The Never-Ending Optimism of Workshop Venues
A venue may say a room fits 100 people. A facilitator might look at the same room and say 30. In this post, I share why workshop spaces need more than enough chairs and what I look for when choosing a space where people can actually move, interact, and participate.
- Organization: “Hey, can you facilitate a workshop with 60-ish participants for us next month? We’ve already arranged the venue.”
- Me: “Sure! Can you send me some photos of the space?”
- Organization: “Of course. Here you go!”
- Me, studying the photos: “Hmm... this looks like a space for 30 people. Maybe 40 if we really squeeze.”
- Organization, after hearing my concerns: “Oh, no worries! The venue told us it can easily fit close to 100 people.”
- Me: 😬
This is a real-life example that, unfortunately, isn’t uncommon.
In this case, someone actually went to check out the venue after hearing my concerns. They quickly discovered it was even worse than I thought.
The venue’s solution?
“But you can also use several smaller rooms!” 🤦♂️
Which, from their perspective, probably solved the problem.
From a facilitation perspective, it created a whole new one. How do you facilitate one workshop with 60 participants spread across several rooms? How do instructions work? Transitions? Group work? Harvesting? How do you keep everyone connected to the same process?
Luckily, the organization took our concerns seriously. They canceled the reservation and found another venue. This one could accommodate up to 200 people. Which meant it was just about right for an interactive workshop with 60-ish participants. 😅
Whenever I need a space for a workshop, I have my criteria ready. Here’s my shortlist:
✅ Aim for 3–4 m² per participant.
✅ No tables in the middle of the room. A few along the sides are fine.
✅ Chairs that are lightweight and easy to move around.
✅ Plenty of daylight.
✅ Walls I can use to hang up posters, flipcharts, and other materials.
✅ Enough open floor space for people to move around, form groups, and reorganize themselves quickly.
In short: I’m not looking for a room where everyone fits. I’m looking for a room where everyone can participate.
And if I had to pick one criterion, enough space is the most important one. A room that’s too small immediately limits your options. People can’t easily move around, form different group sizes, or work in parallel; the room gets too noisy and, with lots of people packed together, warms up very quickly. 🥵
As a facilitator, you suddenly find yourself designing around the space's limitations instead of designing for the workshop's purpose. You can work around many things. A room that’s simply too small is much harder to fix.
What are your experiences with the optimism of venues when it comes to how many people their spaces can "comfortably accommodate"?
