Global Conference: Local Arrangements Off-site Networking

Dine-arounds

The dine-arounds serve as a networking opportunity for conference attendees, and also assist new members with getting to know people in an informal way. The nature and structure of these will vary from year to year depending on the local environment, capacity of the committee, and other factors that may be at the discretion of the board. 

• Reach out to restaurants that are close to the conference hotel (preferably within walking distance, but a short ride is fine if there aren't any restaurants close by). Ideally, the venues would be able to provide a reservation for a minimum of 20 people, noting that we cannot guarantee a minimum amount, and each person will be paying separately. No more than five venues should be secured (unless they are small, in which case more can be used). Typical attendance is 50 - 75 people, total for all restaurants. Important: individual checks are required. We are not responsible for group checks, and we do not want to ask attendees to do so. If this is not possible, smaller reservations can be made the day of the event through Open Table.
• Once the reservations are made, send the details to the Executive Director for the web site:
  • Restaurant name
  • Time of reservation
  • Number of people for reservation
  • Restaurant address
  • Other details, as needed
• Sign-in sheets will be placed in the registration area on-site (no sign-ups can be made in advance). Announcements will be made throughout the conference and in the program and mobile app to make sure people are aware of how it works.  The committee should pay attention to the lists periodically to make sure the number of people signed up for the reservations is the same as the number of reservations.
• Call the venues the day of the event to confirm the reservation number.
• Assign a volunteer on-site to help coordinate the meet-ups for the dine-arounds. Ideally, we could have a volunteer for each restaurant to stand and hold a sign in an area of the lobby to help people find their group, and then to walk each group to their restaurant. If a committee member is not available, people who are attending the dine-arounds can be asked to play this role.
• Capture a total count for each dine-around, and send it to the Executive Director after the event.

Pre-Conference Activities

• Develop a list of suggested activities that attendees can participate in before the conference. Make sure the venues are operating normally and are open during the times when people would typically visit. Send the information to the Executive Director for the web site. Note: the committee does not coordinate the activities. We only provide recommendations.

Other Networking Activities

• Depending on bandwidth, the committee could also plan additional creative networking opportunities on the same night as the dine-arounds to help people get to know either, such as :
  • Scavenger hunts
  • Trivia 
  • Other