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?