Opinions on Gatherings

[Oddjob0226]

Hello, all...... need your thoughts......


A few of us are planning a Dallas/Ft. Worth gathering, and we've found a pretty nice private club for the gathering. 12 people are interested in attending, but we need 20 for a special discount rate.

My question for those who have hosted, or been to a gathering - should we let people know about the place and wait before announcing a date, seeing if we can get 20 interested people and try to get the better rate - OR - should we announce a date, so that people "on the fence" can decide whether or not they want to attend & people will know for sure when the gathering is, but just hope that we get 20 people for the better rate by the deadline/party date.

What do you all think?

 

[Mimi]

Good question, no easy answer. I myself was faced with a similar dilemma with my own gathering coming up in Sept. I didn't know if I should rent one cottage or two. If multiple people attended, one cottage would not be enough. But did I want to run the risk of renting two, having a less then predicted amount of attendee's actually come, and be stuck paying several hundred dollars out of my own pocket for something unneccesary?

I decided to go with the preliminary announcement route. I let everyone know (through the forum and mailing lists) that I was planning on hosting a gathering in my area, around a certain time, and I wanted to get a feel for how many people would be interested in attending, so I could get a feel for how much space would be required. I wound up getting between 50-60 emails from potential attendees. That told me that two cottages would be a wise move.

The one potential problem you could have with this route, is if you get a large quantity of interested parties in the preliminary stages, who do not follow through with their original intentions once the gathering is finalized. But if you are looking to get 20 attendees, and 40 or more people express interest, then you know you stand a decent chance of meeting your goal.

It's a crap shoot from any direction, but I think a preliminary announcement is a good route to go. At least then you can get a potential idea of your level of success with your gathering.

Good luck!!

Mimi 🙂

 

[Oddjob0226]

Thanks for the help, Mimi! I'll pass this info on to our "gathering group" on Yahoo for feedback....

 

[dvnc]

FWIW, I'm exactly opposite about such. I don't give general directions to anyone save those that are signed up for the event. It saves trouble with folks showing up that aren't welcome. It's also easy for me, 'cause we screen every attendee for my events, and have for years.

What do folks get outta that? They know that I know a good bit about who's attending, and that only those invited to that event are going to show.

Either way works, needless to note. I'm just extremely protective of those on my list. I figure that they trusted me enough to answer the questionairre, and the least they deserve, from me, is reasonable screening.

My $0.02,

dvnc

 

[Oddjob0226]

Thanks, DVNC! I will for sure forward this thought along to our guy in charge of putting the event together. Good points made......

 

[Mimi]

Gosh, I hope it didn't sound like I was suggesting exactly what DVNC pointed out would be bad ideas. I did not mean to tell anyone WHERE the gathering would be held, or ask them to give information out about themselves ahead of time. I merely meant make an announcement that you are considering having a gathering, in a certain city, around an approximate date, and just have people who feel they may be interested in attending something like that, send you an email simply stating "Sounds like it's up my alley, keep me posted". I went with the preliminary announcement route, but no one (even those who have confirmed thus far) knows the exact address of the gathering location, and only those who are confirming are being screened at this point.

I hope that clears any confusion I may have caused with my suggestion.


Mimi

 

[dvnc]

Heck, Mimi, it's all good advice. Better that a body knows multiple points of information, rather than leavin' it all t'some one guy. I held 'em for over 5 years, but that don't mean there's not better means to do 'em.

Your further advice seems to more closely parallel my own. I'm figurin' that if OddJob digs what QBWeaver, Max, Bella, Jobelle, TickleChgo, and the other hosts have to say, it'll get easier. There ARE two boys down his way that hosted one, too.

S'long as we all meet, and the friendships are made, it's all good. It's all about the love, that way. 😉

Personally, I respect that you gave such information so freely. Lets hope others can concur or conflict, so he gets all the right info!

dvnc