[Chapter-delegates] [Fwd: [Sphere-project] Preliminary notes on the Sphere Project Workshop - Friday 27 June 2008]

[Anne Lord]

Dear Colleagues,

I am forwarding the notes from the recent Sphere project workshop as 
they may be of interest to people on this list.

The Sphere projects are still very much work "underway". New sphere 
project participants are *very* welcome.  You can find all the 
information about the current projects at:

http://wiki.chapters.isoc.org/tiki-index.php?page=Sphere+project+pages&bl

If you are interested to join, please dont hesitate to send email to 
sphere-project-admin at isoc.org.

Best wishes
Anne
--

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: [Sphere-project] Preliminary notes on the Sphere Project 
Workshop - Friday 27 June 2008
Date: Fri, 04 Jul 2008 20:12:20 +1000
From: Anne Lord <lord at isoc.org>
Reply-To: lord at isoc.org
Organization: ISOC
To: sphere-project at isoc.org

Dear Sphere project participants,

Appended below are notes on the recent Sphere workshop - "An invitation
to creative participation".  They are also on the wiki at:

http://wiki.chapters.isoc.org/tiki-index.php?page=notes&bl

Content from the session will be shared on the wiki as soon as the SIT
team has had a chance to meet.

Thanks again to all those who participated and to Tim Gartside for his
excellent facilitation.

Best wishes
Anne
--

"An invitation to creative participation" Sphere workshop
Friday June 27th, 2008, 8.30am-12.30pm

Brisbane Production Team:

Tim Gartside - Facilitator
Miwa Fujii - Support from APNIC
Peter Moor - Camera and lighting

Participants:

Marcin Cieslak (ISOC Poland)
Cheryl Langdon Orr (ISOC Australia)
Olivier MJ Crepin-Leblond (ISOC England)
Sebastian Ricciardi (ISOC Argentina)
Sebstien Bachollet (ISOC France)
Franck Martin (PICISOC)
Hans Peter Dittler (ISOC Germany)
Hawa Diakite (ISOC Mali)
Patrick Vande Valle (ISOC Luxembourg)
Dessi Prefeva (ISOC Bulgaria)
Rimon Levy (ISOC Israel)
Anne Lord (staff)
Sabrina Wilmot (staff)
Gerard Ross (staff)
Phil Roberts (staff)
John Schnizlein (staff)
Frederic Donck (staff)
Sebastian Bellagamba (staff)
Drew Dvorshak (staff)

Notes:
Mirjam Kuehne (staff)

1. Introduction:

Eleven different chapters were represented at the Sphere workshop on
Friday 27th June.  There were 9 staff members and 2 BoT members (also
wearing Chapters hats). In total there were 20 attendees, which was
quite good considering that there were several other meetings running
concurrently.  Tim Gartside facilitated the session via a video link
from Brisbane.

The session was designed to allow those that had not previously
participated in the sphere project actively an easy entry into the work.
The session was designed to complement the virtual work, but not to
replace it.

2. Objectives:

The objectives for the session were to:

a. Reflect back observations arising from the Sphere interviews and work
of Project teams and allow participants to consider those reflections.

b. To facilitate lively interaction amongst participants in relation to
the key themes – strengthen the fabric of relationships of those present.

c. Set the work of the Sphere projects in the context of an assessment
of the current situation of ISOC and the desired state for ISOC and ISOC
Chapter relationships.

d. Warm up participants to their role as active social agents in the
ISOC system and generate increased commitment to the Sphere project.


3. Action Sociometry

The workshop commenced with a warm up activity follow by "action
sociometry" which entails making choices about preferences for
communication and displaying those choices. It reveals the nature of
working relationships and desired relationships, resulting in new
relationships being formed or existing ones being strengthened.

Tim then shared the "Observations and hunches" data from the initial
interview report. Participants conducted paired conversations (chosen
again according to sociometric choices) on observations from the themes
in several rounds. Conversations were then shared with the group.

4. Bazaar - ISOC sphere project groups

Individuals were encouraged to move around various bazaar stalls which
were set up (one for each project except the INET project which had no
representative) to have conversations about the work of the sphere
project groups.

These conversations were then shared with the larger group. They will be
integrated into the project team work as soon as is possible.

5. Individual commitments

In order to strengthen relationships and develop commitment to the
Sphere project, individuals were asked to share their dream for the
relationships between ISOC Chapters and between ISOC Chapters and HQ. In
sharing their dream, they were asked to commit to an action step as part
of the project.  These will be put onto the chapter wiki.

6. Next steps

The Sphere Integration Team (SIT) will consider how to integrate the
outcomes from the workshop into the project groups and updates will be
posted to the sphere-project mailing list. Photographs of the event have
been put on the isoc.org flickr site at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/26615416@N02/sets/72157605895253716/


7. Summary reflections

The Sphere Integration team (SIT) prepared thoroughly for the event and
worked very well together on the day. The energy from the SIT team
flowed through into the wider group of participants who seemed to easily
enter an experimental and cooperative way of being.  The design of the
session was to ensure that participants had the maximum amount of time
to contribute and to get involved in discussions, allowing energy to
flow and connections to be developed or renewed.

Afterwards several participants (including Board members) expressed
appreciation for the workshop. We now have a stronger, more committed
group of participants in the Sphere project as well as new participants
and the work in the Project groups will continue. In summary, it is felt
that the objectives for the session were realised and the workshop was a
clear success.



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