Brown bag

• Brown Bag Meeting
• Brown Bag Talk
• Brown Bag Seminar
• Brown Bag Session
• Lunch and Learn

Brown paper bags. The format and its name originate in the USA. There, people traditionally used brown paper bags to pack their lunch in, for example a snack. A brown bag meeting is therefore a gathering of colleagues around lunchtime, possibly also during the lunch break. The atmosphere is correspondingly relaxed - participants are allowed to eat the food they have brought with them during the meeting. Of course, this is allowed without a brown paper bag! Recently, the alternative name "Lunch and Learn" has also become established.

Catering. To encourage participation, the organizer can of course provide food.

Duration and Topics. A brown bag meeting typically lasts between half an hour and an hour. The topic is determined in advance. There is usually a presentation followed by space for discussion. The meeting is not mandatory, so no necessary or essential topics are discussed. The brown bag format is suitable, for example, for updates from the team, small project presentations, or even short learning sessions on topics that are not directly related to work.

Online or On-site. Traditionally, brown bag meetings are held on-site - but in recent years, such events have also been held online.

Brown Bag events are often part of a series. For example, a Brown Bag could be held every other Wednesday from 12 to 1 pm. Speakers are determined in advance each time. Topics do not have to be related; each meeting stands alone. At universities, the brown bag seminar is often used to present and discuss current research findings on a regular basis.

• The lunch or lunch break spent together creates an informal atmosphere, which promotes a relaxed and open exchange among each other.
• Brown bag meetings are more or less public, or are intended to be open to a large audience (even if only a few people end up attending). In this way, a mixed group of participants and a corresponding exchange of teams that do not often work together in everyday life is created.
• The regular and low-threshold nature allows a large group of people to share their knowledge. This may also encourage more reserved colleagues to share their knowledge.

• If the meetings take place during the lunch break, care should be taken to ensure that they do not take on an obligatory character. For example, employees should not feel that they are missing something important if they do not attend. Care should be taken to avoid making people feel obligated to attend brown bag meetings during their lunch break. After all, some people may have very busy schedules, and someone else may need the lunch breaks to take a quiet breath on their own.
• If meetings are held on-site, be aware that people in the home office may be excluded from the event. If necessary, a hybrid event could be held in such cases, where participants can also join in from the road or from the home office.

Comprehensive article on the Lunch and Learn format:

• How to Run Successful Lunch and Learn Events (mindtools.com)

Example Brown Bag Series:

• Berkeley Demography Brown Bag Talks (populationsciences.berkeley.edu)