Creating a Roundtable

Roundtables are a quick, easy and fantastic way to build connection and engagement on a more personal level and around more specific topics. Gradual’s roundtables allow you to create simple, on-platform video calls that users can host, or join, to discuss topics and build new connections. Roundtables allow all users to screen share and if a host is assigned, they will have the option to mute other attendees, conduct breakout rooms, and feature speakers with spotlighting and pinning. They can also be hosted concurrently to other roundtables and agenda items, and allow users to pop in and out at their leisure without needing to register for each roundtable.

Currently, the capacity for roundtables is 125 active attendees.

There are two ways to build Roundtables, either as a stand-alone activity in the community or within an event.

  • Stand-alone roundtables at the community level appear on the community’s homepage. Users don’t need to register for these roundtables and you don’t have to create an agenda or description, either; just set it up and invite your members to join in on the conversation.
  • You can also create Roundtables within an event. These are great for breaks or more informal breakout rooms. In-event roundtables are created in the same way as the stand-alone, just within the event in your Gradual dashboard.

💡 Pro Tip: Roundtables can be hosted or unhosted. Assigning a community member as a host and asking them to promote the roundtable is a great way to help drive others to attend and expand your capacity to engage your members.

Steps for creating a stand alone Roundtable:

1
From the Gradual dashboard, select Roundtables on the left hand side menu. Select +New Roundtable in the upper right hand side of that page.
2
Enter a Title, pick an Emoji and a Category for the Roundtable. All three of those are required fields. Please note that the Category and Emoji are just for your own classification, and are not linked to any content, etc. Toggle visibility to the left to hide it from members, or to the right (it will highlight green) to make it visible to members. Select Submit at the base of the page.

Space-restricted Roundtables have been recently released, allowing users in a Space to access and engage in a Community-level roundtable. This roundtable will appear on the homepage of just those in the space, and they will have access to a persistent chat with just those who've attended or are actively engaging in the roundtable.

3
It will then prompt you to add at least 1 time slot for the Roundtables to be available for attendees. Select + New Time Slot and enter the scheduled start date and time, select OK and enter the scheduled end date and time, select OK. Enter the number of seats and decide if you want to add a host. You can select a host from the list of members.

Steps for creating a Roundtable within the event:

Option 1:

1
From the Gradual dashboard, in an event, select Event Setup on the left hand side menu. Select Roundtables. Select +New Roundtable in the upper right hand side of that page.

2
Enter a Title, pick an Emoji and a Category for the Roundtable. All three of those are required fields. Please note that the Category and Emoji are just for your own classification, and are not linked to any content, etc. Toggle visibility to the left to hide it from members, or to the right (it will highlight green) to make it visible to members. Select Submit at the base of the page.

3
It will send you back to the list of Roundtables. Select the Roundtable from the list by clicking on its Title. At the base of the page, Select New Time Slot and enter the scheduled start date and time, select OK and enter the scheduled end date and time, select OK. Enter the number of seats and decide if you want to add a host. You can select a host from the list of members.



Steps for creating a Roundtable within the event:

Option 2:

1
From the Gradual dashboard, in an event, select Event Setup on the left hand side menu. Select Agenda.
2
+Add To Agenda in the upper right. Enter the Date, Track, Type and select Roundtable as the ‘type’. You’ll need to enter Start and End times, and add Speakers, if you’d like.
3
Once you’ve completed your Agenda set up, a bit lower down within the Event Setup, you’ll see Roundtables, this is where you add the New Time Slot, to create your tables and then number of people per table. Now you’re set!

💡 Pro Tip: If hosting multiple roundtables at the same time, you can adjust the maximum capacity of each roundtable to ensure not all attendees just go to one roundtable. Maybe try limiting the capacity to ensure attendees spread out. Eg. if there are 50 people attending, you could create 5 tables, with 10 seats in each.

To see what Roundtables look like from the user’s side, check out this video on our community page: https://community.gradual.com/public/videos/ways-to-engage-on-gradual

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