How I Benefited From Confab Session on Open Space Technology

by Jennifer Beever

At a Confab conference years ago, Michael Shays, CMC, FIMC (Certified Management Consultlant and Fellow of the Institute of Management Consultants) and founder of EMS Network International, presented a session called “Open Space Technology.” This is a session that added tremendous value for me and that I have implemented for two Los Angeles associations and for clients, so I thought I would share it with you as an example of what you can learn at Confab.

Michael showed us how Open Space Technology (OST) worked during the session at Confab – this was not a “talking-head” discussion of how OST works, but a hands-on demonstration. First, we established a subject that we wanted to discuss in the session. Then, Michael had us sit in a circle. Each person could walk to the center of the circle, announce their specific topic under the group’s subject, and then post that topic on a note on a bulletin board. Once all topics were posted, we combined like topics and each chose the topics we were interested in. Michael placed each remaining topic discussion in a different part of the room. You voted with your feet and joined in any discussion that intrigued you. Some topics became extremely popular and others fizzled after a while.

This process is widely used – there are even some conferences that operate as Open Conferences, allowing attendees to select the topics covered and vote with their feet. I brought this process to the Association for Strategic Planning and the Institute of Management Consultants in Los Angeles. Both groups loved the exercise, which is just one example of the valuable take-aways you get at Confab, the conference for consultants by consultants.

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