Towards being a more entertaining guest
Submitted by Merlin on January 24, 2008 - 7:34am.
Global Nerdy | How to Work the Room
Joey’s condenses some great tips on going from wallflower to party panda. Number one has always stood me in good stead:
“1. Be more of a host and less of a guest. Make introductions and make people more comfortable.”
Totally. Not to get all Burning Man on you here, but any event will only be as good as the people who actively participate in it. People who arrive waiting to be entertained are dead weight, while those who do more than the minimum to make things happen can bring the place to life.
Good trick for house parties: deliberately leave off a few light party preparations so that early arrivers can hang out in the kitchen and help. Wouldn’t you rather cut up carrots than stare at the clam dip feeling like a choad? Exactly.
Also, an old tradition at our house is to give gifts to the first 2 or 3 early arrivers. If you can go, “Hey! Here’s a cheap bottle of wine and ‘Travel Boggle!’” you make people feel more at ease. Then give ‘em a knife, and put ‘em to work.
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Speaking of invites...
I find that the party-going crowd I invite tend not to come to parties without plenty of notice - like a month or more.
Even then, they sometimes don’t show…or even respond to my invitation. I know a lot of them lead busy lives, but an email would be nice.
There’s only so many “Travel Boggles” one can keep on hand. I’d feel like a distribution center before long.
So, my advice is to be a better guest - even if you have no interest in coming - would be to respond accordingly and let the host know.
It’s just a cool thing to do.
(I’ll have that cheese to go with the wine, now.)