What is Open Space?

Open Space is a conference style that is designed to mimic the natural way people come together and begin to build networks and share ideas. It accesses the knowledge and wisdom found in any group of people and encourages the contribution of any and all “experts” in the room.

There is no pre-set agenda. All that is known is the start and end times and the general theme (in our case, the theme is managing recreational gymnastics programs & staff).

Participants themselves identify the issues and topics that are important to them, that they feel passionate about and interested in.

Small discussion groups evolve and participants can move from group to group whenever they feel that they are no longer learning or contributing, or even when they feel more interested in another topic. 

How Do We Do This online?

The event itself will be hosted on Zoom. 

Before the Mastermind, participants will submit one question/topic to explore with like-minded folks.  Based on these submissions, Ali (your facilitator) will make a draft agenda, combining any duplicate topics, and then send it back out to the group for feedback and suggestions to fine tune the outline.

We'll have breakout spaces assigned for each topic (at specific times) and participants will be able to select the "room" of their choice (and exercise the "law of two feet" and move freely between the rooms as they see fit).  

Each room will have a note taker who will record the key points discussed..  These will be compiled on a shared google doc that all attendees can access.

At the end of the event, we'll have a "community harvest" where we gather together in the main room and share our main takeaways before we head out.

What kind of topics will be covered?

This depends entirely on the group!   :)

This is a collaborative event, so the whole point is to ask for input (or help, or clarity, or a sounding board, etc) on a topic or question that matters most to you -- then when that topic comes up on the agenda, people will join you to swap cool ideas, best practices and/or brainstorm solutions as a group.

The Mastermind on April 1st will focus on managing rec/preschool programs & staff.   Here are a few topics/questions we brainstormed here at RGP -- feel free to submit any of these (or come up with you own):

• Recruiting new rec coaches
• Managing teenagers
• Best practices for specific classes (parent & tot, boys, etc)
• Getting creative with theme weeks
• Level systems & progress reports
• Adaptive & inclusive programs
• Hosting special events
• Spicing up camp programs
• Marketing ideas
• Motivating coaches to be awesome
• Systems for making the job less chaotic
• Come up with your own q! :)

In the next module, get an idea of what the schedule is like!