Hello, my name is ____ and the beginnings of an idea.

As I invited the 120^th person to this past Thanksgiving 2.5 I realized a few things. 1, I may not have enough food (that led to the PSMU) and 2, what do i do about Introductions. Over the years, I have found that introductions are somewhat of an art and aren't as simple as they may seem. I'm going to mildly go into why won’t do them anymore and then how I may be able to resolve this issue for all future Thanskgiving 2's. You'll come to see why I believe that the name-tag, may set me free.

I first had the idea of offering name-tags to my guests during a prep conversation with my wife in early 2012. The idea came to me as a joke. What if I had some item that guests could wear that showed to everyone that you are single. If I see myself as anything, it’s matchmaker, or at least hook-up enabler. That’s not true, but I figured that there has to be a way. I was initially thinking that a pin on the collar or lapel would be nice and easy. I wanted it to be subtle so as to not be embarrassing, but he impracticalities of providing pins to upwards of 30 people would be another item on my job list. So the pin idea went out the window. So, if I'm not providing pins or ribbons the only viable alternative seems to be the name-tag.

I remember the moment that sealed the idea for me. Someone at TH2 actually brought up name-tags to me unsolicited. It was a single lady who wondered where the single guys were at and she even mentioned putting a star on tag to differentiate the singles in attendance. I knew then that I should incorporate them for next year.

I figure that if I’m going to do this then I’m going to drag it to where I want it. I don't want a plain tag with only a name on it. I am going to use all 4 corners of the tag. I am not ashamed to admit that I have played a role playing game or two in the past, and my favorite part was creating the characters. When the guests come in one of the first things they will do is create their tag. My thoughts so far:

•          Upper right: A star, blue for involved, Red for single

•          Lower right: A number indicating how many Thanksgiving 2 events you have been to.

•          Upper Left: A selection of food stickers. A carrot for vegetarians, one kind of symbol for hoppy beer aficionados, another for dry red wine lovers.

•          Lower Left: How you know me and/or my wife.

The upper left corner may seem odd, but TH2 is a foodie event. On a very basic level everyone has to eat, so if you see that the stranger you're talking to also likes hoppy beer then you immediately have something in common.

The 4th idea is clearly vague as of February, but I have some time to flesh it out. If I pick up a great variety of stickers I should be able to come up with some more concrete ideas.

Now you may be thinking “Why do people need name-tags in the first place, since you are the host shouldn’t you be introducing everyone to everyone else?” To this idea I say no! I am busy for the first few hours of these gatherings, and 90% of the people who come are adults. I think as an adult you should be capable of opening your mouths and introducing yourself. If you want to meet someone or are having a conversation with someone new, just tell them your name. It may appear harsh, but as soon as you realize that half of the guests will not know the other half you will see that I cannot introduce everyone. The math on that would kill me. It would be impossible and I would not be able to sit down and enjoy myself.

I don't know how much thought the average person puts into an introduction of two sets of strangers, but there are many subtleties to doing it properly. If I am talking to the previously mentioned single lady and she asks me where/who the single guys are I have two options. I can simply point out all the single guys in the room and leave her to fend for herself, or I can put the proper forethought into it. I should take my knowledge of those in attendance and give her a minor amount of unbiased information about the guys I would introduce her to. This would let her pick who she would like to meet first and introduce her to the first guy. As the night goes along I would show her to the other gentlemen if she deems it necessary. One a different hand if it is early in the event and only a few guests have arrived and an introduction is in order I would have to use my knowledge to bring up some possible semi-interesting commonality between them. If all else fails, I can always steer them towards the food tables. These are only 2 small examples of the additional work that I would have to do. I'm a busy guy at TH2. I'd much prefer to leave it to the guests themselves.

 

This will of course be the trial year for this and I am curious as to how this will work. I don’t think I will make it mandatory, but I will be selling it up to everyone I meet in the same way I sell TH2 to new people. The name-tag is something so simple but has the chance to let guests invest a little more in the social aspect of Thanksgiving 2 and hopefully make that as enjoyable as the food aspect.