Christy Lee-Engle, who runs a bit of the Naturopathic Medicine program at Bastyr University, recently emailed about getting ready for an Open Space Technology event there…
I am working with some of my co-workers to invite all the staff, students and faculty to an open space (kind of–we only have 3 hours) conversation to talk about “what really matters” to us as members of the Bastyr community, in a couple of weeks. We made lots of invitations today–colored paper cut into moon and butterfly and turtle shapes, glitter, and snippets of quotes and questions–that we will put in mailboxes and on people’s chairs and in the cookie drawers in the bookstore, etc. I thought of you, and your description of open space as invitation practice. Good inspiration! Thank you again for that.
I love the invites in the cookies strategy. Invitation and OpenSpace at its best… is FUN!
Michael, with your encouragement, the inviting has been not only fun, but a community-inspiring process itself–a lot of the folks that helped to make the invitations were just coming by to talk about something else and stayed to play, or came to help just because they like to make things. And over glitter and colored paper we got to talk about the event, and the questions of concern, our hopes and hesitancies, etc.
Hey, by the way, another one of our muses has been Anne Stadler–she hosted one of our planning meetings and really evoked the playful aspects of the process. I read your story about Anne in Ashley’s comment box and realized that your birthday and Anne’s are only one day apart (she is one day older than you!), so no wonder you are birds of a feather!
love, Christy
yes, i remembered that this year, that she is that one day older. amazing how much wisdom comes every day! [grin]