[OSList] How big is a circle with 300 people?

Mon Jun 8 08:53:00 PDT 2015

Great conversation! Michael Herman posted a very interesting idea on the 
Facebook which I hope to try out. He said his approach with multiple 
concentric circles is to try to have the outer circle be the only "real" 
complete circle, and the inner circles are more like broken groups of 
chairs of 7. I have trouble visualizing it - but I sense it would help. 
At large OST events with more one circle, the inner most circle in my 
experience is the most engaged circle. Spectators go to the back. And 
it's hard to get to the center from anywhere but the center circle. 
Michael H's idea may not maximize the number of people you can put in 
the room, but it does attempt to make the center more equally accessible.

What Michael M.P. speaks two subjects around the circle setup strikes a 
chord in me. Firstly, for those setting up an OST, it is *very* 
important to know the regulations and restrictions of the venue and the 
local laws for chair setup. At my local University, there was an 
insurance issue about someone tripping while moving chairs around so 
they don't let attendees move their own chairs. Only the paid facilities 
personnel are allowed. I pushed back a bit and they said they didn't 
mind if there was a little bit of chair movement and adjustment, but not 
mass migrations. Which meant we couldn't reuse the chairs in the main 
circle for breakouts in that space (which meant renting more space for 
breakouts), and it required there be lots of space around the agenda 
wall since we couldn't ask people to self-organize the movement of 
chairs. Frustrating! I believe Open Space really works best with a 
flexible chair set up. But whatever is - just is.

Michael M. P. also mentioned that a flawed circle can diminish the OST. 
This is something I've also experienced. I do wonder about also allowing 
the circle to breathe. If it's "too perfect", it can feel static and 
un-alive. I think this element of "perfection" in the posters and the 
facilitation can also be an issue. It should have an element of 
imperfection and transience. The Japanese aesthetic of Wabi-Sabi comes 
to mind. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wabi-sabi

     Cheers,
     Harold

On 6/8/15 1:54 AM, Michael M Pannwitz via OSList wrote:
> Dear Anna,
>
> if you do this in Germany (as we did with the 2108  in  Würzburg) you
> need to deal with the fire department ... and every one of the 16 states
> has different rules. Usually, you are limited to 199 chairs that you can
> place any way you like in a room. If you have more, the exact floor plan
> with the circles and all needs to go through an administrative
> process... usually (always) the people in the venue know about this. If
> you have more than 199 chairs, the chairs need to be either bolted to
> the floor are hinged together, mostly in bunches of 5.
>
> In  Würzburg we got around all of this by getting 2108 pillows in I
> think 13 concentric circles... the were then also used by participants
> for breakout spaces, massage areas, napping spaces ... etc.
>
> For the geometry itself you got a large number of highly professional
> pointers alreadd, I just want to add
> Start with the inner circle and have it be a really perfect circle.
> S.H. (something happens OR selforganisation happens) when the circle is
> perfect.
> Do you remember the situation in the Moscow WOSonOS a few years ago when
> things were simply perceived as pretty awful by the facilitator (I think
> it might have been Raffi) and he asked one of the seniors of OST present
> (I am sure it was Birgitt Williams) what she suggests we should do. She
> got up and asked very one in the room to grab their chairs and make a
> perfect circle of what actually was a pretty messed up circle.
> Folks followed her suggestion, got up, created a perfect circle, sat
> down and then instantaneously mega
> S.H.
>
> hugs
> mmp
>
> PS: Go to this very long link to get more details on the Würzburg event
>> http://openspace-landschaft.de/an_veran.asp?veranstaltungId=355&sprache=en&von_seite=ue_veranstaltung.asp&ds=8&branche=&begleiterId=9&anzeigeOrtId=0 
>>
>>
>
> If you use the following link you get to the pretty fantastic photo 
> story by Erich Kolenaty where you can click on a pdf file which I am 
> afraid is too bulky to attach to this mail
>> http://www.transformation.at/article46.htm
>
>
>
> 08.06.2015 06:05, Koos de Heer via OSList wrote:
>> Thanks Harrison.
>>
>> In my experience, two meters is fine to pass behind the rows on your
>> way to the agenda wall, but it is not enough when you have 300 people
>> in front of the agenda wall trying to figure out where they want to
>> go. You don’t want people tripping over the empty chairs that are in
>> the way. So directly in front of the agenda wall, I would allow for
>> at least 6 meters (20 feet) if you have 300 participants.
>>
>> Good luck Anna Carolina!
>>
>> Koos
>>
>> *Van:*OSList [mailto:oslist-bounces at lists.openspacetech.org] *Namens
>>  *Harrison via OSList *Verzonden:* maandag 8 juni 2015 3:10 *Aan:*
>> 'Anna Caroline Türk'; 'World wide Open Space Technology email list'
>> *Onderwerp:* Re: [OSList] How big is a circle with 300 people?
>>
>> I do love this! And Koos – your spread sheet is fabulous!! Frankly,
>> I’ve found that the basic “rule of thumb” – take the rated room size
>> and divide by 2  -- will get you started. (A room rated for 300 will
>> work well for an Open Space of 150)... and from there on out you just
>> have to go with the flow. Remembering: 1) Have as much space in the
>> center as you can, so folks aren’t all crowed together. After all
>> this is OPEN Space. And 2) Leave a meter or two (3-6 feet) between
>> the last row and the Wall so that folks can easily post their issues.
>> Congestion slows everything down. After that, anything will work. Or
>> more to the point, the people will figure the way. And do have fun!
>>
>> Harrison
>>
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>>  *From:*OSList [mailto:oslist-bounces at lists.openspacetech.org] *On
>> Behalf Of *Anna Caroline Türk via OSList *Sent:* Sunday, June 07,
>> 2015 5:18 PM *To:* OS List *Subject:* [OSList] How big is a circle
>> with 300 people?
>>
>> Dear all,
>>
>> Please help me do the math: How is the radius of concentric circles
>> with 300 participants?
>>
>> How many rows do you think it will be?
>>
>> Thank you!
>>
>> much Love
>>
>> Anna Caroline
>>
>> photo
>>
>>
>>
>> *Anna Caroline Türk*
>>
>> m:+49 176 2487 2254 <tel:+49%20176%202487%202254> |
>> e:act at gc-facilitation.com <mailto:act at gc-facilitation.com>
>> www.AnnaCarolineTuerk.com <http://www.annacarolinetuerk.com/> | s:
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>>
>>
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>

-- 
Harold Shinsato
harold at shinsato.com <mailto:harold at shinsato.com>
http://shinsato.com
twitter: @hajush <http://twitter.com/hajush>
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