Imagine - 400 angry citizens! Or a politically-charged public hearing! Or all-hands meetings? Pick any topic - jobs, climate, voting, immigration, education, economics, traffic, diversity, nuclear waste, anti-anyone-ism. Local police in the back of the room. Media in the front. How do you organize, manage, design and most-of-all facilitate an event so that it runs... wait for it... smoothly, stays focused, police never intervene, everyone feels heard, and it ends on time? This workshop will be a collaboration of several Ampersand Gathering experts, sharing top secrets on what works and why. Learn How!

Large public hearing & town hall style events require collaboration, so In the spirit of Ampersand Gathering, several of the organizers & presenters will collaborate. As experts, we will share the tricks that work for large & politically-charged public events. We will also run a role-play demo, with you as attendees taking turns as the "public attendees" and with any volunteers as a "facilitator", "panel member" or "emcee".