PCMA Convene

#PCMAEC: Sitting Pretty at PCMA EduCon

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Photo: Jacob SlatonPCMA always creates a new environment for every meeting, but it’s usually more abstract or thematic — not nearly so literal — as I’m finding here at the 2015 Education Conference in Fort Lauderdale. Our Education and Events team has set so many rooms and so many spaces at the Greater Fort Lauderdale/Broward County Convention Center with interesting and different furniture, including chairs, sofas, highboys, rounds, pods, and more. It’s great — you walk into a room not knowing where or how you’re going to sit, and as a result you’re very aware of the ways in which the physical dynamics of seating affect your attention span, receptiveness to learning, etc. Almost like PCMA intends this to be some sort of transparent laboratory for meeting professionals. Almost.

Anyway, here’s a sampling of seating from EduCon, with all photos by Official PCMA Photographer™ Jacob Slaton except as noted:

Photo: Jacob Slaton
FORM AND FUNCTION These Session Seating chairs from Totally Mod are not only crazy-comfortable — with soft, firm cushioning and great lumbar support — but very functional, with a swivel desktop for writing that even offers a cup holder.
Photo: Jacob Slaton
INNER CIRCLE Most of PCMA’s programming is taking place on the third floor of the convention center, but there are also a few sets one level down, on the second floor, including a conversation-starter pod where attendees are encouraged to follow up on topics introduced by various speakers.
Photo: Jacob Slaton
BLUE/GREEN Also shown in the photo at the top of this post, this room set by Workspring features a variety of seating types, including surprisingly comfortable, bucket-style blue plastic chairs with swivel desktops; wider, deeper green armchairs; and, around the edge of the room, white highboys and bar chairs.
Photo: Jacob Slaton
OUTSIDE IN This meeting set in the prefunction space on the second floor takes advantage of the amazing natural light blasting everywhere throughout the convention center. Arranged roughly in a semi-circle, it features — starting from the front — a row of that killer Totally Mod Session Seating, then spokes of long, narrow tables, then a sprinkling of highboys.
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FULLY ENGAGED The PCMA Hub includes space such as the Engagement Center — and chairs such as these comfy cubes outfitted with iPads where people can sample online content from PCMA Convening Leaders 2015. True to form for PCMA attendees, people are also using the space for impromptu chats. Photo by Chris Durso.

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Christopher Durso

Christopher Durso formerly was executive editor of Convene.