Last week, I attended the Agile Open Holland 2009 Conference. It was my first conference following an Open Space format and I loved it. At first, first-timers like me were a little uneasy with the whole co-create the conference dynamic, but the presence of experienced Open Spacers like Marc Evers and Willem van den Ende ensured a quick run up the learning curve.
Open Space is the simplest meeting format that could possibly work. And man does it work! I think I learned more in this €80 two-day conference than at some other more expensive ones. Also, I found myself actively contributing to some of the discussions where normally I'm content to sit back and observe. If you've never attended an Agile Open Conference before, do yourself a favor and attend the next one.
