gathered - it's Poland. There wasn't an invitation was in the air all the time. Everyone said ok it's Poland.

    Thu, Fri, Sat, Sun. Sunday afternoon ending. And I'm not sure haven't checked, have doubts about the place. Krakow or Warsaw.

    Glad, Happy I did this. It was like, it has ontological presence. Some how.

    Suzanne Daigle: We just missed out on Tricia right now. We were all in Florida together. We can all remember standing up.

    Jasmina Nicolik had said to herself back in Florida at the 2013 WOSonOS: Am I doing this really?

    In the moment, Harrison was surprised, really alive. This guy is really alive. He's amazing. Harrison and Towa quarelled. Tomas - let us talk.

    Linda Stevenson: Harrison will be 80 in 2015. We all need to go to Poland.

    Karen Davis: People are coming in Indigenous attire. I will try to hang in a little more. Thank you so much Jasmina for sharing. Very much resonated with what Harold said experiencing the pain and the beauty.

    Suzanne Daigle: Feel close. You all have post its and kanbans behind you.

    International House in January

    Suzanne Daigle led the conversation about the International House event in January in NYC. Opening Space for Peace and High Performance. Karen don't know if you want to talk about it. At one of our prior board meetings, Karen had indicated that she'd like the board to collaborate with her in hosting the event, and do it in an official way like for example like people are paying that it could be done through the OSI-US donation place, and indicate that they are coming to International House, and just partner officially, like what we did with Florida. It assures compliance with 501(c)(3) status. It has been a money loser. Last year Suzanne helped. Chuni wants to invite for January. The first decision - do we all agree that the conduit to receive the money for the event would be through us? All approved.

    Future of Work

    Could have blended the Peace Theme and also include High Performance - The Future of Work. It screams. It would entice - Doug Kirkpatrick - a lot of people working in freer more open workplace. To Transform the way work is done. Other dream connected to this - wouldn't be wonderful if OSI-US had a technology methodology - when doing the summary notes - people could go and format is all there, and just add the logo - and just type your notes. A service we offered. There's a place that the format is there, just would be there. When I mentioned it to Karen - doing the newsroom - just an idea. Pilot test it. Maybe we could invite Kevin O'Brien - he's done open space - very entranced by OST. Helped in Canada - try and figure things out. All kind of connected to a pilot project in NYC?

    https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/18LNRQapJKSYh1G_-XlB3493JMwG4FRHFjwWZMmP0bkA/edit?usp=sharing

    Jasmina Nicolik: Kept talk to 5 minutes. He said it would be really great to use your method in teaching. Very supportive. Harrison didn't want to them to pay for the hotel, but they assisted.

    Using Our 501(c)(3) Status

    We have been dealing with a request for the use of the OSI-US 501(c)(3) for an Open Space facilitator to receive accomodation discounts. We need to be careful. It's hard to get it 501(c)(3) status now. It was suggested we could call Doug Germann who is a lawyer. If Karen has the event, there's a total transparency. Everything that she has spent and everything that she does.

    Ask Doug if this is ok. Karen says - totally for getting counsel from Doug. Just share with him last note from the person who made this request. We should clarify things with International House with insurance in the event for January.

    Invitation to Kevin O'Brien To Join the Board

    Linda Stevens supported inviting Keving. He would be a delightful addition. In terms of the future of work project - an incredible gift to the OST world. Bill Jensen doesn't have the experience of OST that we do - knowing his work - match made in Heaven. This report will be coming out mid November. The timing is perfect. And Suzanne - like to help work on the theme sub-theme. Alan and Doug were in the same room - Suzanne - still a legal opinion - appreciate.

    Maestro Conference Demo

    Brian Burt wanted to show all the bells and whistles of Maestro for an hour - it was a disaster. Sharon Joy Kleitsch - the way - you open space - you don't have your process around.

    We would be willing to experiment? To choose the group, poorly facilitated, our team would like to get involved to see if we can make it good. Sharon Joy - just a maestro - she sent a note.

    The online service for facilitation "Blackboard collaborate", they customize it - can't recall the name of the organization

    OSHotline

    Building on the Skype weekly calls explore working partnership with Maestro Conference to sharpen the saw of their technology so we can open bigger space. Would Paul Levy, others want to join in?

    Future Projects
    • Collaborate with Karen officially on the International House January event in New York
    • Plan a face to face New York OSI US retreat in January
    • Explore how we can use the Research findings from the Future of Work project that Linda and I have been part of with Bill Jensen to open more space. We seize the screaming opportunity of the findings.
    • Partner with tech community tapping into what Harold has been doing with Daniel Mezick. Make the Open Space Technology partnership live up to its name.
    • Connect with World OS institutes picking up on what got discussed in Florida and also reach out to Tova as s group seems to have explored similar goals while in Serbia
    • Support Poland WOSonOS in any way we can if only making known what they are already doing in OS already and in Poland

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