Unforeseen problem of scale

[Joelle Lyons Everett]

John--

I can remember a similar panic, when my husband and I were scheduled for a
presentation to what we thought would be a small group of fifteen, and were
told on our arrival that more than a hundred were signed up.  After we got
done panicking, we realized that our presentation would be fine--we asked for
a microphone, and used overhead slides for some material we'd intended to put
on a flipchart.  And it worked well enough that we were asked to expand it to
a day-long workshop and present it to a corporate client, for a fee.

One of my favorite stories from a friend--she agreed by phone to lead a
conference session and, just before hanging up, asked the number expected.
When they told her 800, she quickly replied, "Would you like that in 80
groups of 10, or 400 dyads?"

I participated in an OS of 600+ which Harrison facilitated in a hotel
ballroom as one day of a longer conference.  It really does work, just a few
logistics to pay attention to.

You will need a microphone, more tape and paper.  Wall space gets more
critical as the group size increases, so you will want to take a good look at
the amount of wall available.  And the Bulletin Board and Marketplace will
take a bit more time, though not as much more as you might think.

With a larger crowd, I would be thinking in terms of making the whole thing
simpler, rather than more complex (dividing into three groups).  I think it
will work however you do it, but consider making it easy on yourselves!

Best of luck--

Joelle Everett

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