Ah! Yes. I’m so glad we’re finally having this conversation. As someone who regularly gathers people, I want to add my 2 cents. There's a lot of the negativity around dinners and I noticed it's coming from folks who I don’t even see at these events. My initial question was “how can you be so negative towards something you don’t even participate in?” Somebody just reminded me it’s the folks who always get rejected from industry events. Listen. You’re not being rejected because people don’t like you. Curating guest lists is like REALLY FUCKING HARD. You have to think about the people who are going to mesh well together and have overlap. Industry events have a theme. For example, my dinner parties skew towards investors, founders, operators and creators that have a vested interest in talent led brands. I’m working on a few dinners this year are more open invite, but my core community values our intimate hangouts and I owe those to them. Nobody was hosting get togethers for operators, investors and creators in the talent-led brand world until we started doing them. There is a way these individuals think about their businesses that is very unique to them. Having an outlet to decompress with other people who understand what you’re thinking about is valuable and it makes you feel seen in way that their life partners, close friends, and family members just might not fully grasp. I know I speak for a lot of hosts when I say we don’t mean to make anyone feel rejected. We just have an obligation to be hyper curated so that each guest feels like they are in the right place meeting the right people. If you somehow don’t find your community, do what I did and start YOUR OWN dinner series for the people you want to invite. Also, making money on dinners is totally up to you. I decided I wouldn’t and so I haven’t, but I know people still host dinner parties that feel very authentic and still pocket some change at the end. The truth is nobody really cares either way. Just make sure when your guests show up, it’s about them and not you or your sponsors.
You know those e-commerce dinners sponsored by XYZ at fancy Restaurant XYZ that everyone likes to talk negative about? Well here’s a perspective. I’ve been hosting, paying for, gathering people for dinners and meet ups and events for 11 years now. yes there is promotion around this yes there is money being spent yes there is money to the host And cool maybe dinners aren’t your thing or maybe events aren’t your thing but for many founders who CANNOT talk with their wives or husbands or friends about what their doing need an outlet or a place to go that isn’t Twitter or LinkedIn.
Well said- curation is key and by definition that’s picking and choosing the guest list
You do an amazing job and we are proud to support the CPG community
I love our community! I feel so seen and I get so inspired ❤️🫶
how can they hate on this side of the club? they can’t even get in ha ha - chris brown
amen.
Founder & CEO at Pashion™ | Forbes 30 Under 30, Shark Tank Alum, TikTok Creator (@haley_pavone) - 750K+
9moI for one love the CPG community!!