Dear Doug -- Yes, I say that to all the boys...heh...
(unless their names are not Doug) I say don't go back and forth about explaining the process, just say the process will allow for that and it's okay, you'll be in charge. It's the same as when people start asking questions in the opening circle -- just get them to the *doing* part rather than the asking part. And no need to assign rooms to anyone or to look at numbers of people -- remember, your client's role should be very clear: are they a full participant -- in which case they should not direct ANYthing -- or are they not, in which case they STILL are not to direct anything. Just let participants know where the other spaces are (one sign on / near the agenda wall with the names of those spaces should do) and either you can put room numbers/names on the same stickies that have the session times on them (the ones they pick up and put onto their topics sheets as they place them on the agenda wall) or use Brian Bainbridge's fabulous title for other breakout spaces, "SPE 1", "SPE 2", "SPE 3", etc. ("Some Place Else") and the participants can write where they're going to meet. Let the client know that not only will the participants work it out on their own, but that it is *important* for them to do so in this sort of a meeting, with nobody working it out for them. Does the client think that people are unable to walk to a discussion area? Move if they feel squished? Does the client tell them where to sit in the lunch room? Okay, just teasing, but sounds like this client has to remember that his help is not needed. Which makes me think that we need to give him a job. Part of me says you should have him run the Newsroom, if you have one, but you may not have one in such a short OS. Part of me says you should give him an errand that makes him have to be somewhere across town during the Open Space... ;0) ... 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...@pacbell.net (coming soon: www.openingspace.net) * * ========================================================== osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu ------------------------------ To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu, Visit: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html