In our Student Committee meeting last week we discussed some ways to make a party really work. Many of these are principles of hospitality, taking the responsiblity for the welcoming of and caring for our guests:
- Invite your friends and the friends of your friends, don't rely on posters or Facebook invites.
- Focus on doing 'just' a party really well. Don't rely on other gimmicks or games to make it good.
- You are not just inviting people to come and hang out with you. You are responsible for them as hosts.
- Prepare to spend much of the night cleaning and tidying up to make a good space for everyone else.
- Make a lot of effort all night to introduce people to each other, to break up cliques and help people who are on the outer feel included.
- Have the lights down fairly low. Use candles, lava lamps, fairy lights and other dim lighting.
- Avoid one big large circle of chairs, and instead create varied spaces and nooks.
- Offer people food and drink all night. Have a range of food and drink stations, rather than one place that is hard to get to.
- Have fairly loud music - and turn it up as more people fill the space - and vary the music, rather than simply playing whole albums.
- Ask advice from others who are very good at hospitality. Seek to learn the art.
- Even if you ask people to bring things, you need to cater anyway, so that there is enough stuff and a variety of stuff.
- It's a great idea to have a toast or welcome of some kind. This could even be a place to invite your pastor or Christian mission staff to say grace.
- Have bouncers, to avoid gatecrashers, people who drink too much and people who are sleazy. Also this might help getting girls back to their cars late at night.
- Have the toilets clean, well signposted and lockable somehow.
- Provide some high quality food and drink as a centrepiece of the party.
