Comparative solsticeology: I helped organize the Seattle Solstice, and also attended the Bay Solstice. Both were really nice. A couple major observations:
The Seattle Solstice (also, I think, the New York one) had a really clear light-dark-light progression throughout the presentations, the Bay one didn’t—it seemed like each speech or song was its own small narrative arc, and there wasn’t an over-arching one.
Seattle’s was also in a small venue where there were chairs, but most people sat on cushions of various size on the floors, and were quite close to the performers and speakers. The Bay’s was on a stage. While the cushion version probably wouldn’t work for a much larger solstice, it felt intimate and communal. (Despite, I think, ~100 attendees at Seattle. Not sure how many people came to the Bay one, ~150 marked themselves as having gone on Facebook but it seemed larger.)
Yeah, it’s a really frustrating problem that once Solstices cross 75-attendees or so, it becomes increasingly hard to preserve the intimate feel. You either need to spend a lot of effort transforming a big empty room into an arbitrary space, or you need to find a space that feels more intimate somehow.
As a suggestion—to maintain the small feel—divide into smaller groups. Possibly while in the larger hall, be divided into groups for groupier-close-feel. Think about dunbar’s group size numbers. We need small tribes to feel close and connected to people.
I think the Bay aimed to do that (or something similar) by having small tables people could sit at.
But the issue is more about the practicality of setting the sort of environment that feels cozier. I.e. with less than 50 people, you can fit in a living room, which means you have couches and it naturally feels right to cuddle on the floor, etc. Whereas in a big hall, unless you bring in a lot of your own couches, pillows, etc, and then arrange them artfully on the floor, and have a space for the songleaders to stand that doesn’t feel like a stage… it’s going to be hard to produce the feeling no matter how you divide people up.
Comparative solsticeology: I helped organize the Seattle Solstice, and also attended the Bay Solstice. Both were really nice. A couple major observations:
The Seattle Solstice (also, I think, the New York one) had a really clear light-dark-light progression throughout the presentations, the Bay one didn’t—it seemed like each speech or song was its own small narrative arc, and there wasn’t an over-arching one.
Seattle’s was also in a small venue where there were chairs, but most people sat on cushions of various size on the floors, and were quite close to the performers and speakers. The Bay’s was on a stage. While the cushion version probably wouldn’t work for a much larger solstice, it felt intimate and communal. (Despite, I think, ~100 attendees at Seattle. Not sure how many people came to the Bay one, ~150 marked themselves as having gone on Facebook but it seemed larger.)
Thanks!
Yeah, it’s a really frustrating problem that once Solstices cross 75-attendees or so, it becomes increasingly hard to preserve the intimate feel. You either need to spend a lot of effort transforming a big empty room into an arbitrary space, or you need to find a space that feels more intimate somehow.
As a suggestion—to maintain the small feel—divide into smaller groups. Possibly while in the larger hall, be divided into groups for groupier-close-feel. Think about dunbar’s group size numbers. We need small tribes to feel close and connected to people.
I think the Bay aimed to do that (or something similar) by having small tables people could sit at.
But the issue is more about the practicality of setting the sort of environment that feels cozier. I.e. with less than 50 people, you can fit in a living room, which means you have couches and it naturally feels right to cuddle on the floor, etc. Whereas in a big hall, unless you bring in a lot of your own couches, pillows, etc, and then arrange them artfully on the floor, and have a space for the songleaders to stand that doesn’t feel like a stage… it’s going to be hard to produce the feeling no matter how you divide people up.