Fish Bowl

A debating structure in which a few people in a central group of chairs are allowed to debate, subject to rules described below and in GoldfishBowl.
A glass bowl that fish live in.
A chilled server room with a raised floor and lots of internal windows.
A situation where everything you do is open to public scrutiny, like the Presidency of the United States.
A wiki that does not permit anonymous edits; it is termed to be in "fishbowl mode". Examples include OrgPatterns, WebWebTwo and WhyClublet. Outside visitors may only look in, just as outsiders can only look into a fishbowl. However, the people with inside access may edit the wiki, just as the fish inside may interact with the environment. This is generally considered counter to WhyWikiWorks.

A different meaning:

I attended a Jini community meeting in November, 1999. RichardGabriel was the master of ceremonies, and he ended the three-day meeting with what he called a "fishbowl session". It was great, and fascinating.

In the center of a large room, six chairs were placed in a circle, the FishBowl, with (I think) three microphones. The rest of the chairs in the room were placed semi-randomly around the central group of chairs, and five volunteers were selected to sit in the fish bowl, leaving one chair empty. Then they were asked to begin discussing among themselves the events of the previous two days, using the microphones.

The rules were these: if you were sitting outside the fish bowl and wanted to say something, you had to walk to the fish bowl and sit in the empty chair. As soon as all six chairs were filled, discussion in the fish bowl had to stop immediately, until one of the six consented to leave the fish bowl. Once there was an empty seat again, discussion could resume. This ensured that those currently in the fish bowl never had a monopoly on the group's attention.(Anyone could leave the fish bowl whenever they pleased, so it was possible to have more than one empty seat. This happened fairly frequently, so that someone joining the fish bowl wasn't always as disruptive as you may think.)

I don't know why this worked, and I haven't thought about it in great detail, but it was great. We heard a lot of interesting insights, usually very well put. The discussion was mostly calm, but did get agitated a few times.

Has anyone else here been involved in such a thing? -- GlennVanderburg

I have organized a few and and have attended more. I know them as ParkBenchPanel(s) and have recently written my tips for running one on that page. They are very much like a wiki for people who happen to be largish in number and stuck in the same room. -- WardCunningham

See also GoldfishBowl.

Yes if you can count wiki! (I have definitely jumped out of (or into) the FishBowl when I found this site.

The following explanation was included in some JAOO (http://www.jaoo.dk/) materials that passed my way. -- WardCunningham

NEW JAOO 2003 EVENTS

This year, we will introduce goldfish bowls as a way of allowing the speakers and the attendees to discuss the presented subjects. Goldfish Bowl is a technique for managing discussion amongst a large group of people. It is suitable for topics where there will be a lively discussion with many different views and many people who want to participate. A small discussion group, typically 4 or 5 people, gets things underway, with the remaining participants seated around the group forming an audience. Spare places in the discussion group are available, and members of the audience may take up these places any time they feel they have a contribution to make. Members of the discussion group leave their places when they have had their say, making room for new participants.

Since the attendees believe that one of the main benefits of the conference is the possibility to talk with the speakers, it is our belief that the goldfish bowl format will work well at JAOO, if the speakers back it up.

Yet another meaning: a game for improving communication between the sexes, wherein male type people and female type people take turns being on the inside of the "FishBowl". First one group and then the other sits in the center and answers/discusses questions which were written by the other group. (The group which is outside the FishBowl is forbidden from speaking or making any sound, even to clarify questions.)

We have used the game of "Fishbowl" in a medical teacher training course to highlight the advantages and disadvantages of group interaction as well as demonstrate the features of group dynamics. The rules are more or less the same as above, half the participants sit in the central circle of chairs and the remaining sit outside and observe the body language and communication skills of the "Fish" assigned to him/her. Those in the outer ring of chairs are not allowed to participate in the discussion. Then they reverse roles.

Also see ExtremeFishbowl