<HTML><FONT FACE=arial,helvetica><HTML><FONT COLOR="#000000" FACE="Geneva" FAMILY="SANSSERIF" SIZE="2">Kathleen--<BR>
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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.<BR>
<BR>
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.<BR>
<BR>
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!<BR>
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Joelle Everett<BR>
Shelton, Washington, USA </FONT><FONT COLOR="#000000" FACE="Geneva" FAMILY="SANSSERIF" SIZE="2"></FONT></HTML>
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