Open Space Technology

Open Space Technology is: "an approach for hosting meetings, conferences, corporate-style retreats and community summit events, focused on a specific and important purpose or task—but beginning without any formal agenda, beyond the overall purpose or theme." (from Wikipedia article)

OST was developed by Owen Harrison and has seen its greatest use in unconferences. I was introduced to it at the NYSAIS Education and Information Technology conference, where the technology was masterfully implemented by Arvind Grover, Alex Ragone, Barbara Swanson and the other conference organizers.

With OPuS I'm trying to work out how to apply OST to an unSchool model. Will concepts developed for short conferences scale for long-running communities of practice?

Owen Harrison has articulated one law related to OST.

Owen explains his one "Law," called the "Law of Two Feet" or "The Law of Mobility", as follows: If at any time during our time together you find yourself in any situation where you are neither learning nor contributing, use your two feet, go someplace else. In this way, all participants are given both the right and the responsibility to maximize their own learning and contribution, which the Law assumes only they, themselves, can ultimately judge and control. When participants lose interest and get bored in a breakout session, or accomplish and share all that they can, the charge is to move on, the "polite" thing to do is going off to do something else. In practical terms, Owen explains, the Law of Two Feet says: "Don't waste time!" (Wikipedia)

That law will determine the fate of OPuS.