Meetings Blog Sep 13, 2019
With so much focus on securing the right venue, the best speakers, the most delicious food, and, ultimately, making sure the attendees come to the event, sometimes the importance of how and where your guests sit is downgraded. It’s key to consider this aspect for you, ensuring that whatever impact you are aiming to make on your audience is met. Are you sitting comfortably? OK, let’s have a look at a few of the key elements…
From small meetings to elaborate conferences, there can be significant variations on what is required in terms of seating arrangements. Take a high level negotiation, for example, where you’ll likely want to have two small teams facing each other for complete focus and being close enough for clear dialogue. What, though, about an open presentation? There you’ll want all eyes on the speaker, with less need for immediate, close contact. Then there are training or brainstorming sessions, which are enriched through a mixture of focused attention, workspace and interaction.
By taking into account the requirements of the group, you can then decide on the best course of action for the seating arrangements…
Knowing the objectives of the session, those that will be involved, and potentially the style of the presentation, the arrangement of the seating can be planned. A classroom styled design, with rows of chairs all facing in the same direction, keeps all eyes forward and, if tables are included, allow for note taking on paper or tablets. The horseshoe and u-shaped plans are similarly used – the latter with tables – and help those present to interact with each other and the facilitator. If preferred, you can close the u-shape and have a rectangle, square or circle, with everyone pointing inwards which can help make discussions more fruitful. Then, of course, there’s the classic boardroom design, often appropriate for negotiations or small team meetings.
Once you have understood and decided on the best layout, which is also driven by the venue space available, you are now in a position to ponder the most suitable types of seats…
Seats. There’s not much to think about, is there? As long as they’re comfy enough and allow everyone to fit in the room, that should do the trick, no? Well, not quite. These days there are so many options when it comes to seating that it’s a good idea to ponder what would be most effective for your event. Firm ergonomically-sound chairs for that negotiation are likely to be most appropriate, but in other circumstances it may be wiser to go with something much more creative and fun. Colored stools, beanbags, or even Pilates balls immediately change the tone of the room, and can be reflected in the mood of the attendees. There are times too when either sitting on the floor (post-session chill out) or standing room only (terrace cocktail party) are the perfect choice.
The bottom line – excuse the pun – is that seating is not a trivial matter that can be thrown together at the last second. It deserves careful thought and, if done right, can have a noticeable impact on the communication objectives of your event, and ultimately its success. So, don’t sit on your hands, speak to the experts at NH Hotel Group and find the ideal solution.
