The ambiance surrounding a café is one of the most important details. Whether you are convening several dozen or several hundred people, it is essential to create an environment that evokes a feeling of both informality and intimacy. When your guests arrive they should know immediately that this is no ordinary meeting!
❧ If possible, select a space with natural light and an outdoor view to create a more welcoming atmosphere.
❧ Make the space look like an actual Café, with small tables that seat four or five people. Less than four at a table may not provide enough diversity of perspectives, more than five limits the amount of personal interaction.
❧ Arrange the Cafe tables in a staggered, random fashion rather than in neat rows. Tables in a sidewalk café after it has been open for a few hours look relaxed and inviting.
❧ Use colorful tablecloths and a small vase of flowers on each table. If the venue allows it add a candle to each table. Place plants or greenery around the room.
❧ Place at least two large sheets of paper over each tablecloth along with a mug or wineglass filled with colorful markers. Paper and pens encourage scribbling, drawing, and connecting ideas. In this way people will jot down ideas as they emerge.
❧ Put one additional Café table in the front of the room for the Host's and any presenter's material.
❧ Consider displaying art or adding posters to the walls (as simple as flip chart sheets with quotes), and play music as people arrive and you welcome them.
❧ To honor the tradition of community and hospitality provide beverages and snacks. A Café isn’t complete without food and refreshments!
Use your imagination!
Be creative!
Be creative!
Suggested Cafe Supply List:
• Small round tables of 36 to 42 inches are ideal, but small card tables will also work.
• Enough chairs for all participants and presenters
• Colorful tablecloths
• Flipchart paper or paper placemats for covering the café tables
• Colored markers (water-based markers are best so they don’t bleed).
• A vase with cut flowers, a mug or cup per table for markers
• A side table for refreshments and snacks
• Flip chart for making collective knowledge visible and tape for hanging.
• Wall space for posting collective work or the work of the tables
© 2008 The World Café. Free to copy and distribute with acknowledgement & a link to: http://www.theworldcafe.com
