Group Dinner Hosting Tips
by Fran Bailey

Hosting a group dinner for the GLBT community and friends is a richly rewarding experience! Not only will you make new friends, but you'll get the satisfaction of knowing that you helped other friendships form! You may even help a "special friendship" form!

The following tips are things I have learned in organizing "Dinner Out In The Suburbs" for over a year now.

The biggest challenge in organizing a group dinner is finding restaurants which will accept large (7 or more) group reservations on a Friday or Saturday night. Some restaurants are too busy. Some don't have seating that will accommodate large groups. Ask the restaurant if you can call them a day or two before the dinner with the number in your party. Explain that you won't know until then the number of people. If they aren't ok this, consider an different restaurant.

When agreed call the restaurant with the number who will be attending. Often, I get last minute cancellations and RSVPS which tend to balance each other out. If you get a rush of last minute RSVPs or cancellations, give the restaurant a call with the updated number.

Reply to all RSVPs so people know you received them.

A lot of restaurants won't do separate checks, so remind people to bring cash. Bring some smaller bills to help make change.

Give attendees an hour before the meal to arrive and have a drink. This should preferably be in an area such as the restaurant's bar where most people will be standing. This way, people mingle more. If you have drinks at the tables where people will be eating, they tend to stay in the same place once they sit down.

Drinks from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. followed by dinner on a Friday seems to work for most people. On a Friday, some people can't get away from work for a dinner earlier than 7:30. 8 p.m. is too late for others. When I did dinners during the week, some people had conflicts with classes or being out of town for work. Most of us are tired on Fridays and don't feel like cooking.

Tell people what name the reservation will be in. This will especially help new people who don't know who to look for. If you have time, name tags with people's first name and suburb help attendees get to know each other. When you arrive at the restaurant, let the staff know you are there so they can direct attendees to you.

Send me all your dinner details 5 days before the end of the previous month so I can include your dinner in the e-newsletter.

Make sure you welcome everyone who attends and introduce those who are new to the rest of the group. Everyone: gay, straight, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender should feel welcome!

If you have more than 8 attendees, ask for tables of 6 to 8 next to each other. It will be easier for attendees to converse with more people than if you have one long table for everyone.

Don't be discouraged if only a few people show up. I hosted dinners for 9 months before I consistently started getting 12 or more people.

Last, enjoy yourself! The event is supposed to be fun for everyone including you!