The morning of

For you only

Arrive an hour early. Not because the setup takes an hour, but because a facilitator who is arranging chairs at 8:55 starts the day borrowing calm instead of lending it.

The room checklist, 8:00 to 8:45. ☐ Tables set for pairs, facing each other, not classroom rows ☐ The brief printed big, taped where every table can see it. You will point at it all day ☐ The schedule taped next to it, times exact ☐ Wifi name and password on every table, on paper ☐ The projector or screen works, from your laptop and from one other laptop ☐ Test the default build tool on the room wifi one more time. Corporate networks change overnight, usually the night before you need them ☐ Power strips on every table. Eight laptops die around 14:00 otherwise ☐ Music on low before anyone arrives. An empty silent room reads as an exam hall. An empty room with music reads as a thing about to start ☐ Snacks out, coffee ready ☐ A visible clock. The wall kind beats the phone kind, because everyone can be honest about time together

Your own kit. The printed handouts. Spare pens and sticky notes for the assumption wall. The scorecards for the judges. A phone hotspot with data, charged, for the moment the office wifi meets eight simultaneous AI builds and loses. The sponsor's mobile number, because at 15:45 an assistant will try to cancel their last hour and you will want to reach the human directly.

Then stop. At 8:45 you are done. Stand near the door and greet people by name as they walk in. The first five minutes of arrivals set more of the day's tone than the first hour of facilitation.