myConf 💚 Open Space

Do not worry if you have no idea what Open Space means; neither did I the first time I attended one. When I was told there would be no agenda, I was confused: We were to spend about several hours with 15 people, and there was no agenda at all?

It all worked out in the end, and the glory of Open Space quickly became apparent to me.

Open Space is a self-organizing conference format that centers around you and what you want to discuss. The session schedule is a table, with rows representing time slots and columns representing predetermined positions in the venue where group discussions can occur.

At the heart of Open Space are the discussions, but to facilitate these and make them as great as possible, we need to gather everyone and collectively decide what to talk about. We do this at the Marketplace, where we center around a board and write topics on sticky notes. A facilitator helps with note placement and arrangement; typically, you place your note on the next available slot and give a brief explanation to the group. If all slots fill up, we add notes to a “parking space” and might vote on topics to get an idea of how to prioritize them.

Marketplace takes place before and between each slot. In the first one, we make sure everyone knows what we’re doing and try to brainstorm as many topics as possible. By experience, we fill most slots during the first Marketplace. Still, you are always free to add new topics to the board anytime – just make sure everyone knows about your new topic during the next Marketplace!

Once the topics of a time slot are decided, the groups self-assemble and move to each position to discuss their topic. We then discuss freely for the allotted time before regathering at the Marketplace.

Apart from the code of conduct, Open Space at myConf only has two rules:

1. Whatever conversation occurs is the one that was supposed to, regardless of the original topic.
2. If you find yourself in a discussion where you are neither learning nor contributing, you are always free to move to another group (also known as the law of two feet).

If you want to bring a few topics you’ want to discuss to our Open Space you can, but you don’t have to prepare anything to join. You are also likely get new ideas as the session progresses. Open Space is a great opportunity to connect with others who share your interests, learn from a diverse range of perspectives and explore new ideas together.

We hope you’ll be able to join us!

/Raniz, Facilitator of Open Space at myConf 2025 and Consultant at factor10