[OSList] Closing circle 700 people

[Lisa Heft -]

Agreed. I've done Closing Circle with 10 people and with 3500 people. It's all good. As Harrison does, as Gray does, I set up 4 microphones and say 'we have until x:00' and invite Closing Circle comments and reflections. I simply twirl in a circle (from my little platform in the middle) to gesture to the next person, the next, the next... Just as a way of holding the space and visibly witnessing. Not that I am necessary, just that people seem to feel it is useful to have that invitation ongoing as they speak. And I always have scribes - because including Closing Circle comments and reflections in the Book of Proceedings is such a wonderful gift of their voice back to the participants...

Gray, your communities are lucky to have you,
Lisa



Lisa Heft
Consultant, Facilitator, Educator
President Emerita, Open Space Institute US
Fellow, Columbia University Center for International Conflict Resolution
Opening Space
 
On May 9, 2014, at 8:43 AM, Graydancer <graydancer at gmail.com> wrote:

> I've done a couple of closing circles with 500+ people. We set up four microphones around a central area and everyone was in a big circle around it. We invited people to come up and share what they needed to, while also informing them of the time limits. 
> 
> People queued up in lines around each mic and my job as facilitator was much like a traffic cop at a four way stop, inviting people to approach each mic in turn. 
> 
> Though, in truth, I wasn't actually needed much once things got going - like a 4-way stop, people understood when it was their turn, and most of my time was simply spent listening. We easily made the time limit, and (I think) everyone who wanted to share got to do so. 
> 
> I should thank Lisa Heft for reassuring me that this kind of thing would work, as I had kind of panicked when they first asked me to run the event. But magically the amount of time seems able to remain static regardless of the number of people.
> 
> Hope that helps,
> 
> 
> Gray 

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