When I venture out to find a conference space that will fit the needs of my various programs I talk with hotel sales staff a lot about whether or not we will fit in a room based on the preferred setup. I thought this would be a great opportunity to show different types of room setups, how they work within a space, and other things to keep in mind when choosing a location for your event.
I've borrowed these handy photos from Rider University. They are posted on their event planning page, but the images are so great that I just couldn't resist!
Theater Style - Rows of chairs facing the front
Conference Style - Tables pushed together with chairs around
Classroom Style - Tables with chairs facing front and often aisles
Rounds - Round tables with chairs
These are not the only room setup types of course. Here at the School of Government we often use pods, which is similar to conference style except that everyone faces forward and the pods are usually groups of 5 or 6. We also use a hollow square, which has tables in a square with empty space in the middle and chairs on the outside. When we are planning conferences off-site we sometimes use crescent rounds, which is basically round tables minus 2 chairs and they all face forward.
Selecting a room setup is dictated by the type of meeting that you're having. I work with people in a learning environment, so using classroom style or pods is usually preferable. People will want to take notes as they go and have space to spread out their binder or folder throughout the day. If I only have a meeting with 6-8 people then conference style is the best option.
Hotels often have a nifty grid they give you that shows their capacity using each of the room setups. Here is an example of one:
If I can, I like to physically go to the site to take a look at the space, but sometimes that's not an option. In that case, I ask the hotel to set the room up in the configuration I want and have them take a photo. By doing this I know that I am getting a real-time photo, not the professionally done photo where everything looks perfect. I can see that we will fit based on the specifications of my event.
One other thing to consider is whether or not the charts include a projector and a stage. These things can take up space and change the capacity of the room. Having a 10 foot by 10 foot stage can eat up a lot of space fast. Also having room for a projector (front-facing or rear-facing) can be space intensive too. Rear projection is more space intensive than front projection, but has a more aesthetic look to it.
What are some of your favorite room setups? What kind of events are you planning and what kind of room setups are you requesting?