I can’t share a whole lot, mainly because I don’t know much myself. In the pre-COVID days, before I stopped going to parties, then blew up my life and moved to another city (thus not having a social network to attend parties with) there were many things to consider when hosting:
- who to invite (complicated by melt/flakiness) - involves making predictions about how people will behave and interact with each other
- how many to invite
- when to start
- when to end and how to end
- what beverages, snacks, food to include; how such things will be prepared and delivered in sequence
- drug and alcohol (also a drug) choices
- what music to play
- lighting and furniture arrangement; use of space generally
- desired outcomes; things to watch for; connections to encourage or discourage
- props, toys, games, and other objects (I suppose food and snacks are partially a subset)
- compartmentalization and breakaway spaces
An example of a party that the author would likely enjoy would be an informal book club gathering with a mixer before or after, or perhaps a showing of a film adaptation with discussion for interested participants after, while less interested people can break off to play board games. Or perhaps board games would be stimulating enough, there are a broad range of kinds, and they can drastically change the feel/experience of an evening.
I suppose “engineering” implies a formal discipline. I think that actually is a profession, I just know nothing about it. But design thinking can be applied by anyone to anything, and I do try to be intentional and/or am slightly neurotic about hosting.
- who to invite (complicated by melt/flakiness) - involves making predictions about how people will behave and interact with each other - how many to invite - when to start - when to end and how to end - what beverages, snacks, food to include; how such things will be prepared and delivered in sequence - drug and alcohol (also a drug) choices - what music to play - lighting and furniture arrangement; use of space generally - desired outcomes; things to watch for; connections to encourage or discourage - props, toys, games, and other objects (I suppose food and snacks are partially a subset) - compartmentalization and breakaway spaces
An example of a party that the author would likely enjoy would be an informal book club gathering with a mixer before or after, or perhaps a showing of a film adaptation with discussion for interested participants after, while less interested people can break off to play board games. Or perhaps board games would be stimulating enough, there are a broad range of kinds, and they can drastically change the feel/experience of an evening.
I suppose “engineering” implies a formal discipline. I think that actually is a profession, I just know nothing about it. But design thinking can be applied by anyone to anything, and I do try to be intentional and/or am slightly neurotic about hosting.