Nonprofit Meetings: Choosing Your Space makes a Difference

What’s the goal of your meeting? If it’s simply to deliver information, most  rooms are fine. But if your meeting is intended to draw out the wisdom of  the soul, you’ll want to find a place that invites it.

Parker Palmer compares the results of groups who meet in rooms with inappropriate ceiling height, loud ventilation systems and cold fluorescent lighting to spaces more apt to bring out deep and meaningful discussion. In his book, A Hidden Wholeness he encourages facilitators to look for meeting rooms with enough space to easily move the chairs around, eye-level windows to let the outside come in and warm, incandescent lighting.

During an Eastside Green Drinks event, I was introduced to the Mercer Slough Environmental Education Center. The buildings located in Bellevue, have floor to ceiling windows overlooking a nature park with a wide variety of plants and wildlife, a tree house and an elevated boardwalk system. Merely being in a place like this is nourishing and revitalizing to your spirit. They offer nonprofit organizations 30% off the rental rates for the meeting rooms. Find out more at http://bellevuewa.gov/mseec_rentals.htm

Some people question if participants will pay attention to the speaker with all this beauty to drink in. If a speaker needs a windowless room to hold the participants attention, something’s wrong. There are ways to improve any speaker’s delivery so participants are engaged and also feel safe enough to explore challenging and/or personal situations. For presentation skills coaching visit www.PamelaZiemann.com

Taking the time to find the perfect meeting room shows people that you care about their wellbeing. To get better results from your next retreat or meeting, find a setting that will help draw out each participant’s natural, innate wisdom. If you know of more places like the Mercer Slough Environmental Education Center, please post them in the comments.