We decided to use principles of Open Space to design an electronic environment to support the scenario process in the organization. We put the 200 participants on line in a computer conference on The Meta Network which was accessible via the Internet World Wide Web. Participants could access this conference at any time from their personal or desktop computer and catch up with the discussion added since they last logged on simply by clicking a button on the company's internal network. When participants sign into the conference, they are notified of any new items which have been added since the last time they logged on. Participants can always see a current list of all the topics and choose to enter and participate in the conversations which interest them.
Conversations continue in each item as long as there is energy around the topic.
And when they're over, they're over - sometimes in a matter of hours or days and sometimes weeks or months. Having this Open Space available at all times has profound implications for the organization. For example, in the case of the energy company, the day before we started, when one of the vice presidents met another vice president in the hall the conversation tended to be superficial. Having a virtual Open Space available all the time changed the nature of conversation almost immediately. Open Space has a spirit about it of generosity and responsibility.