Table assignment for large swaps
 

Recently I helped host a large shoebox swap in Houston. Originally we were going to have 45 people but we ended up with 40 who were planning to come. My dad helped us by developing a spreadsheet for the table rotation throughout the day. Maggie (the other host) and I wanted it to be a random mix of people at each table so we got the opportunity to stamp with as many people as possible.
I've attached the spreadsheet so that others could benefit from this. It sure saved us a lot of time. There are several tabs in the spreadsheet.
10 Session Assignment tab - is for 40 people rotating between 10 tables (4 stations at each table)
9 Session Assignment tab - is for 45 people rotating between 9 tables (5 stations at each table)
We used round tables so it really worked out best for us to have 4 stations at each. Otherwise we would have been too crowded. In my sig line there is a link to photos from the day.
Let me know if you have any questions on this. Also let me know if this should be posted in a different forum.
Hope you find it helpful!
Christine

Thanks for the info Christine! I was a participant at this very well planned event. Thanks for all your hard work!

abcima

I will have to study this a bit to see if my brain can get it. This could be very helpful for our CNY get together next month! TFS

Christine,
This is awesome! Thank you for sharing it with us...It sounds and looks like the event turned out perfectly. Congrats on having a successful gathering!

Linda - we gave everyone their own individual schedule for the day. It included the timeslots for all the sessions, lunch, group photo, breaks, etc. I can get you a sample of that if you like. It also told them which table to set up their station. It's kind of like going to jr. high and having a schedule to follow for your classes. We used this spreadsheet to copy/paste from. For example, Session 2 may be 10:40-11:20 and they would look at their schedule to see which table they are supposed to be at for that session. All tables were labeled A-J. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions.
Have fun at your event!
Christine