What & Why Open Space?

Our Conference this year (Sept 29 - Oct 2 in NY) will be using more Open Space Technology than last year, and I wanted to share What & Why we're doing this.

Open Space Technology (OST)was created as a response to Harrison Owen's observation that the best work and energy at a conference seemed to happen during the coffee breaks. So he created OST to leverage the powerful "emerging order" that occurs when people connect, learn, grow, and play together.

Our use of OST at the AIN is designed to let us improvise a conference, alongside the planned parts of the program. When you go to a presentation and then want to keep working in that topic area, just claim a OS slot, find some cohorts, and keep going. OST is the best way we know to stimulate new ideas, while also creating space for further exploration and deepening new relationships among the community. More info at the OS Wiki...

At the AIN conference, you'll be able to choose to attend the usual array of stimulating presentations, or initiate/join OST workshops on emerging topics, or take a nap, or any combination. Last year's experience of OST was very good, with many people saying it was their favorite part of the conference. We hope this year will be even more successful. Looking forward to playing together...

Posted by Denzil Meyers on July 1, 2005 07:56 PM in Annual conference
Permalink