NWIM Mensa
Holiday Party Cheat Sheet
It
is NOT TOO EARLY to reserve a room in the beginning of
October!
Local banquet rooms generally fill up for January during that
month. I just got a Jan 14 (Friday) by October
31!
Our
chapter tends to be "cheap", just saying. We like to feel
special, have a nice quiet room, decorations, reasonable amount of
food, and low price.
Here is a list of our
general requirements and normal banquet concerns:
o
Enough food
o
Menu choices (Anthony's will Email you a .pdf of
their
menu choices). A beef is always good, and a chicken or fish
with
it as two entrees.
o
Cost: room fee? Or minimum number of
people? (Anthony's: 30 people; else $100 room fee)
o
Vegetarian offering
o
Alcohol available (run to the bar yourself, or have a
waiter/waitress)
o
"Holiday" decorations…restaurants will generally provide
these
even in January…a "holiday" party in January is not that uncommon.
o
Diana likes to bring dessert? Or Jill
will shop for
some nice cheesecake. Anthony's lets us, but we have to
promise
not to sue if someone gets sick.
o Social
hour and dinner time (E.g., 6 pm Social Hour; Dinner at 7)
o
Table arrangement: U shape, with people on the
inside? Or
clusters of round tables. I like "close together" as opposed
to a
long skinny arrangement.
o
Anthony's has a band nearby
Various
"Deadlines"
Sept 20(ish) EXCOMM:
Really should have a volunteer now, not next month.
October 31: Really
should have a room reserved by now!
Nov
15ish (before EXCOMM): Information about the costs, and the menu…which
will be discussed by the EXCOMM (See "subsidizing"). The
basics
(location and date) need to be known by now to get into the Dec 1
Brainiac
Dec 15ish: Have confirmed all the
irritating details with the restaurant contact. Have “everything” for the
January Newsletter announcement: price, rough menu choices, address and
directions! Have
down the details of who
to send a check to, their address (traditionally Jill Nelson).
The EXCOMM has
recently been subsidizing the Holiday Party. We like to round
the price DOWN to the nearest $5 (20, 25).
LIST
OF PLACES
We've had it at
Anthony's and Holiday Inn recently. Some possibilities:
Upstream: for 25: not
private (big room too big)
Upstream West: Our
size: $900 minimum
Anthony's: Pretty darn
reasonable people $100 room fee or 30 people minimum
American Bistro
(Bellevue)
Grisantes
Holiday Inn 72nd: Fine
place, but they run through "Banquet" people about 1 per month