Planning A Series

The People Games were found to be most popular when they were done in series of twelve. By running the Games on a "one-a-week" basis in a location that became familiar a special rapport developed among the people attending. Usually, half of the people attending a particular game were new to the game while the other half had attended previous games and were begining to get to know one another. Since there were both new people to meet and familiar people to relax with, we found it especially good.

It is recommended, therefore, that a host or hostess be found who would volunteer to host the games over several weeks, hopefully, at least four weeks, and preferably six or more. Once the Games are established it will be easy to develop new hosts and hostesses from the attendees.

Of course, this does not mean that the Games cannot be done on an individual basis. The "catchy" titles of the Games usually promote interest in themselves, and even a single game, all by its lonesome, or various different Games spread around an area in different locations, can be a special experience.

The People Games may be listed in newsletters as either social or educational events, as they have both aspects. The social aspect is meeting people, and the educational aspect is developing insight into how other people feel or think about various basic things. Thus, the Games can be scheduled as alternatives to discussions on weekdays or to dances on weekends. In addition to this, the Games have been used successfully and extensively in new member discussion programs to help "break the ice".

Since the Games are especially interesting and enjoyable as well as educational, and because of the extra cost of materials, there should be an extra charge for the Game over and above the usual "refreshments" cost. We recommend $1.25, but the ultimate decision on that depends on you. Use the profit in your treasury for financing children's activities, etc.

For announcing the Games in the newsletter we have used a few brief descriptions which you might want to try. "Getting-to-know-you games that are easy and fun." "New communication games that develop closeness and closerness." "Enjoyable and rewarding games that develop self-expression and insight." "Easy and fun way to meet people." "Conversation games that get you in touch."

One interesting thing we've discovered about the Games is that they work better without alcohol than they do with it. So, they are best scheduled as a "coffee" is during the week or run in an abbreviated form (two sets only) on weekends with wine and cheese, etc toward the end.

Within these guidelines the rest of the planning is up to you. Once you have done one or two you will see how the program develops and probably want to continue the whole series. If you do, you'll find that attendance will gradually increase to capacity and that "the more, the merrier" definitely applies.