Creating a Welcoming Meeting Space

I had the pleasure recently of visiting one of Philadlephia's newest GSAs, and I was beyond impressed by the young woman who is facilitating the group. An 11th grader, and one of the group's co-founders, she helped to create such a warm and welcoming meeting space that I'm sure the newer group members will come back for next week's meeting, and the one after that, and the one after that. And probably the one after that.

First, she and the GSA advisors made sure to stock up on food. We here at the Ally Program are big proponents of bringing food to meetings. Food nurtures people, it brings people together, it makes people feel all warm and fuzzy, it gives them something to do with their mouths and hands if they're too shy to talk right away. A couple of bags of chips and cookies, and a bottle of iced tea go a long way toward setting up a comfortable environment.

Then, when everyone who'd come to the meeting had loaded up their plates and cups, she invited everyone to have a seat around the table, introduced herself, and asked everyone to introduce themselves, as well. And then she did this again when someone new came into the room. Brilliant. You can't expect people to open up to a group when they don't even know who they're opening up to. Even groups that have been around for awhile, and in which all the members are already friends, should consider having introductions and check-ins at the start of each meeting. Say someone new comes to one of your meetings; if they walk in and feel as though they're interrupting a private party, they're not as likely to come back a second time. Doing introductions and check-ins puts everyone on the same footing.

During the meeting, the group leader got up to refresh her beverage. But she waited until we were about to shift onto another topic, so that she didn't interrupt anybody. If your GSA is all about group support, and you spend a lot of time having discussions about what's happening in your lives, then it's important to make everyone feel like they're being heard and understood. Listening is as much about what you're demonstrating with your body language as it is about what you're picking up with your ears. If someone's getting up and moving in and out of and around the room while you're speaking, you're probably going to assume that they're not listening to a word you're saying. And if you feel like you're not being heard, then you're more likely to think that maybe this GSA isn't for you.

Did I mention, too, that when she got up to refresh her drink, she asked everyone else whether they needed anything from the snack table? So courteous.

So, many kudos go out to this student for creating such a positive meeting environment. To sum up:

• Food = Love
• Start off with check-ins and introductions
• Wait until a natural transition time to get up and move around the room, check your voicemail, send a text, hit the restroom, etc.
• Show off your mannerly manners

Anyone else have suggestions for creating a positive meeting space?