Announce your meeting via email a week or two ahead. Your announcement/invitation should include details such as:
- Date
- Time
- Location
- Topic
- Detailed menu
- Directions
- Location
- Special notes (like cats live here)
- Price, if you know it ahead (about $3 over groceries to cover you and $1/plate)
(Here is a sample email invitation.)
You can use the Suppers web site registration feature to track RSVPs.
The day before, or morning of:
Shop or make sure someone does it.
Set out sign-in sheet, kitty, laptop for signing waivers and doing questionnaires. Have a greeter set up to welcome when newcomers come.
Set up cooking stations.
If using recipes, have them posted.
Make sure you have enough plates, chairs, etc.
During meeting:
Do opening and leader script and some point of Suppers literature (boundary, concept, story or another selected reading such as an article or member book review). The bare minimum is the opening, a leader script (yellow laminated page in the kit), or the Suppers mission statement and boundaries (blue laminated page in the kit).
If there is a newcomer, read Boundary 3.
Have each member introduce him/herself, going once around the table with no cross talk. Introductory question might be:
- Please share what brought you to Suppers.
- If there are newcomers, ask current members to describe how they work the program to accomplish their health goals.
- Please share on your experiments with behavior change and your observations.
- Any other introductory question of your choice.
Lead the roadmap to the food.
Have a great time at the meeting!
Five to 10 minutes before closing: Do job cards, which may include: members clean up to the facilitator’s satisfaction.
After meeting:
Email a summary of the meeting to the guests who were present, including recipes that were used.
Send Suppers your $1/plate marked with your name, name and date of meeting, amount collected and number of attendees to Suppers, 211 North Harrison Street, Princeton NJ, 08540.