What is the Art of Hosting?

January 31, 2008

I've been in many of these conversations. Lately, I've liked the shift into the work -- hosting conversations that matter -- that sometimes shows up in the form of an event that is referenced as The Art of Hosting.

Also, from an Art of Hosting conference at Whidbey Island (January 2008), Chris Corrigan laughed in one of his teachings. "We will define the art of hosting in 80 ways over the next few days." That feels about right.

Here is a bit of definition that has life for me. It came from a conversation with Teresa Posakony and Sharon Joy Kleitsch as we were exploring how Sharon Joy might speak of this to people in her Tampa, FL community.

AoH is...
- an experience of learning in living systems
- being in big imagination as community
- broader practice beyond method in deep, lasting, sustainable change
- framework for transformation
- a learning and operating pattern for full stakeholder engagement and action
- a way to build community leadership capacity
- fielding, working with energy fields in groups

The shift in understanding for me is helpful when I think of these as emergent outcomes. Because we come into relationship with one another, around purpose or identity, all or some of the above occur as outcomes. They don't come from design. The emerge from interaction. Hmm...