Open with Social Time
The Problem
People sometimes arrive to evening events a bit late. Everyone’s distracted when they’re hungry.
The Pattern
Start the event with 45 minutes of socializing. Have food and drinks ready. People can arrive, get their dinner, network, socialize, and unwind from their day; they have space to transition their mind from work to the topic for the evening.
People running late can relax a bit, knowing they won’t miss anything essential.
Example
Uncle Bob Martin is well-known for spending the first 10 minutes of his lectures talking about science. As he told @danbernier once, it’s a good way to gather the room’s attention: “when you start talking science, geeks shut up and listen.” And the invariable stragglers don’t miss any of the real lecture content.
(That isn’t quite the same thing, but it’s similar, and it’s amusing.)