The Campfire

The Foundation for Jewish Camp is employing a new format at Leaders Assembly 2012. It is designed as an “open space” style conference which we are referring to as peer-to-peer programming and its goal is to empower, energize, and encourage the creativity of everyone who takes the challenge and comes ready to participate.  I didn’t quite understand how this “open space” style conference worked until I went to check it out at the recent JFNA General Assembly in Denver.  In fact, I didn’t know what to expect at all.

I learned that to participate, you have to suspend your disbelief and your skepticism.  The rules are quite simple – show up and be present in the moment.  The facilitator directs anyone who desires to “host” or “suggest” a conversation to those assembled.  It can be anything from, “helping my camp board members understand their roles” to “building a state-of-the-art kitchen” to “using music and song effectively at camp” to … whatever you feel like discussing.  Inevitably, there will be people who show up to your conversation who want to learn about the topic, but there will also be those who can and will share best practices.  It just works out that way.

At the GA, I chose to “host” a conversation.  I had been bristling about the issue of “inclusivity” in Jewish communal institutions and I decided that this was as good an opportunity as any to bring it up with a larger group.  Several people joined me and the conversation took unexpected turns because everyone came to the discussion with diverse and complex definitions of “inclusivity.”  By the end of the hour, the group had grown from eight to about twenty!  And no one wanted the conversation to end.  Many members of our group hastily exchanged cards and many have already been in touch with me.  Now we aren’t only talking about inclusivity.  Our hour together afforded us the opportunity to begin strong connections to each other and I have already begun to explore collaborative opportunities with at least two of my group members.

Most importantly, my experience demonstrated how the “open space” conference format supports those aspects of conferences that are often the most rewarding – opportunities to establish new connections to people with similar visions and the sharing of creative ideas.  What I and others found so gratifying about the “open space” session at the GA was precisely that it allowed for these “most satisfying” of conference experiences to take center stage.  Rather than grabbing these “moments” in the corridors between sessions, they became the core of our “open space” experience and we were given the time we needed to relish them.  We left the session with deep connections to new colleagues and with the basis to pursue further dialogue and collaboration.

- Abby Knopp, Vice President, Program and Strategy