Open space technology

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My first experience at an unconference must have been about ten years ago. The organizers enthusiastically invited first-time attendees to organize a session - that it was a tradition. While the idea of standing in front of a roomful of strangers made my stomach turn, I thought I should - that I had to. It was a tradition!

I was so pumped that people came to our session, that I had things to say that people wanted to listen to and that we had a lively exchange. I treasure this memory because it forever changed my perspective of what an event could feel like. And that a group could self-facilitate a learning experience, solely based on the knowledge, experience and attention of who was in that room, was priceless. I went home and promptly organized an event at work to learn how to host the whole shindig myself.

At that time of my life, I had dove headfirst in the world of Creative Commons, open-source software and citizen journalism. The unconference format seemed perfectly at home in these movements. Years later, I was surprised to encounter OST in the fields of agile development and organizational culture change. And a few years after that, OST popped up in the list of Liberating Structures that I was thumbing through, and I thought - of course. This is a Structure that Liberates.

This entry is part of Liberating Structures Field Notes, my collection of stories and reflections from the field. It's written for people who already know LS and are deepening their practice. If you're just getting started and looking for activity instructions, you'll find them at liberatingstructures.com..