Hi, Thomas - You wrote: <In a few weeks time I will facilitate the large OST meeting I mentioned earlier - 600 persons (municipal school managers from all over Sweden).>
They are lucky to have you, dear Thomas. I agree with Kerry - either set up 2 stools with a microphone on each or have a few 'runners' with microphones who can bring them into the audience. I have found that in large venues it is sometimes difficult to pinpoint where the sound is coming from - in one I did with about 850 people I made big cut-paper globes (2-dimensional world signs) so a volunteer holding the microphone someone was talking at could hold it up when a person there is talking: see the first and second photos at: http://www.openingspace.net/gallery/agora.cgi?cart_id=7072011.15741*3G3F L7&xm=on&product=Signs_Used_in_Open_Space_Events (or same thing: go to my website http://www.openingspace.net, click on the upper-right-hand corner where it says "Gallery" and click on "Signs Used in Open Space Events" ) I also wonder about convergence. I always ask (especially at conferences) who really needs convergence - often it is the conference organizers but the participants themselves are often served by the Open Space networking and resource sharing and do not have a big stake in convergence. I would imagine a lot of folks would just drift away into the rest of the conference and not place dots at lunchtime, no? I also might post session notes on the wall (find more space?) for participants to read, as this can really energize talk during the whole rest of the conference. Even if you are projecting them for a short while, as well. The other thing I found to be useful is to make 30 boxes (the number of breakout areas you're having) or even just box tops to put in each discussion area - with pens, notes-taker forms, perhaps a clipboard with a participant list to send around during the discussion (notes and participant lists are collected by convenors/notes-takers and both handed in together) and whatever other supplies are given to each discussion area. And I've also found it's helpful to have volunteers to help people in general ways (where is this, where is that, what do I do with these notes) and to help straighten up the discussion areas between sessions. Just an idea. Wish I could be there to help you in person, Lisa ___________________________ L i s a H e f t Consultant, Facilitator, Educator O p e n i n g S p a c e 2325 Oregon Berkeley, California 94705-1106 USA +01 510 548-8449 lisah...@openingspace.net www.openingspace.net * * ========================================================== osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu ------------------------------ To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs: http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist