The Design of a Meet-up
I have been to a lot of tech meet-ups over the last few years, usually by myself, where I do not expect to know anyone. Sometime I meet awesome people, sometime not. When I first started to go to meet-ups I thought it was my fault when I did not meet anyone BUT as a designer I started to notice how the physical design of the space had lot to do with whether people, myself include, were meeting and talking to each other.
Forcing people to be physically closer together highly encourages people to talk to either other.
The Problem Space
The biggest issue I always see is that their is too much space! There is usually a bar and then a big open space for people to stand and then some seating far on the other end of the room. Or there is a sea of presentation chairs set up and enough room for everyone and their backpack to have a seat. The result is people spread out because they are not forced to be close together. To talk to someone you have “cross the gym dance floor”.
So how do we make people invade each other’s personal bubble, without realizing it?
Squeezing the Space
The rolling whiteboard — ubiquitous for any tech start up- is also a great space squeezer. A larger open space can easily be blocked off to create smaller spaces. Whiteboards can also be used to block presentation seating (where networking goes to die) until the presentation is about to start. They are also mobile so as the event gets busier it is easy to expand room.
Mind the Gap
High Tables, or tables, or seats that are close to the food and or bar and break up empty spaces fill up the gap. Making a quick transfer from the bar/food to a table or chair creates and easy transition. Tables and chairs are signifiers of where people should locate. Tables are especially useful because many people can be standing or sitting at table and usually if one awkward conversation starts other people will join in. Tables are inclusive.
Heavy details
If the meet up has heavy plates for food — people will go to tables quicker, even crowded tables. Holding heavy plate gets tiring fast. Messy food also forces people to put their plates down in order to eat. I experienced this situation at an event at Google a few years ago. We were packed in tight at tables because the plates were too large and too heavy to hold.
Less seats are cozy
If the event only has presentation seating, chances are there are more seats than people. More seats allows people to spread out, per social norm. It would be awkward for someone to sit down right next to you in sea of open seats. If there are less seats people are forced to sit next to each other. When everyone is squeezed together small talk and conversation easily arise. Even with one chair in between two people chances of a conversation starting are very low.
Get your hands moving:
As silly as it seems, if there is a fun project to do people can participate without initially talking and then as more people join in on the project conversation can begin more naturally. Coloring, crafting, building, cracking crabs or oysters are all fun activities that force people together.
Deliberate inclusive space design is not just important for tech meet-ups but applies to so many other scenarios: Thanksgiving dinners, schools, community events, work events etc. I would love to hear about any space-design experiences you have had- good, bad or awkward.
