Adding a Discussion Group to your IPC

This post will be a short one.  We've talked about Salons as a type of event. Salons usually follow an initial topic, but tend to be unstructured to allow conversation to flow freely. You're supposed to go off on tangents, or totally off topic. The talk is open-ended and organic.

A Discussion is almost the opposite. It is a focused and structured talk on a topic. You can use an agenda to guide the conversation, and the goal is greater understanding or create synergy (to coin an old Stephen Covey word form the early '90s). A Discussion group would fit most types of IPCs, except for maybe a social IPC. I've had great success hosting Discussion groups, and the flow of ideas and useful perspectives has always been fantastic. I would recommend that you do at least one quarterly. People love to talk, and you usually leave a discussion with something useful to think about or to act on.

If you plan to do a Discussion, be prepared. Announce the subject matter in advance and come with an agenda to keep the discussion focused. Also carefully moderate the discussion. Make sure everyone involved has had an opportunity to speak, so it would behoove you to play communication traffic cop. Make sure that the stronger personalities do not overwhelm the softer spoken folks (who often have the best insights, btw). Also, have fun!

Adding a Casual Meet to your IPC

We’ve talked about add-on events with some structure, salons, cocktail parties, and supper clubs. How about an add-on event without any real structure? Something where you can stake out some space and let the event happen. Casually. Try a Casual Meet (not to be confused with hooking up!). This is probably the easiest type of event you can schedule. The huge advantage of the Casual Meet is that it goes with every basic type of IPC. Social, hobby, professional, or field, it fits everything. In a way, it’s the bean-bag chair of IPC events.

What exactly is a Casual Meet? Here’s the simple explanation – it’s an unstructured meeting to allow people (IPC members) to meet in a causal environment. While it’s easy to run, you’ll need to do some prep work ahead of time. It can be held anywhere that has space for people to move about and talk. My gaming group has a causal meet at a stand-alone coffee shop that treats us like gold. Then again, gamers are well known for their sugar and caffeine addictions. It’s a match made in heaven.

The hardest part is finding a place to meet. You can do it at home, but a house is a private space that is an unknown for some folks. Unless I’ve been to someone’s house more than a couple times, I find that I’m not completely comfortable. I suggest finding a quiet space at a coffee shop, restaurant or similar business. I whole-heartily recommend coffee shops, because they’re laid back and/or generally quiet places that don’t get too upset if some folks don’t partake. Be careful with restaurants. I find a certain tension exists if you have folks attend your event that have no intention of eating and drinking something. It’s taking away from the restaurant’s business, and some places become squirrelly about it eventually. I suggest talking to the owner or a manager before you plan a casual meet at their business. This way you can feel whether they would welcome your club’s presence or if they seem to be dubious.

Casual meets are just that, a causal meeting. Don’t try to impose a structure or force conversation, but do make introductions between people who may not know each other, or with new folks who are attending this as a first event. As a matter of fact, casual meets are a great first event for new club members. Talk should be organic and free-flowing, and as an event organizer all you’re doing is being the welcome-wagon and event closer. Then you’ll realize that your casual meet was the easiest and most fun event you’ve run yet.

Adding a Cocktail Party to your IPC

IPCs are all about giving people the opportunity to mingle socially, and the cocktail party is a staple of active social-oriented groups.

In this blog, I’ve written about Salons, and these can often take a cocktail party-ish guise. But the difference between the two is substantial. You can think of one being somewhat smart and scholarly, and the other one being all about the fun.

Cocktail parties can keep the life of an IPC lively by keeping everyone busy on the social front. Most everyone enjoys talking, and this helps people get to know each other on a casual level. It also creates connections that give your club greater depth. Cocktail parties need not be stressful, so keep everything as simple as possible, and if you’re hosting, enjoy it too. You might be finding yourself playing social cop, but this, at least in my experience, is very rare.

Here's a couple of quick tips. First, you may want to monitor any alcohol provided or brought by guests, and keep folks honest about consumption. In my experience, most folks are reasonable about drinking, but there always seems to be person who has some issues with self-control. Also, make sure that guests are acquainted with each other so no time is wasted with awkwardness. Re-read the "Effective Introductions" post from last month to brush up on how to introduce guests.

Articles about Cocktail Parties:

Wikipedia, “Cocktail party”

Epicurious, “How to Throw a Cocktail Party”

The Spruce, “Everything You Should Know for Hosting a Flawless Cocktail Party”

The Nest, “5 Fun Cocktail Party Themes”

HuffPost, “10 Lessons We Could All Learn From 1960s CocktailParties”

wiseGEEK, “What is a Cocktail Party?”

Party Swizzle, “How To Compile A Cocktail Party Music Playlist”

Salon Variant: the literary reading

Earlier, I discussed adding a Salon to your IPC as a type of social event. The type of Salon I described has a topic to focus the conversation for the social. As I was poking around the internet, I happened on an article in Flavorwire about Salons entitled "Visit Some of History’s Most Famous Literary Salons." A couple of the featured salons were literary readings. This would still work in a modern sense. The topic would be replaced by the reading for the event. I imagine poems would be well suited to this, as well as short stories. The sky is the limit, and something unique worth trying.

I'm putting this on my to-dos list for my club in 2018.

More resources for literary salons:
The Guardian, "Louis de Bernières and other British writers revive the literary salon"
Bust Magazine, "Host A Modern-Day Literary Salon"
The New York Times, "An Attempted Comeback for the Literary Salon"

Adding a Salon to your IPC

© Can Stock Photo / DGLimages

A salon? Well, maybe not a hair salon, but something immensely more interesting. The salon we’re talking about is defined in Wikipedia as “a gathering of people under the roof of an inspiring host, held partly to amuse one another and partly to refine the taste and increase the knowledge of the participants through conversation.”. (refer to Wikipedia for Salon (gathering)).  This type of event is well suited to an IPC, and requires some set up to carry off successfully. 

In IPC parlance, a salon can be a cocktail party with focused conversation, or just a focused conversation.  Salons are best suited to the social, professional and field -type IPCs (Refer to blog entry here), but not so much to a hobby type IPC. You can also choose to host a salon that is closer to the historical salon, but be warned that will take more time and diligence on your part to set-up and execute.

If you choose to host a salon, it should have a topic for the evening. You should have a main space for the topic conversation, and a host who can talk in depth about the topic. In my experience, it’s best to allow conversation to flow from there to other subjects, if appropriate to the evening’s overall topic. If conversation lags or wanders off course, then the host can interject with the evening’s topic and restart the conversation. The aim of the salon is to educate and refine the participant’s knowledge of the featured topic.

Add a little pizazz to your IPC with a salon!

Articles about Salons:

Edge, "Salon Culture: Network of Ideas" 

Benet Davetian, "The History and Meaning of Salons" 

Four Seasons Magazine, "Trending Now: Modern Salons from London to Dubai"  

Elephant Journal, "How to Host a 21st Century Salon" 

7X7, "Salon Gatherings Make a Comeback"

GOOD, "Talk of the Town: How to Host a Successful Salon"

Adding a Supper Club to your IPC

© Can Stock Photo / DGLimages

If you want to add a foodie component to your informal private club (we'll call it IPC for now), a ‘supper club’ is a wonderful idea. Your club members who regard cooking as a hobby are well-suited to run foodie events for your IPC. As with stand-alone supper clubs, you'll probably want to develop a menu, ask members about any allergies and preferences, and collect donations to defray costs. You'll also want to keep the size of the event intimate, so you can be sure to fit everyone comfortably and ensure a great experience. Quality over quantity should be the over-riding rule here, not only in the number of diners, but also with the quality of ingredients.

Below are interesting articles I found on the Supper Club/Underground Restaurant phenomenon. As ideas, they can be easily incorporated into your IPC as a regular event. Bear in mind though, these articles showcase stand-alone establishments or clubs that operate almost like restaurants, and often on fringes of local laws and regulations.

Wikipedia Articles

Supper Clubs 

Underground Restaurants 

Articles on Supper Clubs:

The Guardian, "The Secret Feast" 

HipLatina, "Hosting a Pop-Up Dinner AKA Supper Club in Your City"

Flavorwire, "The Rise of the Pop-Up Restaurant and Supper Club" 

Delish, "Secret Dining Societies: Where to Find Underground Restaurants" 

St. Louis Magazine, "Ask George: How Do I Find Out About Underground Restaurants in St. Louis?" 

Articles for inspiration:

Supper Clubs in Washington DC

dcist, "A Guide to Supper Clubs, Pop-Ups And Private Dining in D.C" 

Supper Clubs in NYC

Thrillist, "The 6 NYC Supper Clubs You Need Join (And How To Do It)"

Supper Clubs in Chicago

Thrillist, "The 6 Secretest Supper Clubs In Chicago"

Supper clubs in London

TimeOut London, "London's 'underground' restaurants"