when i did this same experimenting, katia, i got the same results as you. 5 chairs between aisles is about enough. also, i found that making the rows farther apart than usual theater setting helped increase that sense of "exposure" in the back rows. <br>
<br>one other little thing... i always try to make the *back* row the one that is complete circle, and let the front rows be added into the circle, rather than making a front row, and then sort of filling out little wings into corners. that way, *everybody* is really *inside* the circle, rather than gathered around it. <br>
<br>m<br clear="all"> <br>--<br><br>Michael Herman<br>Michael Herman Associates<br><br><a href="http://www.michaelherman.com">http://www.michaelherman.com</a><br><a href="http://www.ronanparktrail.com">http://www.ronanparktrail.com</a><br>
<a href="http://www.chicagoconservationcorps.org">http://www.chicagoconservationcorps.org</a><br><a href="http://www.openspaceworld.org">http://www.openspaceworld.org</a><br><br>312-280-7838 (mobile)<br>
<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Mon, Nov 30, 2009 at 2:26 AM, Katia <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:katia@propellor.be">katia@propellor.be</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">
<div link="blue" vlink="purple" lang="NL-BE">
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: rgb(31, 73, 125);" lang="EN-US">I opened space last
summer for a group of 350. My colleague and I spent quite some time before we
found a good way of arranging the circle. </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);" lang="EN-US">To
test our ideas, we actually role-played sitting on the back row, and feeling if
we were compelled contribute. Some settings felt better (more open) than
others.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);" lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);" lang="EN-US">To my surprise, it didn’t matter so much to have one more
row of chairs between me and the center. But what did make a difference, was
whether I would have to pass a lot of people next to me, before I can enter the
center.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);" lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: rgb(31, 73, 125);" lang="EN-US">We finally made four
concentric circles. We made sure that people could easily walk to the center of
the space, wherever they sat. So to achieve that, we left a corridor every 5<sup>th</sup>
chair (so you get blocks of 4 rows x 5 chairs).</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: rgb(31, 73, 125);" lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: rgb(31, 73, 125);" lang="EN-US">Enjoy!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: rgb(31, 73, 125);" lang="EN-US">Katia</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);" lang="EN-US"></span></p>
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