Open Space Conferences, Events, and Workshops are one of my favorites ways to learn. Many people have never had the opportunity to experience an Open Space Event or even know what it is. I hope you can learn more about Open Space and even attend an event and experience the amazingness!
Imagine walking into a large conference or event room with 100 or 1500 people. You look around the room and know only a few people. You see a blank wall with time slots and room names on it.
Two facilitators kick the event off. They explain a light structure for success, a few core principles, and create a fun energy in this large room. They invite anyone in the room (including you) to propose a session on a topic that is of value to them. Simply step up to the microphone and propose a session. You can’t imagine proposing a session, but plenty of other people are. The person sitting next to you stands up and heads over to the mic to propose a session. You notice that blank wall of time slots filling up with a variety of session topics! Next thing you know, you are in line proposing a session! Wait – what happened! As the time to propose sessions is up, there is now a large wall (or marketplace) of sessions to choose from. You decide on a session to attend in the 1st time slot and head over to that session ready to learn and contribute! And still a bit surprised that this worked!
You might be thinking, can this happen? I can tell you, it can! I’ve had the opportunity to attend and participate in many open space events, as well as facilitate them. And I’ve seen amazing learning, connections, and fun happen again and again!
I’ve also facilitated Open Space Events for companies as well as larger Open Space Events at conferences. I facilitated Open Space at Mile High Agile 2017 in Denver, Colorado (~500 people?) and it was an amazing experience to watch everyone help make it a great event! My preference is to co-facilitate and I had the opportunity to co-facilitate Open Space at Scrum Gathering San Diego with Allison Pollard (before we worked together officially). That was a very large Open Space with 1,000 or so people! I’m extremely excited about co-facilitating Open Space at Agile2023 in Orlando, FL with Allison again! Hope to see you there!
So, what is Open Space? Where did it come from? How does it work? Let’s dig in!
We get many questions on Open Space, so we wanted to take some time to answer some of them here. Allison and I wrote the below section together.
What is Open Space Technology?
Open Space is not that open park near your house! Well, it could be, but it is not the Open Space we are talking about. We are talking about Open Space Technology. Most people simply call it Open Space, however, if you want to search for more information on it, you might want to Google “Open Space Technology” which is the fancier name. Harrison Owen discovered Open Space in the early 80’s! Amazing discovery!!
Open Space is a straightforward way to create participant-driven events. Open Space is an opportunity to engage, learn, listen, and share ideas. These events may be company meetings, conference sessions, entire conferences, or workshops. Participants (attendees) propose sessions they are most interested in or find valuable. Participants don’t have to propose a session, they may choose to only attend sessions. Either or both are fine! Open Space provides a simple structure and principles allowing everyone to participate. People choose not only what sessions to attend, but also when they leave. When your energy in a session wanes, you can leave. Really. It’s a law (see below)! You can then find another session to attend, grab a snack, take a few notes, have a hallway conversation, etc. It is up to you. You are in control.
As an attendee, you will have an opportunity to propose and attend sessions on the topics that are most important to YOU! You also have the opportunity to participate in sessions with others whom you may not normally have a chance to talk with.
How does Open Space work?
Open Space Events begin with an opening session where attendees propose topics for sessions they would like to host and engage in.
After they propose a topic, they select a time-slot and room for the session.
- You might propose a session on a topic you feel passionate about and have some knowledge around -OR-
- You might propose a session that you don’t know a lot about but want to invite others to dig into the topic with you -OR-
- You might simply listen to the proposals and attend sessions that sound valuable and interesting to you!
What conversation are you willing to propose, initiate, listen to, or engage in?
Anyone may propose a session – YES, even YOU. You don’t have to be the author, expert, or guru — often the best sessions come from those who say, “I know a little on this topic and want to know more!” When you propose a session, your role is to be a host who gets the topic rolling and engages others to contribute their thoughts! We would add that if you are an author, expert or guru, you are welcome to propose sessions as well!!
After the opening and the creation of the session marketplace, attendees review what is available and choose the sessions they want to attend.
They find the sessions they want to attend, the time, and location – then simply show up, listen, share, and learn!
Does Open Space Really Work?
The short answer is ABSOLUTELY! It works all the time! Many companies run internal Open Space conferences and many public conferences are run only with Open Space — meaning there is no list of speakers or sessions in advance! All the sessions are created the day of the conference!
Check out Agile Open Northwest, Agile Open California, Agile Coach Camps, Retrospective Facilitator Gathering, Agile Coach Camp Canada, Play For Agile, Play4Agile North America, and many more. Other conferences run by Scrum Alliance, Agile Alliance as well as other local conferences may have part of the conference dedicated to Open Space. And of course, while Open Space is used a lot for agile related conferences, it can be used in any industry or context!
Many people find that they learn as much or more in Open Space when compared to traditional conference sessions! You also have an opportunity to build on ideas from traditional conference sessions during Open Space sessions (for conferences that offer both types of sessions). Open Space sessions we have hosted and participated in have surprised us and created new insights and ideas — well beyond what we expected going in!
Prepare to Be Surprised and to Surprise others!
You know the types of conversations you have over dinner with friends? Deep, rich, informal conversations where everyone is enjoying themselves in the moment? Open Space is much like that… because it creates a place that is safe to step in and either listen or participate.
Open Space is a place where you can engage in a session but don’t need to be the expert or guru on the topic. Open Space celebrates that we all are creative and intelligent and have amazing ideas and things to share (yes everyone!).
Everyone has the choice to participate to the extent that they want to. You might find that you plan to listen, but end up jumping into the conversation. You might find that you plan to jump in the conversation, and find that you are just listening! There’s an important place for active and engaged listeners. By choosing to be a listener, others are invited to share more deeply and contribute more on the topic.
Some people compare open space to “hallway conversations” however hallway conversations can sometimes be intimidating – especially when you don’t know a lot of people. Most of us are not going to just walk up and start talking to a group of people, even if we overhear them talking about something we are really interested in. Open Space provides an opportunity to hear about and see a list of topics that interest you, and create an “open space” where you can step into amazing sessions to listen, engage, and learn.
Now What?
Look for conferences that include Open Space formats or that are run exclusively via Open Space. Feel free to ask us more about Open Space or running Open Space events if you run into us or via comments here! We would love to help answer questions or point you to more information. You might want to take a look at Proposing Open Space Sessions as well.
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