Planning Open Space Event

Planning for Open Space Event

The Open Space begins before Opening the Space. Everything starts with an invitation. First the invitation from the host or organizer to the facilitator for facilitating the event.

For the event the next steps are :

•Who Should come?

•How many you need to get this job done?

•How long do we need for open space?

•The invitation

•Main Space

•Meals and Coffee breaks

•Supplies and Equipment

Who should come?

Voluntary self-selection is the absolute sine qua non for participation in Open Space.

How many you need to get this job done?

A minimum of around twenty persons should participate in an Open Space workshop.

The maximum number of participants is only limited by the budget and the location's facilities.

How long do we need for Open Space Technology?

The choice between a one-, two-, and three-day depends on the required results:

One day meetings are good for raising the issues and opportunities.
Two day meetings are good to go deeper into the issues and opportunities.
Three day meetings are good to indentify next steps.

The Invitation

Say as little as possible in the invitation.
There is, of course, some practical information to be included in the invitation, such as time, location and logistics.
Keep it simple and short and to the point.

By the end of the gathering, the following will have occurred:
Every issue of concern to anybody will have been raised, if they took responsibility for doing that.
All issues will have received full discussion, to the extent desired.
A full report of issues and discussions will be in the hands of all participants.
Priorities will be set and action plans will be made.

(The last two typically only occur in two- and three-day meetings with computer support.)

Main Space

1- One Main Room: Large enough to allow all the participants to sit in a circle.

2- One Wall: This wall will be the community bulletin board,

where people will be taping up notices indicating their areas of interest.

3- Computers and Printer: in the main room to make the report generation. For a group of 100 participants, 5 computers will suffice, and the ratio (5/100) seems to work quite well for groups of all sizes. You need only one printer.

4- Breakout spaces “Meeting spaces”: not necessarily rooms.