Yesterday I ran the first official multi-creative Okrēo Meetup.

In total we had 4 attendees — 3 guests plus myself as the host.

The event went well, but there are some clear ways I could have helped it go better.

Here are 4 insights that I gleaned and plan to use to improve our social events moving forward.

Good social events include standing or movement

A month ago, I ran a multi-creative social. We had 6 attendees and the allotted 90 minutes flew by.

Guests were free to move around as they switched conversation partners. There was a sense of journey throughout the evening. People were more expressive, and body language was easier to read.

Have an arrival activity

Guests should have something to do immediately once they get there. To match the holiday season, I previously had guests write a “gratitude ornament” on a card and hang it from a small tree on the table as they arrived. It gave an immediate shared experience, which created an alternative to the default “just arrived” small talk.

Let creatives speak in their creative voice

This one is obvious, but worth mentioning since The Okrēo is a community where multi-creatives can belong. Mashup — the game we played at yesterday’s event — was built to get creatives talking using their creative voice. It worked, and was the definite win of the night.

“First meeting” socials should be familiarizing, not familial

I couldn’t keep track of all the conversations at the social with 6 attendees. I could yesterday. I was worried that the conversation felt a bit more intimate than everyone had bargained for.

My intuition tells me this has something to do with human working memory capacity (Miller’s Law) in social contexts.

I’d bet a social where everyone feels familiar — but not intimate — is one with 7 ± 2 people. Less than 5 and it feels like a family dinner. More than 9 and it feels like you’re in a room of strangers.

Conclusion

On the whole, the event went well but there are definite ways it could have gone better.

The attendees were fantastic. They did their half by showing up ready to socialize.

I can do better by incorporating the lessons above into the next event’s planning and execution.