Event Solutions Magazine Talks To Us About Seating

Choosing the Right Seating
By Terah Shelton
Event Solutions Magazine

Have you ever paid close attention to where your attendees decide to sit at your meetings? Did you know seating configurations dictate the flow of your audience, the sociability of the event and the overall experience for the attendees? Unfortunately, most event planners leave seating arrangements and layouts up to chance, but where your attendees sit can influence the effectiveness of a meeting or event.

According to Paul Radde, author of Seating Matters, when you bring people from across the country and sit them in simple straight rows so that they can’t see each other, they get none of the value of non-verbal communication and it restricts and limits networking. “When you consider a great deal of seating at meetings is done in straight rows—which totally blocks the ability to see and be present to and other people—the last step in meeting execution is missing,” he says. “In certain respects, they would have seen more of the person if they were on a video seminar or webinar.”

Proper seating will and can enable successful event energy flow, says Eddie Diaz, owner and executive event producer for Encore Creations. “The placement of conversation areas, dining experiences and spectator’s arrangements will help with any event return on the objective and investment,” he says. “An event is an orchestrated experience with specific objectives. Knowing what you want out of the event can help with the selection of seating and placement.”

When considering seating for events, Samantha Swaim, a fundraising and event consultant, advises event planners to think about the two biggest elements you are trying to control with guest seating: program and sociability. “What configuration will best strike the balance of guests’ comfort and fun while also allowing for the focus and attention on program elements?”

Diaz suggests event planners ask questions and know exactly what they want their guests to feel and experience. “What is the objective of the meeting, event, party and so on?” he says. “Based on the answer, you can creatively and successfully design a seating plan that pushes the client’s desires to the edge and achieves the intended results.”

Moulin BRO
When Samantha Swaim was put in charge of the Moulin BRO, a Moulin Rouge-themed gala and auction in October 2007, she knew it would be a challenge. “Moulin BRO was a fundraising gala and auction for a political organization called Basic Rights Oregon. Because so many attendees in the audience are community leaders, business leaders and politicians, the audience is very engaged in networking and connecting to each other during the event,” she says. “This can be a challenge because the goal of the event is to focus guests on the mission of the organization and raise money for the cause.”

Her challenge was how to meet the needs of her audience of 700 people, getting them to socialize and to focus their attention on bidding. She decided to break the event into two sections and provide a unique seating arrangement. “First, we had an hour dedicated to socializing, A standing cocktail party with no seating allowed for guests to move freely among each other, talk, connect and network,” she says. “If there is limited seating and lots of activities, then you are forcing your audience to engage in the activities. This is great when you have a silent auction, a carnival, a casino, a cocktail reception. It forces people to connect and socialize.”

Next, she moved the audience into a ballroom with formal seating but kept the arrangement loose by seating guests at 8-foot-long tables. Swain typically uses 72-inch rounds that only allow guests the opportunity to talk to the person on their right or their left. This configuration gave them the opportunity to connect attendees to five other people within arm’s length, while keeping their focus toward the stage. “It eliminated the usual problem of half your audience having to crane around to see the program and gave guests more opportunity to connect,” she said. “The result was that the event felt like a huge celebration because people had so much fun connecting to each other.”

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