Bottom's Buffet of Central Ohio presents the GRUE!!!

We are very excited to have Graydancer bring his GRUE to Columbus and hope that you will all take part in this awesome unconference idea that is sweeping the nation and beyond!

exerpts from www.grue.me

What’s a GRUE?
GRUE stands for “Graydancer’s Ropetastic Unconference Extravaganza” – a tongue-in-cheek reference to a monster from a geeky game called Zork from the early days of computing. The key word in the title is “Unconference.”

So how does it all work?
Friday night we have a meet & greet, just hanging out, getting to know each other. This is to prevent the necessity the next day of things like “ice breakers” or introductions all around. People get to know each other during the day – time is too valuable to spend doing roll call like you’re in elementary school.

Saturday the GRUE happens, starting at 9. This may seem early, but there is a window of time we are creating and daylight waits for no one.
As people arrive, it’s my job to explain to them how the GRUE works (the principles and law above) as well as use the Open Space techniques to help the group come up with an agenda for the day. There’s a lot of stuff, ranging from the 101 level to weird shit no one would expect (“Group Therapy for Humiliation Scenes” is one that was surprising and very good). I also always offer my “Fishbowl”, which has been an amazing experience every time and which you can hear actually on a Ropecast.
There is no lunch break. Time is too valuable to waste on breaking for lunch. Instead, food appears at the venue, and people are made aware that it is available when they want it. Usually they grab a sandwich or something and just keep on going with whatever was going on before they got hungry.
At the end I gather people for a closing circle and we each tell something we gained/learned/felt during the GRUE. Again, in case you missed it before: THIS IS REALLY CRUCIAL FOR EVERYONE. I have had people skip it, and they always regret it, and I feel bad for putting them through an intense day and having them then basically suffer drop due to lack of group aftercare.
Then there is usually a dinner break – sometimes communal, sometimes everyone splitting – and we gather again for a play party.

Sunday we make pancakes for everyone, and have a brunch “cool down” where people relax, sometimes continue discussions/learning from the day before.