Go Gold-Mining with your Key Communicators

Set yourself up for success with smart meeting design

By: J.Marie Riche, Principal, Ideal Communications

Professional associations use something they call a "gold-mining" format to give workshop attendees the ability to quickly get a little information about a variety of issues.

With a couple minor adjustments, we can borrow the same idea to easily share information with our constituents while gaining a little insight into their questions, concerns, and interests.

Gold-mining looks like this: a room is set up with (preferably round) tables, each table staffed with a table host who is knowledgeable on a specific topic or issue. The table host has a one-page overview of the topic or issue their table will be talking about, and they are prepared to give a five or ten minute presentation on the same.

Attendees arrive, are welcomed, and choose a table at which to start. The host at each table shares their overview, and then engages the attendees at his/her table in a conversation around the topic or issue. After 20-25 minutes, a time-keeper announces that it is time for the attendees to change tables. The hosts stay put. Once the attendees have shuffled around to new tables (and, therefore, new topics/issues), the table host repeats the presentation they gave to the first group and engages this new group of people in a conversation. This can be repeated three or four times in a 90-120 minute meeting.

This could be done in a school building for a building-level series of conversations with parents or community members. It could also be done at the district level, and is especially helpful as a way to reinvigorate a key communicator network.

One of the benefits of this format is that attendees get to choose the topics that are most interesting / relevant to them. It also engages your attendees in meaningful conversations and gives your table hosts real insight into your attendees' interests, questions, and areas of confusion or misunderstanding.

Another benefit is that you are engaging more of your district's leaders with your community, and your table hosts don't need to prepare for a public speech since they are simply engaging in a table-top conversation with your constituents.

Here's how to make this idea work for you:

Choose topics that capture your key communicators’ interest:

  • 4 – 6 topics / tables, based on expected attendance. Aim for enough tables to give you 5 to 8 participants per table so that everyone can participate. You also want to be sure to offer more tables than opportunities to attend, so if you are going to give attendees the opportunity to get to three tables, you should have at least five table topics so that folks can choose the topics that are most interesting to them.
  • Be sure to offer a variety of topics: academic/curricular, financial, upcoming leadership issues, etc. If there are “hot topics” in your community, this is your opportunity to talk with folks about them.

Invitations:

  • Send invitations three to four weeks in advance, being sure to list the table topics
    Ex: “With an exciting new Key Communicator format, you’ll have time to participate in three of the following six discussion topics:”
  • If you have a key communicator program, that makes a great invitation list
  • If you don’t have a formal key communicator program, brainstorm with your administrative team. Look for a mix of influential business, civic, and faith leaders. Choose people who seem to know and talk to a lot of other people, including key parent and staff leaders.

Staffing:

  • Table hosts: be sure to choose people who are knowledgeable about each topic/issue
  • Note-takersfor each table to record participants’ questions & feedback (optional)
  • A facilitator / timekeeper
  • Note: staff one of your tables with your superintendent, either as a stand-alone table host or to back-up a table host who has controversial topic

Supplies

  • Refreshments
  • Large topic signs for each table
  • Loose paper and a few pens/pencils at each table
  • Bell or some other noise-maker to mark time to change

Meeting Format / Basic Agenda:

  • Superintendent and/or board member(s): Welcome & introductions
  • Facilitator / timekeeper: Describe the process
  • 20-25 minutes per table; at the bell, move to another table
  • "You'll have time to sit at X number of tables, so be thinking now about which tables you’ll want to get to by the end of our meeting. Every session will be repeated X times tonight, so if a table looks full the first time, go to one of your other choices."
  • Announce the start of the first round
  • 5-10 minute introduction/presentation by table host
  • Remainder of the time spent on Q&A, conversation
  • After 20-25 minutes, the facilitator / timekeeper rings the bell and announces time for the attendees to switch to another table. This is repeated one or two more times, depending on how many tables you want people to be able to get to during the meeting.
  • Note: the facilitator / timekeeper should watch the tables, if the conversations appear to be winding down before 25 minutes, call for the switch a little early. It is better for people to feel a little rushed than to feel like the meeting is moving slowly. Gold-mining is intended to be an energetic, fast-paced experience; you want the attendees to feel like there was so much great information they couldn't get it all at once.

Follow-up:

  • Schedule a debrief meeting with your table hosts for the following day. They will have an in-depth perspective on the attendees’ questions, concerns, and input. You want to capture this immediately, while the information is fresh. Schedule the debrief meeting for the day after the public meeting, and be sure to have a note-taker. Ask the hosts to identify the questions and concerns they heard most frequently, the most prevalent opinions / input they received, and the top one or two misconceptions they believe constituents have about the issue.