CGW #2 meet-and-greet idea

[Savage]

At CGW #1 there was an informal meetup at the food court at Caesar's Palace the evening before. Erin and I couldn't make it, but we were told that about 40 people showed up and that some people didn't leave till after midnight.

For CGW #2 we discussed the possibility of booking us an extra ballroom in the hotel to host a meet-and-greet on Thursday evening, the night before the workshop. That would give us a central place to meet and hang out all to ourselves.

If all we did was book an empty room with cocktail tables, it would cost us about $500, which we can easily absorb. If we want to get fancy and serve food (like fruits and veggies), the cost goes up a lot more.

If we have a bartender serving drinks, the drinks would cost in the range of $5-7 each, and I don't get the sense the buying their own drinks would necessarily be that popular with our attendees, partly because we attract a lot of health-conscious people who may not drink alcohol, and partly because some people may not feel it's worth the money.

The hotel was even willing to do something more creative like having a fresh juice / smoothie bar, which might appeal to some people, but I don't know if that would be very popular at night. It also drives up the costs.

One problem is that if we pay for food or drinks, it's harder to control the costs because anyone could wander in and show up. This would happen before the workshop registration too, so no one would have name badges yet.

I thought I'd just through this out there and let you know we're open to suggestions for a better way to host a meet-and-greet where attendees can hang out and mingle before the event. Is it worth doing? What would be the best venue for this?

Did meeting at the food court at Caesar's work out okay? Did people buy any food or drinks there? Would it be better to have our own private room?

In January it could be pretty cold outside (40s perhaps), so any meet-and-greet should be held indoors.

[seeker5]

Yeah, having a central location for a meet and greet would be great. I know at least one person never found the Caesar's location despite spending a long time looking. I myself missed it at first and spent an extra 20 minutes trying to find it as I wasn't familiar with the area. The phone numbers I had were of no use either to help find the place as I couldn't reach either person, so having a location clearly delineated and easy to find would be helpful.

I didn't order anything at the Caesar place, and I think a number of people didn't order anything either. I don't recall anyone drinking anything obvious alcoholic, but I didn't go around checking.

The thing about Cesar that was neat is that it was intimate and very easy to move around so people easily moved from group to group to meet different people. So if we have it in a room it'll be nice to have plenty of seating positions and be able to move around instead of it being in a sterile-like bright-light environment.

[Adrienne]

I really enjoyed the premeet. I only stayed for a couple of hours, but would have loved to be there longer had it started a bit earlier.
I love the idea of a room. I did not eat or drink anything. I think most people would be good with just a water cooler and some cups (all that talking). And if people wanted something, they can walk over to the food court to get coffee, smoothies, food, etc. Maybe a couple maps or something pointing people to where they could get smoothies, etc.
Also, if names are an issue, little labels and a sharpie would fix that.
A room would be much easier to find and gather around mingle. One of the harder things about the food court was the seating was not conducive for people to move around alot and mingle.

[seeker5]

Originally Posted by Adrienne

One of the harder things about the food court was the seating was not conducive for people to move around alot and mingle.

Hmm, I found it the other way around. However, after you left, there were less people so it was easier to go around and mingle and I saw people do that. However, it's true that originally there were so many people that it wasn't possible to move around.

[Adrienne]

Originally Posted by seeker5

Hmm, I found it the other way around. However, after you left, there were less people so it was easier to go around and mingle and I saw people do that. However, it's true that originally there were so many people that it wasn't possible to move around.

exactly. with 40 people there, not everyone could sit down, people in the center could not really get out, there was little ability to mover around and talk to new people without getting 10 or 15 people to get up and adjust someway. Not impossible, but difficult to do when you have a fluctuating group.
i bet after i left and the crowd thinned, it was much easier to move around and meet new people

[Bing Wu]

I was there till about midnight last week. It worked out okay, but the coffee bar was definitely hard to find at first. The advantage of the food court area was that we could get food and drink where and when we wanted. I agree that the seating arrangements were a bit awkward and the fact that we were restricted to a small space with couches made it hard to move around and talk to a wider bunch of people. I like the idea of a formal get-together, but there was something to be said about the informal nature of the meet-up we had. It was an awesome and unique experience, and I felt really supercharged after, so much so I couldn't sleep. That being said, I love the idea of a room with a fruit/smoothie bar. And heck, you could get someone to stand at the door to greet people and check their names against the registrant list

[Amro]

Having a designated room for a pre-meet is an excellent idea. I was one of the people who, despite spending a few hours touring Ceaser's Palace, missed the location of the meetup . Although that particular instance isn't really justification for having a specific pre-meetup room, anything that facilitates connection with other attendees is more than welcomed.

For me, simply having the opportunity to connect with other growth oriented individuals was alone worth flying out for - the return value of the total experience was easily 10x.

I wouldn't mind paying extra to have fruits/vegs/smoothies prepared and served in the room. The convenience of having everything in the room would be great.

[Dukie]

Also had a hard time finding the coffee shop, I went back to hotel room twice to check the internet to find out where it was exactly

Another, more coordinated pre-meet is awesome. The bare minimum would be fine, some fruit/smoothies would be even better, but not necessary. If there is an opportunity to get drinks/food in the vicinity, that would be fine.

I had a Chai at the coffee shop, which was one of my first growth experiences - I don't remember anyone drinking alcohol either.

As I said before, the last pre-meet was really excellent, I felt immediately at home and without having spoken with anyone, by just looking at the people's faces there, I knew I was I at the right place

It was the best start I could've imagined.

[fdr]

I didn't make it to the meetup, since my flight got in too late, but had I known there would be one, I would have arranged my travel to prioritize it. For such an event, after a day of travel, I would want something (1) easy to find (preferably convenient to my hotel or the conference meeting location) and (2) with the option of food available -- I would have paid for this gladly.

[stillseeking]

My personal opinion is that yes, the day ahead meet and greet is a good idea, but let the group determine the nature of the meeting, and the place and time. You could suggest the possibility in your sign up information and possibly suggest the names of one or two places and let the group take care of the rest. Combine that with providing an on-line forum, as you did in workshop #1, and you are bound to get the people who have organization in their veins to move forward to plan a meeting.

Your job is to present the information you plan to convey within the atmosphere in which you want to convey it, the meeting room. Why would you want to get involved in planning social activities unrelated to the core program? It isn't necessary and no matter how well you envision the outcome of any social function, that outcome could just as easily detract from what you want people to learn as enhance the same.

Again, my opinion.

[Ithisia]

I did like how it went; really casual - somewhat separate from the conference. It made it feel a lot less "structured," to me that it was a smaller meeting. I did meet face to face with several people I would later get to know in the workshop. It made things a lot less intimidating on the first day having already gotten a sense of faces and many names.

I came early on to the coffee gathering - but I didn't stay too long (couple hours) because I realized I really just needed to get out and do my own thing as well. Sitting around and talking was great - but I was also somewhat restless.

I'd say go with lower costs, less stuff offered. The options are endless as to what you can get yourself in Vegas.

As for a meeting room - maybe that would be nice... issue being, it would also feel more mandatory/rolled in to the workshop, and perhaps some people would have issue with the notion they COULDN'T make it, and maybe not be feeling as up to speed as those who were able to attend a social? Honestly, I think a social AFTERWARDS, would be a bit more up my alley because the connections I formed, I wished I had had more opportunity post-workshop.

Just another idea.

-Angela Santo,
The Loudmouthed one I love to talk!

[MichaelHowe]

I was the first one at the coffee shop, but I found it hard to find, since I was searching IN the Forum, not just outside the entrance, even though I went back and read the directions a few times. I had to ask where a food court was, but I have a habit of ignoring the obvious. Maybe after there was a giant group of people all crammed into a small space, it might have been easier.

I know I bought food at the coffee shop, but that's also why I showed up early; I was hungry, gosh-darnit! I know a few people got food, but it seemed like most people were too caught up in connecting with people to be interested in eating.

I think a central meet-up location is a great idea, but Ceaser's worked out alright. It was nice to have this chaotic mishmash of people. We totally took over the place.

If you do end up booking a room, drinks are really unnecessary. Just get some water like we had in the first one. That said, some snackage might be nice. Since people tended to stay for awhile, some may get hungry, but not want to leave.

If you want to get some snacks in the room, go ahead and book a room, I say. If not, Ceaser's worked out just fine, except for finding it! I actually liked the crowd. It was a fun sight! Maybe I just liked the phrase "Welcome to the horde. Steal a seat." And watching people literally steal a seat from the food court and bring it into the coffee shop.

[Rachelle]

Originally Posted by Steve Pavlina

At CGW #1 there was an informal meetup at the food court at Caesar's Palace the evening before. Erin and I couldn't make it, but we were told that about 40 people showed up and that some people didn't leave till after midnight.

For CGW #2 we discussed the possibility of booking us an extra ballroom in the hotel to host a meet-and-greet on Thursday evening, the night before the workshop. That would give us a central place to meet and hang out all to ourselves.

If all we did was book an empty room with cocktail tables, it would cost us about $500, which we can easily absorb. If we want to get fancy and serve food (like fruits and veggies), the cost goes up a lot more.

If we have a bartender serving drinks, the drinks would cost in the range of $5-7 each, and I don't get the sense the buying their own drinks would necessarily be that popular with our attendees, partly because we attract a lot of health-conscious people who may not drink alcohol, and partly because some people may not feel it's worth the money.

The hotel was even willing to do something more creative like having a fresh juice / smoothie bar, which might appeal to some people, but I don't know if that would be very popular at night. It also drives up the costs.

One problem is that if we pay for food or drinks, it's harder to control the costs because anyone could wander in and show up. This would happen before the workshop registration too, so no one would have name badges yet.

I thought I'd just through this out there and let you know we're open to suggestions for a better way to host a meet-and-greet where attendees can hang out and mingle before the event. Is it worth doing? What would be the best venue for this?

Did meeting at the food court at Caesar's work out okay? Did people buy any food or drinks there? Would it be better to have our own private room?

In January it could be pretty cold outside (40s perhaps), so any meet-and-greet should be held indoors.

I really love the idea of renting a ballroom. This is an idea I have -
I think it'd be great for workshop attendees to organize something on their own for a pre-workshop meetup, because it gives the attendees a chance to exercise their own sense of authority in meeting each other, and can give way to spontaneity too.
I think the ballroom idea would be a great way to end the workshop - the icing on the cake, so to speak. I don't know if it would be too crazy or too expensive to organize, but I think having Go Raw Cafe (or some other raw place?) cater snacks and/or a meal, and maybe even have music and dancing and mingling, it'd be so awesome and fun!

[Savage]

I'm not seeing much enthusiasm for a formal meet-up in a ballroom, so I think we'll skip it for now.

[Dukie]

Originally Posted by Rachelle

I think the ballroom idea would be a great way to end the workshop - the icing on the cake, so to speak. I don't know if it would be too crazy or too expensive to organize, but I think having Go Raw Cafe (or some other raw place?) cater snacks and/or a meal, and maybe even have music and dancing and mingling, it'd be so awesome and fun!

You just want to dance and show off your sparkly dress

But an ending like this would indeed be awesome. We'll organize a pre-meet ourselves!

[Bing Wu]

I think I see what you're seeing Rachelle... a post-workshop party in a ballroom with music and dancefloor?

[Rachelle]

Yes yes, exactly!