Meeting Site Solutions

# participants x 41.5 = square feet

Conference style setup is great for small groups of 5-25 people. It is often referred to as board room style. The large table takes up a lot of space. Figure 41.5 square feet per person. Some facilities have board room that are permanently furnished. It is nearly impossible to move the board tables and they generally have chairs that remain in that room. A facility that has a permanent board room will publish the actual capacity for the design of that room. If you try to cram 15 people into a board room designed for 12, the facility will most likely substitute the “cushy” board room chairs for less comfortable banquet/meeting room chairs.

Tip
I advise trusting the hotel’s grid of meeting room capacity if it is a permanent board room.

If you require a larger board room setup than the facility has, design your own. Using the 8 foot or 6 foot table from a hollow square, simply close the gap in the center, you can then use the hollow square formula. Figure capacity as follows:

# participants x 37.5 = square feet
or
square feet / 37.5 = # participants

If your board consists of 20 people, you will need a meeting room that is 830 square feet.