Notes on Open Space gathering

Attended by: Ilan, Kate, Fred and Tom

The meeting began with Ilan and Kate explaining how it "would" have worked had more people braved the weather. People suggest a topic they want to talk about, and anyone else interested in that topic can join them in a breakout session to discuss it in detail, then near the end of such a meeting all groups would reassemble, and the person who suggested the topic would report briefly to the entire meeting what was discussed and what interesting insights were shared.

With only four of us there, we each chose a topic and discussed it. It proved to be an interesting way to learn more about fellow Occupiers, and we think that future attempts at such meetings will be beneficial to Occupy Boulder members. The four of us strengthened existing bonds and began to develop new ones. All in all, it was very enjoyable.

Kate chose the topic of Meditation, and we shared our experiences, and now Kate wants to join the Spirituality WG, which meets on Sunday afternoons from 3:30 to 5:00 at the Peace and Justice center.

Fred chose the topic of Taxes, and he is just a wealth of knowledge on the subject. We discussed the Buffett Rule and Income Tax inequality, the fact that CO has no sales tax on the sale of a home due to the Tabor Amendment, how sales taxes favor the wealthy and are a real burden on low-income individuals, and finally how the cap on Social Security deductions favor the wealthy.

Ilan chose the topic of Art, and took us through an exercise of thinking back to our childhood and remembering something significant, then drawing a picture with crayons and markers that represented that event. It was quite beautiful, and as we shared our thoughts and asked questions of one another, even bad memories brought us closer together, and strengthened the bonds.

Tom chose the topic of the Forum, and how it could provide so much more transparency to the activities of everyone involved in Occupy Boulder. Unlike some Occupy locations, almost everyone involved in OB has a full-time job, so time is short and information that should be shared often isn't, but if one person from each working group could just take a few minutes to update the Forum under their WG Subgroup (once they are all set-up) by posting minutes of the meetings, then anyone could easily access the information, and even provide helpful feedback to the WG. Tom researched the posting of minutes both on the website and via the Google Groups, and found some WG's are current, some have not posted since November, and a couple have never posted minutes. This is valuable information that is missing, which could be helpful to all of OB, and definitely a lost opportunity for others to provide feedback.

We hope this summary will inspire you to attend the next Open Space gathering.

Without even looking at who posted this, you can tell who it was just by the amount of coverage "his" favorite topic received. Just one of the perks of volunteering to take the minutes...:)

Afterwards, we walked out into the snowy night and said fond "goodnights", then slowly drove home on the nearly abandoned streets of our fair city.

thanks for braving the snow, folks. look forward to joining in the next meeting. sounds really interesting!

Lee