[Ailist] PARTYTIME

[Mike Sands]

Dear St. Nick,

Thanks for your great report.  If we could populate the world with more 
stories like this it would be a better place   CHANGE THAT When we can 
populate the world with more stories like this it will be a happier place.

I went to a local amateur "Open Mike" night  a few weeks ago  - and here's 
my report .


Friday Night May 29 Open Mike in Vancouver



The May Open Mike started at 7:30; at 5:00 PM I still did not know what I 
was going to do – but I knew the event was happening and wanted to press on.

Then I had a brain wave. - to use the Audience as my palette, and to “play 
them” like and instrument - serially throughout the evening




At 7:30 I showed up and told the Emcee that I wanted to be first performer 
and then

to appear after each other performance ended – and Emcee Kayla agreed.




So after her opening remarks Emcee - Kayla intro'd me.




I got up and said,” I'm going to ask you a questions and I'd like each of 
you in turn to answer – or pass. Now my question is, “Please tell us about a 
room you liked to be in – where was the room and what was the room?




And then I pointed to someone and she reported a dining room in a house she 
lived in 10 years ago. (There were about 20 people attending – many about 20 
yrs old, and some much older) In turn each person answered the question – 
with a let's say “moderate” amount of engagement.




Then a guitarist came forward and sang two song and then Kayla intro'd me 
again.




Second question, “Tell us about a time you gave someone a gift and it made 
you feel really good”




And again I pointed to someone and he told us something and this time most 
people gave an answer – a few people passed - the general level of 
engagement was quite good – say 7 on a scale of 10. There was a little 
opportunity for interchange between the “Star” of the moment (me) – and the 
audience members. One person said, “I can't think of anything”; so I said, 
“Well just trust yourself – just start to answer and something will occur to 
you” - and that is just what happened.




Then another guitarist.




Third question, “Tell us the name of a person who has – at least at one 
time – been a real help, or inspiration or supporter for you - and then 
think of a symbol that you might use to represent that person.




Another guitarist:




Last question – Sort yourselves into pairs, one person ask the other – tell 
me about a time when you had a wonderful time – maybe even a glorious time. 
Each pair can choose who will ask – if you can't decide you could get the 
older person to ask the younger. And then take three minutes to tell about a 
time – if story 1 runs out asker can ask for “another time”.




One person called out - “A wonderful time”, that's pretty vague” – and I 
said , Hmmm, can you tell me about a time, and he said, “Sure I'd tell you 
about a time we went skiing. Then I said, “That's great - that's how it 
works – the question is very loose - and the answers will probably be very 
specific. Now group get a partner, choose who will ask, and then ask away.







I am very pleased to say that the level of “hubbub “ in the room climbed 
substantially and for 3 minutes the people seemed very very engrossed in 
their stories.




So that's it – it was all doing – no editorials about the purpose – and that 
will come int he future I think – for my goal is to help everyone in the 
world find out that words cause thoughts, and thoughts cause feelings and 
when we learn to assist each other in lengthening thought streams and 
deepening them we can have an enormous positive impact on the quality of 
each others lives.


Mike


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Nick Heap" <nick at nickheap.co.uk>
To: "Mike Sands" <msands at dccnet.com>; "Appreciative Inquiry" 
<ailist at lists.business.utah.edu>
Sent: Sunday, June 07, 2009 3:39 PM
Subject: RE: [Ailist] PARTYTIME


Dear Mike and all

I was asked to be a "special guest" at a social gathering of a friend's 
neighbours and led a very mini appreciative inquiry thing on "happiness". It 
went very well.

I asked people to find three or four people they didn't know well or would 
like to get to know better. I said the idea is to have conversations using 
the questions below as prompts. You are sharing stories not gathering 
objective data. Have everybody take equal turns to speak. Listen with 
enthusiasm and enjoy it.

Tell your group about a time in your life when you were very happy. Why was 
that? What was it like?
Tell your group about two or three times when you made someone else happy. 
What was that like? What did you and the other person gain from this?
If you had a wish to make the world a happier place, what would you use it 
for?
What is one thing you will do in the next week to make you and/or someone 
else happy?

I asked people to make a mental note of their level of happiness before the 
session (out of ten). They did this again afterwards and it had gone up!

This took about 45 minutes at the beginning of the evening. The positive 
atmosphere and conversations continued all evening and everybody said how 
much they had enjoyed it. Just having these conversations seemed very 
significant, as they were positive and uplifting. The people live in a very 
cosmopolitan part of London, so there were people from many different 
cultures, faiths and ethnic groups present and it went down well with all. 
Many said that sharing their stories build their community and that it could 
only do good, even create a more peaceful world, if we did more of it.

I suggested that if they enjoyed it, they tell two or three friends about 
it. In this way, they will generate a ripple of happiness. I really enjoyed 
doing the evening, it just seemed simple and natural. If you or your friends 
have a go, please let me and us know how it goes.

Best wishes,

Nick

Web: www.nickheap.co.uk