How to host an On The Table conversation.
So you’re thinking about hosting a table for On the Table this year? GREAT! You are helping to move this community forward, simply by creating opportunity for open conversation to occur. THANK YOU! Pretty powerful magic can happen by sharing a meal with strangers. Here’s some tips to help you get organized!
Pick a time of day. When I say “meal with strangers,” understand that meal is a relative term (so is strangers, really). It does not have to be a sit-down, slaving-over-a-hot-stove-all-day type of thing. Like, BYOSammiches to the park for a picnic counts here. For real. So, what’s your favorite meal time? Or, let’s be honest, what time of day is open on your calendar? Running 90-to-nothing all day? Okay, a sunrise powwow over coffee sounds perfect! Maybe you’d prefer chatting after work with cocktails and hors d’oeuvres. Or maybe you LOVE to cook, and any excuse try out a new recipe is a good one – by all means, host a full-out dinner party! It’s totally up to you.
Pick a location. Based on your time of day preference and inclination to actually put effort into food preparation, this will probably shake itself out. But just because you make something at home, doesn’t mean you have to host the table at your home. And just because you purchase something from a restaurant to share, doesn’t mean you have to host your table there too. Choices are grand, aren’t they? Be sure that whatever location you decide upon, you can actually have conversation there, and that it’s not too loud or distracting to the participants around your table. It’s hard to connect with people and listen to their stories when you can’t really hear anything over the background noise.
Pick the menu. Don’t over complicate this! Don’t feel like cooking? Make it a potluck and swing by Chicken Salad Chick on your way there. Do feel like baking? Make it a cookie party and ask participants to bring their favorite dessert recipe to share. Indecisive in general? Meet up at your favorite restaurant, and everyone orders what they like. The time of day and the venue can help drive this decision, and vice versa.
Pick the topic or theme for discussion. This isn’t a must-have; when you attend Host Orientation, you’ll leave with some suggested table topics and discussion starters that are community-oriented and a little more general. These are great ways to start a conversation! But you may be feeling that a particular topic is close to your heart, and deserves some focused discussion with people who also feel connected to that topic. Totally cool too! Know that what will likely happen is that you’ll throw a conversation-starter out there…and then it will take a sharp left turn and you’ll all go down a rabbit hole, exploring ideas you never considered before. This is normal, and I’d argue desirable – things that need to be talked about have a way of rising to the surface.
Pick your level of privacy. Do you plan to host a private, invitation-only table, or an open, public table? There are pros and cons to each. A private table can allow you to really hone in on a particular topic of concern amongst like-minded people. It can also facilitate group think and become an echo chamber. Consider asking invitees to bring along a +1 whom you may not already know, to broaden the perspectives shared and enhance the quality of the discussion. Choosing to host public table can feel a little scary – what if no one shows up? What if I don’t connect with the people that do show up? What if they’re DIFFERENT from me?? Well, that’s kind of the point, schweetheart. To talk to and learn from people who walk in different shoes than you do. You might be surprised at how much you have in common with folks.
However you choose to set your table for chatting, it’s a good choice! There is no right or wrong way to host an On the Table chat. Be willing and open for honest discussion and listen carefully to the people sitting around the table (or picnic blanket) with you. When we stop talking AT each other, and really begin to HEAR each other, that is where the magic happens. And this magic can blow doors of opportunity for our community wide open. Thank you for being a part of the vibrant fabric of the Chattahoochee Valley!