The Talking Chair pattern for small group discussion
In EmergenceAndTheBodyOfAllLife, we quickly built a list of many interesting themes to discuss and wanted to let everyone have a chance to raise their topic, so we created a new collaborative process on the spot, based on the "fishbowl" technique. Since it's kind of like turning the "talking stick" pattern on its head (because everyone talks, not just one person), we called it the "talking chair"
How it works:
For a small group you have enough chairs for everyone, plus one empty chair. On the empty chair is a sign that says "talking chair".
It works like this: Someone has an interesting idea so they pick up the "talking chair" sign and sit in the empty chair B. If someone else's topic is underway right now, they hand the sign to the person current "chair" person (lol) in chair A, who holds onto it while that conversation continues and comes to a natural close. Then chair person A goes back to their own seat, leaving the "talking chair" sign on the empty seat. Now chair person B suggests a topic to discuss, and the group works on that for a bit. (Rinse and repeat. 
As we continued, someone saw the projected notes we were keeping, and walked up to listen. We added a chair. We soon realized that we should keep one extra empty chair to invite people to join the group. Each time a new person joined, we welcomed them and briefly explained the talking chair pattern so they could participate. Oh, and we added another empty chair.
We also rotated the note-taking, passing the laptop from person to person, because note taking is hard work and keeps one from participating in the conversation.
We were really excited about this development!!
Real Time Information Radiator
One interesting thing is that by "radiating" our notes in real time on the projector wall, we drew in "the right people" all through the discussion. I (DeborahHartmann) was actually drawn in from another group. I'd just introduced myself, and as the speaker started talking, I noticed over her shoulder Brandon's topic (this one) on the projector. I couldn't help myself, I was drawn like a bee to honey Thank goodness for the OpenSpace law of two feet... I knew Kate wouldn't be offended that I left her session! Several other people passionately joined us for the same reason.
Is this a part of the Talking Chair pattern? Would it have worked without it? I guess if there were only 6 of us in the whole meeting, we wouldn't need it. And if we were keeping notes on a flip chart, people walking by would have seen it just as well... except not as much, as flip chart pages get turned and you don't see the topic. But as a subset of a large OpenSpace event, the large projection allowed people at the far end of the room to see and be drawn!!
This is a very interesting concept... I wonder where else it applies? Imagine having a display outside every conference room at work, and being free to wander in and out of meetings which looked interesting to you, or to which you had something to contribute? Wow. I really must add this to the UnConference book site!! -- DeborahHartmann)