Event Attendee Relationships

How do the people attending your event know each other? Lets classify the relevant types of relationships (from most distant to closest):

• Enemy: A person has a public dislike for another person. If these 2 people are at an event together, there is a strong likelihood they will get into some type of confrontation, or at least share their dislike of the other person with other event attendees.
• Quiet Dislike: A person has told you (the host) that they do not like another person. This other person does not know this. You of course like both of these people, that's why they are at your event.
• Stranger: Of course, this is when a person has never met or spoken with another person.
• Acquaintance: A person has met another person before. They would not call each other, for example, to have dinner together, but they do know each other and have made small talk together.
• Friend acquaintance: A more complex version of the standard acquaintance, this is when a person knows another person via a mutual friend that they both have. They key is that these people would not ever be together without the mutual friend, as that could prove to be awkward.
• Friend: A person knows and "hangs out with" another person on a semi-frequent basis.
  
• "Best Friend": A person who is, like, "best friends" with another person.
  
• Significant Other: A person who is intimately involved with another person.
  

What's the point of this? Each of these relationships will have positive of negative affect on your overall event. It is important to understand these different types. Use this information to map out each event attendee's relationship to every other event attendee.

Introduction

Social Group Dynamics is centered around the idea that groups of people at social events must be conciously assembled by the event organizer to maximize the success of the event. This includes parties, dinner events, weddings, bachelor/bacherette parties, "going out" in general, "happy hour", whenever groups of people get together for social events. This is NOT a guide on how to have "fun" at parties, that is beyond the scope of this blog and very specific to the type of event being planned. This is all about understanding how to get the rights sets of people together for these events.

I will post my experiences in this area with the goal of creating awareness of this phenomenon, and in doing so attempt to enhance as many social events as possible. I must be honest, this is a very complex topic, I have hosted events and sat back and watched both incredible group dynamics, as well as horribly awkward failures. The key is to try to take away as much as possible from each event.

Think of it as the ocean. A surfer cannot change the direction of the wave, however as the surfer learns to better understand why the wave moves the way it does, she has the opportunity to take advantage of that knowledge and avoid falling. As we continue to understand certain basic elements behind group dynamics, we too may better be able to organize and host our events.

This blog is directed to YOU the event planner and host. Even if you refuse to ever plan or host an event, being aware of Social Group Dynamics will be a very effective tool for determining how enjoyable a event will be that you are considering attending. My advise, don't go if you see strong social clashes, you will do yourself and the event planner a favor. They have obviously not read this blog yet.