We have been thinking a lot about that “G” in GOSH recently. Sometimes the “G” stands for how “Globally” our community has grown, and mostly used as “Gathering”, as we are now in the process to prepare and plan in more details the upcoming GOSH2025 in Bali, Indonesia.
In our discussions within the working group, we have many times pointed out a need towards shaping some kinda refreshed framework, purpose, format, together with the larger community about “Why Do We Gather?”. A question that I have personally put a lot of brains into over the last couple of years, also in other actvities I have been involved, although no concrete answer was found yet.
We are now preparing an event / or a series of events to go deeper into that question. This post being more of teaser of what will come up soon. And any feedback, comments, inputs are very welcome!
We are now, @laola @briannaljohns @OSHWA @ez_laine @YKH @dusjagr to prepare such an event, on which form we havent decided. First notes can be found here. It will also be a super interesting opportunity to share with the wider community the results of the recent survey we have collected concretely about earlier GOSHs and future visions on how it should develop.
But also a step back to look more broadly into the “The Art of Gathering: How We Meet and Why it Matters”, a title of an interesting book by Priya Parker I recently read.
Quote: "The comings together of friends, family, and co-workers have the potential to change the way we connect, the way we understand ourselves and one another, and the way we live. Yet, too often, we’re on autopilot using the same tired formats. We forget to plan for, or fail to even consider, the human connection at the center of it all — the real magic behind a successful group event. I began noting that so much of our gathering intelligence and culture focuses on stuff — “the food is perfect” or “wow, what a beautiful venue.” — while the ingredients for a connective collective moment were lacking. What if we first designed a gathering where guests were brought together in a meaningful way, and then we filled in the logistics? "
We are working on inviting experienced “Gatherers” from outside of our community and organise a series of discussions and brain-pickings. Suggestions welcome here!
I have shared some personal links, experiences and thoughts once in a post more than a year ago.
