Feedback from Dana Lynn Anderson

Evolutionary Salon suggestions by Connie Barlow:

CREATE CELL GROUPS:  Instead of meeting at the end of the day in a big
circle, have everybody meet with their "cell group."  Each cell group would
contain 6 to 8 people, chosen for in-group diversity.  The purpose would be
for all conference related problems and emotional upsets to be processed
there by the small "family" group, and to give everybody a chance to really
get to know a small number of people very different from themselves.  Each
cell group would have a facilitator whose responsibility would be to take
any major problems or suggestions of the cell group as a whole to the
planning team each day.  Overall, I am suggesting that we use the
"nestedness" of the universe as a template for our own salons.  There must
be a steadfast intermediate in size between the solo individual and the
whole group.  I experienced the cell group process for a week-long science
and religion conference and it worked fabulously!

MAKE IT CLEAR THAT THE LAW OF TWO FEET APPLIES TO ANY LARGE CIRCLE gathering
too.  After feeling "trapped" on the floor chairs in the inside of the big
circle early on, I never did set foot inside a large circle again.
Basically, I feel that anyone who chooses to use the large group circle to
do an emotional download (that could far more effectively be dealt with in a
cell group) is violating a personal boundary of mine.  It becomes more of a
performance; whereas in a cell group, the small number of real people
sitting there keeps the emotional download to being real and not shouting at
the individuals. And it is an enormous waste of time.  Whatever goes on in a
large circle (if, indeed, a full circle is EVER usefully engaged) ought to
be weighed against whether it is worth the time of one person times the
number of people in the circle.  Frankly, I can't remember anything that
happened in the full circle that was even close to that.  It will
unfortunately tend to sink to a low, as it did in Ev Salon 2.

USE THE WORLD CAFÉ AS A FOLLOW-UP TO SOME SORT OF INITIAL SUBSTANTIVE
PLENARY, that would give participants a common experience to talk about and
thus to shape ideas for the days to come.  When I experienced the World Café
at the first Evolutionary Salon it was very unsatisfying for me; seemed to
be a waste of time.  None of the questions engaged me.  I'd rather begin to
meet new people on the level where we are sharing our responses to a
plenary.  Or, use it at the end of a salon instead of a full circle.