storytelling party

[boxofdelights]

I am responsible for hosting a storytelling party! I am a little bit terrified! It's on the second floor, so I can't serve alcohol. The good side is that I don't have to find a co-host who is willing to take turns keeping an eye on the alcohol. The bad side is... how am I going to lure people in? Nice foods, I suppose. But how do you decide how much foods to have, when you don't have any idea how many people might come?

Comments

[malkingrey]

Make lots of the sort of thing that can be set out in small or individual servings, and refrigerated or frozen afterward, and that you don't mind eating the leftovers of for a while if you have to?

Some possibilities, off the top of my head:

• Individual quiches in pre-purchased shells, if you're a quiche-making sort of person. Although eggy things can be iffy if they're served in an environment where they're set out and waiting, so they'd be better if you had a designated "now we're going to eat our food" time, rather than having things laid out for grazing on.


• A big pot of chili or a serve-to-company grade stew, set out with individual paper bowls for people to serve themselves, and with single-serving freezable storage containers waiting in your kitchen for afterward.


• A veggies-and-dip platter, featuring the varieties of cut-up veggies that you can make into a soup or a stir-fry for yourself later, if they don't all get eaten.

[silveradept]

Is there statistical data on how many have come before? Aiming for the average of that would be a good baseline.

[redbird]

If you haven't already, it might be worth posting to the LJ and DW Wiscon communities to see if there are people who hosted parties in past years and can give you some input.

[bibliofile]

So is this going to be fictional stories or life stories? Or all of the above? Because I think that "storytelling" is a thing, but people may also be familiar with radio shows like "This American Life." Or maybe a spoken-word open mic?

What I mean is, people are more likely to come to a party when they know a bit about what it is. Once you figure out how Come up with a few different posters, each version mentioning one comparison item?

You could maybe recruit a few seed people to come ahead of time. AsyouknowBob, by talking with Q about their zine you liked, and R about their latest anthology, or S about how they tell that family story so well (e.g., Ellen Klages and the ham).

[boxofdelights]

That is an excellent idea. Thank you!

[boxofdelights]

This is good advice, but I'm flying to Madison and staying in a hotel, so the best I can do with leftovers is donate them to the Dead Dog party. Actually, no, I have friends who live in Madison; maybe one of them would let me use their kitchen and make use of leftovers! Must think on this.

[boxofdelights]

That is information I have not been able to find out.

[silveradept]

That's unfortunate. My next suggestion was going to be the next comment about contacting past organizers. I hope someone had useful data for you.

[jesse_the_k]

From previous marginal experience as an assistant associate party host:

When Conf 2 is full it holds ~30 people & chairs. Leave some chairs for those of us who need a seat, and you can probably fit 35 people plus a buffet table in back and "stage" area.

People wander in and out of parties, so it would be helpful to have a sign-up system which helps to match people in the room right now with time to tell stories. Perhaps a sheet where folks put their cell numbers so they can be called in?

It starts late so you're not feeding, you're snacking. Both sweet & salty are good. Fits-on-one-large-napkin is great, as you won't have to supply paper plates or cutlery. You can gently urge people to leave when you hide the food and drink. Storytelling and laughing are thirsty work, so some lightly flavored water might be a hit. (Strawberries? Cucumbers? Mint? lemon?) as well as ice water.

There's Grace Episcopal's homeless shelter halfway between Concourse & Inn on the Park for the leftovers.

There are nearish-by grocery stores which cater and deliver. Madison is a competitive grocery store market; almost all are open 24/7. Our isthmus makes us a divided city, so many business have East & West branches

Hy-Vee is new in town; they deliver; they claim to wish to help people with tasks just like this. They stock "natural foods" all the time, as well as tons of prepared stuff.
East 5.5 miles from hotel
http://www.hy-vee.com/stores/detail.aspx?s=529

Metcalfe's is the upscale version of Hy-Vee. Only on the West Side; note that the East Side is mostly working class. Delivery, sushi, flowers, many foods are branded with how many miles they traveled to the store.
3.5 miles west from hotel
http://shopmetcalfes.com

Willy St Coop is really member-owned, very successful, full-line, expensive for some things. Seven-thirty am to 9:30 pm. They deliver, they prepare DELICIOUS food. If you're a food coop member elsewhere, they offer reciprocity, else 20% markup).
2.0 miles east from hotel
http://www.willystreet.coop/catering

Madison Fresh Market aims straight at students. Not full line, do catering & delivery. Big plus is they're two blocks away from the Karaoke Kid, less than a mile west from hotel, open 'til midnight
http://freshmadisonmarket.com

Woodman's was the first "warehouse" store in Wisconsin: I've never seen a branded delivery truck, lowest prices in town, some "natural foods,"
East 4.5 miles from hotel (West is twice as far).
http://www.woodmans-food.com/madisoneast/

Costco claims everything under the sun, I've never been.
9 miles away in Middleton, WI
http://www.costco.com/WarehouseLocatorDetailsView?langId=-1&storeId=10301

[boxofdelights]

Thank you! This is really helpful.

[boxofdelights]

When I started storytelling, people told all kinds of stories, including stories that had been written and published by other people, which the storytelling community seemed to think was fine as long as it was not for money. Now it's mostly life stories. I'd welcome anything, as long as it's telling a story, not reading a story, but I don't want to describe it terms of What Not To Do.

Do you have any advice on what makes an appealing poster? I think if I do this next year, I'm going to ask all the locals whether I can use their kitchen to bake 12 dozen cookies. I think "homemade cookies" is a very appealing thing to put on a poster.