Some things to consider before the social

Food for Thought... and Stomach. All parties are free for all participants and do not require advanced reservation. We do ask, however, to help the host with food and drinks. Iinitially Saturday socials were designed to be a simple "Happy hour" get together with no more than a light snack and beer. Somehow. with time, these socials became more and more elaborate and now sometimes they resemble banquets by the quantify and the variety of food and entertainment. And most of credits go to you, EI members, who vote for bigger and "tastier" parties by bringing more and more food and drinks with you.

Attire: typically the format of a particular party suggests the corresponding attire. Naturally, barbecue parties are more casual than New Year's Eve parties. The rule of thumb though is to dress a little bit up than you would normally dress. Our ladies love to "dress to kill", but usually they are a little bit apprehensive that American men are not used to it.

Number of attendees: It is hard to predict, how many people will show at a particular party since we do not require reservations. Sometimes women outnumber men, sometimes men outnumber women, sometimes a younger group of clients prevails, other times it would be a good mixture of young and mature people. The largest parties may draw 200 clients, while the smallest and intimate parties would be limited to 20 people only.

All that means that attending just one party is like entering a movie theater in the middle of the movie. It is very hard to formulate accurate impression on the basis of a small sample.

Planning for the party. Those of you who travel from out of state to attend a party might maximize the benefits if they prepare to the social in advance. You may want to contact the ladies that you are interested in and tell them that you are planning to travel to attend the party. Even if some ladies did not plan to be at that particular social, they may change their plans to match yours. Also, Saturday Club meets last Saturday of the month. That means that Memorial and Labor weekends may be the best time for you to travel. This way you will be able to arrange dates with the ladies after the party and stay in Washington, DC longer. .