Hey everyone,

Through meeting feedback, reading the 'why you joined' statements and whatnot, I've noticed we have two 'subsets' of people who come to bookclubs meetings.

those who:

a) want simply to discuss the book and then go home

-and-

b) those who want to discuss the book, but also meet new people, make new friends etc.

So this is what I was thinking. Is there an interest in adding an (un)official social gathering post book discussion? there are a multitude of locations around the B&N that would be effective for folks to have a few drinks, relax and chat socially.

The goal would be to maintain the primary book discussion objectives while meeting the social needs for people as well. I believe it is simple enough to do both effectively.

What are your thoughts? Please post replies, or feel free to email me directly.

-chris

I think that even if a meeting is limited to simply discussing the book, there could be some room for getting people to interact more with each other, which begins with finding out who the other attendees are. When people don't know each other, I've found the dialogue stays largely in a moderator-to-group dynamic, as opposed to more of a cross-table discussion. This latter dynamic happens only after people have begun to feel comfortable, but it leads to much richer, more engaging discussions...imagine if the meeting started out with everyone having a little more awareness of each other! (Especially since this is a large group, with so many people new people joining all the time.)

I would like to see meetings offer opportunities that go beyond "talking about the book." Honestly, I haven't been to a meeting in a long time, and if I had to provide a reason why, it's because, while it meets an intellectual need, it has not provided the social atmosphere I had been looking for when I signed up.

Thanks, Chris, for posing this interesting topic for discussion.