MeshForum is a already a good value... great speakers to provoke and inform, lots of opportunities
to meet fellow attendees and participate. And then it gets better...

Welcome to MeshAction!

This is your chance to put all of your MeshForum learning and connecting into action and practice -- the optional but obvious extension, the grand and active finale, to the MeshForum conference.

In the course of the conference, participants from all over will meet a wide diversity of people and explore all dimensions of network life. When we Open on May 4th, you will be able to take stock of all the learning and connecting that's gone on, identify key people to work with, begin or continue important projects, and anything else that is needed to fully integrate conference learning into post-conference activity.

It's also a great place to learn a bit about Open Space Technology by experiencing it directly. The day will include a mini-workshop time for learning about how to work and lead in Open Space, led by Keynote Facilitator Michael Herman.

What will happen?

The short answer is we just don't know. Anything can happen, and this time it just might. What we know for sure is that any issue or opportunity related to any of what you've seen at MeshForum or want to work on in your Networks will be identified, discussed, and documented to the greatest extent possible by a diverse group of talented and passionate Network experts. Following a large group opening, we'll work on all of our most important ideas in many many individual small working groups. You'll attend only those you choose, only those that maximize your own learning, contribution and action.

We would love to see people across industries and across the academic/business (or academic/government/public sector) boundary come together to address specific Network challenges. We'd like urgent business needs to inform research. We'd like to see quality research and new techniques be applied in larger, faster ways. We know that people in different fields and industries have much to learn from and contribute to each other. We'd like to begin a living map of Networks and approaches, toward making new connections and discoveries.

On an individual and personal basis, MeshAction is a time for people to digest and ground their conference work, so that we all go home more engaged, enriched, and inspired - minds sparkling but also in a way rested and refocused - rather than just fried on info overload. There are many very smart, passionate people out there who share your interests, concerns and areas of study - and who have something to offer you - and you to offer them. MeshAction is the time to make absolutely sure you don't miss finding and working with any of them.

Who should come?

Everybody who comes to MeshForum should stay for MeshAction! If you're passionate about Networks, this is the place to do it! Use this time to process all of your learning and connecting into practical application, to experience and embody what it means to be a network in motion, and to move your own projects and interests forward with the input of many other MeshActivists. This is also an invaluable day for intact teams to work on how to bring their MeshExperience back to their organization.

How to Prepare?

Getting ready is easy, just pay attention to issues and opportunities for action as they arise, before and during the conference -- knowing that you'll have a chance to move them forward with colleagues in MeshAction. Consider what you'd do if you had the resources and colleagues you need to make somehting happen. Choose a few keywords you might use to post your ideas into the MeshAction working agenda on Wednesday. Be prepared to be surprised by what we can do to keep Mesh going and growing.

Keynote Facilitator

MeshAction will be facilitated by Michael Herman, an internationally recognized practitioner and teacher of Open Space Technology, a simple, powerful approach for bringing people together and getting important work done faster than you'd expect. Michael is the founding webmaster for http://www.OpenSpaceWorld.ORG, which now offers an introduction to Open Space in 18 languages, in addition to offering his own resources archive at http://www.GlobalChicago.NET/ost. He has taught Open Space on four continents and is known for his practical views on the process of invitation, the movement of self-organizing markets, and the personal passion bounded by responsibility. He leads meetings and conference events and helps organizations integrate the simple power of OST into everyday business activity.