Home cooked dinners are powerful. And details like whether you have a table to put plates on, or disposable plates instead of fancy ones, don’t matter.
Inviting people you know well often isn’t effective. But inviting people from different strata has issues - they stick to their cliques.
Get an anchor tenant to come to your dinner. Then you’ll easily get someone outside that circle to join. They’ll want to meet him.
Examples of anchor tenants:
- Well respected community members
- Journalists
- Artists and actors
Be creative in coming up with more anchor tenants.
Don’t invite too many business people, and minimize talking shop.
6-10 guests is optimal. Thursdays are good days. The food can be cheap and not home cooked.
Rules:
- Have fun
- Create a theme. Be creative on what a theme is
- Use invitations - phone/email/handwritten. At least a month in advance.
- Don’t work too hard in preparing it. If cooking is hell, use takeout. If catering is expensive, cook what you can. One large dish with good bread and salad is all that is needed.
- Atmosphere: Need not be fancy or expensive
- No formality: Underdress so guests are at ease
- Couples should not sit together. Use placeholder cards.
- Relax: Don’t be tense
- Send thanks after the party. Attach some photos and highlights. Don’t cc. Either BCC or send a link.