Open Space Meeting Format
Resources for Conducting Meetings Using the Open Space Format
IBTTA is exploring different meeting formats to enhance the experience of our members and industry colleagues when they come together. One new format, for us, is called open space.
According to Wikipedia, “Open Space Technology (OST) is a method for organizing and running a meeting or multi-day conference, where participants have been invited in order to focus on a specific, important task or purpose.
“In contrast with pre-planned conferences where who will speak at which time will be scheduled often months in advance, and therefore subject to many changes, OST sources participants once they are physically present at the live event venue. There is less organized before the meetings than usual.
“The agenda and schedule of presentations is partly or mostly unknown until people begin arriving. The scheduling of speakers, topics and locations is created by people attending once they arrive. At the end of each OST meeting, a debriefing doc is created summarizing what worked and what did not work.”
Harrison Owen is credited with creating open space technology in the early 1980s. So far, IBTTA has used open space technology at two meetings.
Where IBTTA has used Open Space Format
Seattle, Washington, October 8, 2023
An Open Space session occurred at the 91st Annual Meeting & Exhibition in Seattle. Led by Session Facilitator, Wayne Reed of AtkinsRéalis, this DE&I Special Session worked under the theme Bridging the Gap: Challenges and Opportunities in DEI – What is next and where do we go from here?
Nashville, Tennessee, July 31, 2023
The second open space event involved more than 200 attendees at the Maintenance, Engineering, and Roadway Operations Workshop on July 31, 2023. This short video shows what open space looked like at this event. In the space of three hours, the 200-plus participants organized themselves into twenty-two separate groups, addressing topics such as electric vehicle fire and incident challenges, work zone safety, implementing a successful toll system information project, and how will AI impact the future of maintenance.
Here is a link to the summary notes from the open space event in Nashville and, here is a link to the script used to launch the open space event in Nashville.
Indianapolis, Indiana, April 30, 2023
The first open space event involved a group of 20 CEOs attending the IBTTA Technology Summit in Indianapolis on April 30, 2023. This short video demonstrates what open space looked like at that event. Participants received brief instructions and then self-organized into small groups within minutes. All participants were free to roam between the groups to contribute their expertise and learn from one another. During this event, seven small group sessions were held in a little more than one hour and addressed Issues such as occupancy detection and verification and toll collection accuracy.
IBTTA plans to use open space technology at future meetings and events. If you're interested in learning more about open space technology and how to apply it In your organization, we encourage you to consult the resources on this page. In addition, IBTTA executive director and CEO Pat Jones would be happy to speak with you about IBTTA's experience with open space and how it might be used elsewhere
Other Open Space Resources
Here are links to other resources about the benefits, features, and uses of open space technology.
- Michael Herman
- Open Space World, Harrison Owen
- Open Space Technology For Conferences, Meetings And Workshops
