Room Set-Up Questions

[Joelle Lyons Everett]

Kathleen--

I've found that participants are usually pretty creative when it comes to 
finding additional spaces to meet.   You can do the groundwork by looking around 
the facility for the kinds of places that Harrison mentioned--even wide 
hallways and foyers sometimes work.   The second piece of the groundwork is to check 
in with the facility staff to make sure that it is okay for small groups to 
work in those informal spaces.

I usually make my grid with a few "designated" spaces, typically those in the 
big meeting room (often with flip charts).   I also put up a bunch of 
Post-Its marked "other," and let the group know that they can choose another meeting 
space.   Outside is always popular, if the weather permits.   Groups meeting 
in "other" spaces can mark their meeting place on their session poster, so 
bumblebees can find them.   Coffee shop booths or tables will often accomodate a 
number of small groups, and   may be quieter than the main room.

I facilitated a two-day Open Space in a big hotel, a hot-springs resort and 
spa.   The hotel had just opened and was still in the process of getting their 
systems in order, so only a few people were staying there, beyond our group.   
The size of their largest conference room was pretty small--barely held the 
group in a circle.   But for breakout spaces they offered us the use of the 
entire building.   We had groups meeting in the room we were using for meals, in 
the hotel coffee shop, up on a large mezzanine above the hotel lobby, and in 
the lobby itself, in big cushy leather chairs around a central fireplace.   
Don't know if any groups met by the pool or hot tub.   It was challenging to get 
people out of the breakout spaces and back to the circle!

Joelle Everett
Shelton, Washington, USA 

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