Has Wikimedia ever used Open Space Technology (OST). It's one of those things that is hard to describe, but this video on an OST event about the theatre gives you the basic idea: http://vimeo.com/75226991
Sellotaped to the floor are particular words, so you might have "JIMBO" or "MEDIA" and four or five other wiki-related words. Anyone who has a question or something that they feel is important, picks up a mic, states their question e.g. "Does anonymity cause a difference between online and offline behaviour?", they write the same question onto a piece of paper, the question is then added to a noticeboard (in a time slot and space, such as JIMBO 10.00 - 11.30am), the board gradually fills up with questions, then everyone looks at the board and decides where / when they want to go, there is a circle of chairs at JIMBO and people who want to discuss "Does anonymity cause a difference between online and offline behaviour?" gather at JIMBO and discuss it with one person taking notes. Meanwhile at MEDIA there could be another circle of chairs with people discussing "Is Wikimedia transparent enough?"
There might be two people who are having a conversation
There are five principles and one law in OST, the five principles are: There are five principles that describe what happen in OPEN SPACE:
Whoever comes are the right people.
Wherever it happens is the right place.
Whatever happens is the only thing that could have.
Whenever it starts is the right time.
When it is over, it is over.
THE ONE LAW of OPEN SPACE is THE LAW OF TWO FEET or THE LAW OF MOBILITY: If at any time you find yourself in any situation where you are neither learning nor contributing use your two feet to take yourself where your time will be better spent – only you know where this is. - See more at: http://www.devotedanddisgruntled.com/about/#sthash.YRe0mNke.dpuf* Whoever comes are the right people. There are five principles that describe what happen in OPEN SPACE:
Whoever comes are the right people.
Wherever it happens is the right place.
Whatever happens is the only thing that could have.
Whenever it starts is the right time.
When it is over, it is over.
THE ONE LAW of OPEN SPACE is THE LAW OF TWO FEET or THE LAW OF MOBILITY: If at any time you find yourself in any situation where you are neither learning nor contributing use your two feet to take yourself where your time will be better spent – only you know where this is. - See more at: http://www.devotedanddisgruntled.com/about/#sthash.YRe0mNke.dpuf* Wherever it happens is the right place. * Whatever happens is the only thing that could have. * Whenever it starts is the right time. * When its over, it is over.
and the one law is: * The law of two feet (or the law of mobility), if at any time you find yourself in any situation where you are neither learning nor contributing use your two feet to take yourself where your time will be better spent - only you know where this is.
During an OST event you might see "bumble bees" going from group to group spreading and connecting ideas, or "butterflies" hanging out at the coffee stall or random places doing very little except having great conversations.
Marie
Date: Thu, 14 May 2015 20:17:55 +0200 From: wiki.pine@gmail.com To: ee@lists.wikimedia.org; gendergap@lists.wikimedia.org Subject: [Gendergap] Fwd: [Social-media] Wikimania and the differences between online and offline cultures
Forwarding an interesting blog post in which the author shares thoughts about the Wikimedia communities, including the editor engagement roles and attributes of offline meetups for Wikimedians. Some of this blog post might also be relevant for those who are involved in thinking about creating a project-wide "friendly space" policy.
Pine
---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Andrew Sherman asherman@wikimedia.org Date: Tue, May 12, 2015 at 11:18 PM Subject: [Social-media] Wikimania and the differences between online and offline cultures To: lionel@scheepmans.be, Social media discussion list for Wikimedia projects social-media@lists.wikimedia.org
Hello Everyone, We just published "Wikimania and the differences between online and offline cultures" to the blog. URL: https://blog.wikimedia.org/2015/05/12/wikimania-online-and-offline/
Thanks to Lionel for writing and helping us edit this post. Below are some proposed social media messages. Tweak as needed. Twitter (@wikimedia/@wikipedia): • .@Wikimania, @Wikipedia and the differences between online and offline culture (link) • A French anthropologist observes the differences between online and offline participation at @Wikimania (link)
Facebook/Google+ • A French anthropologist observes the differences between online and offline participation in the Wikimedia movement, based on a visit to the Wikimania 2014 conference in London. (link) Thanks,