[Dialogue] The Occupy Crowd Meets the ToP Crowd: a Short Video

[Evelyn Philbrook]

Hello Gordon and the ToP Facilitation Team,

Wow! Nice video, good connection, Yes...destiny seems to be calling.
Thank you for sharing.

Evelyn Kurihara Philbrook
Taipei, Taiwan ROC

On 5/17/2012 3:45 PM, Gordon Harper wrote:
> I know that many of us are engaged in some way with the Occupy 
> movement, and it's a subject worth talking about.  We've had Occupiers 
> in our facilitation training here in Seattle, and Molly Shaw and I 
> have worked with several of their projects.
>
> I caused something of a disturbance in the Force (who, me?) this 
> January.  I announced at the annual ToP conference in Sacramento that 
> I thought we might have some things to learn as well as to share about 
> grassroots facilitation through dialogue with the Occupy movement--and 
> that I had therefore invited about fifteen Occupiers from Seattle and 
> UC Davis to our gathering for an interchange session.
>
> This came about because I had mentioned to some of my troublesome 
> friends here in Seattle that I would be attending this conference and 
> then learned that a number of them would be on a trek visiting other 
> Occupy groups along the Pacific coast during that same time.  It 
> became very clear to me that God intended for our two groups to connect.
>
> The ToP leadership team put this on the schedule as a small Open Space 
> option on the last afternoon of our conference.  It would be while 
> most attendees would be completing action planning in their task 
> forces for the year ahead.
>
> However, when I asked that morning for how many were interested in 
> being part of this Occupy encounter, over 90% of the hands in the 
> plenary shot up.  The leadership team died: there went the prime 
> working time for all that planning.  (I may never be invited to 
> another ToP conference.)
>
> Nonetheless, despite shooting me looks that would have dropped a more 
> sensitive soul in his tracks, our leaders rebounded gracefully, 
> declared it a consensus that the whole conference would adjourn to the 
> hotel veranda outdoors for this event and that the scheduled planning 
> would simply start earlier, over lunch that day.
>
> As you'll see from the video, I had a ball doing this.  This included 
> participating in a little direct action after the session, led by the 
> Occupiers, at the Capitol Mall a few blocks away (what's called a 
> Guerrilla Mic Check, to use the technical term--not something included 
> in this clip.  The marching that opens the video is of us on our way 
> to cause that trouble).  No, no one got arrested doing it.
>
> Joanna Kohler was our videographer, and Marti Roach and I worked with 
> her on the editing.  You'll recognize a number of Order colleagues in 
> the group, as well as interesting ritual activity, a great witness, 
> clearly stated rubrics for participation and team facilitation being 
> created on the spot by people who have just met one another.
>
> Enjoy--and, if you share my sense of its importance, let's talk more 
> about just what is going on with this movement and why we maybe should 
> pay attention to it.
>
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MnjmWcJjET4
>
> Gordon
>
>
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