GENERAL GUIDELINES:

There is no real protocol for "informal" communications in the Big House, but when a meeting is taking place, please try to keep as faithfully to the Esalen form as possible. Just like Big Sur, we do not interrupt the person who is "speaking" or offer advice or "crosstalk" after they are done.

There are two main areas of the Big House: Text Area and the Audio / Video Area.

Guidelines for Text Area during "official" meetings:

In order to maintain order during these meetings, someone serves as the "facilitator" who opens the meetings and helps keep the meeting focused as participants take turns sharing.

During an "official" meeting, if you wish to share, type an exclamation point like this: !. It's like raising your hand.

The facilitator of the meeting will then call on the next person to share. In the Big House it is best to type short lines followed by ". . ." which indicates that you are not finished. Like this:

One of the best tools I have found ...
When I find myself under stress ...
Is to go back to breath... [done]

The [done] at the ends shows that you are finished and the facilitator then calls on the next person to share.

Guidelines for Audio and Video communication:

A separate FlashMeeting section of the Big House is reserved for Audio and Video communications. These meetings will occur on Sundays at 12:30 PM PST.

Again, there are no rules for informal communication. However, when a meeting is taking place, please do not interrupt the person who is speaking or offer advice / crosstalk after they share.

If you wish to share, simply click the "Join Queue" / "Start Broadcasting" button and you will automatically be put in line to be the next speaker. When you are done, you can click the "Stop Broadcasting" button.

[Note: Audio / Video meetings are currently recorded.]

That's it. Thanks for helping us keep our meetings orderly by using these simple tools. And of course, thanks most of all for just being a part of the circle.