Invitations - Devising Your Guest List

We've talked a bit about physical inviations versus e-invitations ... but all that is sort of window dressing. By far more important is the question, "Who do I invite?"

Its October, so let's think about it in Ghostbuster terms. Remember the Keymaster - Rick Moranis' character - who threw a party, pre-possession, in his apartment? An incredibly useful example of how NOT to construct a list of guests for a party ... any party. If you don't remember it, its instructive, and the movie is fun in any case. Meanwhile, let's begin:

Rule 1: Be careful of mixing your office friends with outside-or-work friends

Consider this scenario. A hosting couple is considering having a group of work acquaintances, and a group of close, comfortable, and sporadically wild friends over for a big party. The friend group, by the way, has a long-standing invitation to ‘go commando’ (i.e. buck-naked) in the hottub at the hosts’ home, though this, of course, is not mentioned at all in the current invitation.

Question: The two groups above are invited to the same large, well-executed event. The music, décor, party food and drinks are absolutely fabulous … many dozens of margaritas later in the evening, what happens?

I bet you can guess. Needless to say, mixing work friends and outside-of-work friends can often be a recipe for embarrassment and trouble in the workplace that has nothing to do with that picture of you someone posted to Facebook. Unless you know your work companions really, really well, and are certain they will mix well with your regulars – don’t do it, or you could be looking at months of damage control at the office. And even if you are sure it’ll be fine, think it over at least a couple times before making the call!