User Groups Need Round Tables!
We had a pretty large New Media Group meeting last night, up at the Panera Bread in Manchester (free wi-fi, unlimited refills on coffee, free bread). With this many people, we started to have seating problems. In attendence we had:
- A New Media Developer / Designer
- A former Costume Designer / Bar Exam Trainer
- A former Illustrator turned IT Administrator
- An Interactive Designer / Freelancer
- A Graphic Designer / Teacher
- A Videographer / Artist / Designer who knew Abbie Hoffman
- A Seminary-Trained Business Consultant / Analyst
- A 3D Game Developer
- A Lawyer specializing in Intellectual Property and Patents
- A Java Software Consultant that also teaches Robotics and Game Design for Museums
This is only the 3rd or 4th time we've had this large a group; usually, it's just 3 or 4 people, so the conversation is easier to follow. With a group this large, we had to string 3 tables together in a line, and this led to conversation segmentation. One of the guys noted, "It's tough sitting on this side of the table having a great conversation, knowing that I'm completely missing the other great conversation on the other side of the table!" One of the grizzled veterans of the group then commented, "We need a round table so we can all look at each other".
And suddenly, I understood why Camelot has a big round table. Everyone is equal and in line of sight of each other! One conversation can be heard by all! Having sat through many Chinese banquets, though, I know that conversation also tends to form between local nodes--er, people sitting next to each other-- on the rim.
Next time we meet, we're going to descend upon the part of the cafe that will allow us to rearrange the tables into a circular format. What I did last night was move a couple people around halfway through the gathering, to mix things up a bit. The Lawyer, who has a digital electronics background, called it a "Shift-Left Operation", which was a great idea. Taking that one step further, I'm thinking of borrowing a technique from speed dating and setting a timer...after 30 minutes, we shuffle the seating arrangements and start again. It might not be a bad idea, for the type of informal gatherings we have. Instead of having a central presentation, our group just has central organizers that facilitate conversation. Much more casual, and you can get up and get coffee without feeling you're interrupting anything :-)
There may be a network topology that is ideally suited for a 10-person, decentralized user group meeting; for example, the round table idea is the same as "fully connected". Anyone have any ideas?
