Running dinner in Madrid, 24 July 2010

Running Dinner

Participate in Madrid’s first Running Dinner on Saturday 24 July, 2010, at 20h.

What is this?

A running dinner is a fun and different way to dine with new people during the course of an evening. There are 3 courses: starter, main course and dessert. Each course is eaten at a different location (someone's home) and with different people. If you want to have fun and do something a bit different, meet lots of new people at once and have an evening of adventure on your own doorstep, here's your chance.

How does it work?

Once everyone has signed up, the organisers will match the participants up at random into teams of two (normally male-female teams, but depending who signs up, team members could be of the same sex too). Each team will be assigned a course to prepare: a starter, main course or dessert. Teams choose their own recipes. The course will be prepared at the home of one of the two team members, and two other teams will come and dine there, without knowing in advance who they will be dining with. For the next course, you will go to another team's flat and meet other people, and so on until the dinner finishes. Each team will have to prepare the course assigned to them, so they will be hosts for one part of the meal and guests for the other two parts.
So, you get to have a fun evening spent in different settings with different people.

A few days before the dinner, you will receive an email with the name and phone number of your team partner, the course you have to prepare and the addresses of where you will eat the other two courses and of the venue for the final party, where all the participants get together. You should meet up the day before the dinner, decide what you want to cook, buy the ingredients and get your dish ready as far as possible. On the day of the dinner (for example, if you're going to serve the starter), at 8pm 4 mystery guests will arrive at your house (or your team partner's house) for the first course. At 9.30pm, everyone must leave to reach their next destination for 10pm - each team will head to a different house to meet different people. The same will happen with the dessert, served at 12. At the end of the night, all participants will meet up at a party in a bar in central Madrid.

How to sign up

The running dinner will be on Saturday 24 July in the centre of Madrid. To sign up, send an an email to runningdinnermadrid@gmail.com before 17 July (the closing date)with the following information:

• Full name
• Email address
• Mobile phone number
• DNI / NIE
• Age
• Postal address and area of Madrid
• Dietary requirements (e.g vegetarian)
• Can you host a course for 6 people at your house? YES / NO
(Please put YES if you can - without enough hosts, we won't be able to hold the running dinner)

If you send all the information to the address above, we'll confirm your participation before the dinner.

Frequently asked questions

• Who can take part?
Anyone can take part. Obviously we trust that all participants will treat their hosts and other guests with respect throughout the night.
• How much does it cost?
It's free to take part. The only costs are the ones shared by each team for buying the necessary ingredients for cooking their assigned course for 6 people (and of course, the drinks at the party afterwards!).
• Can I take part even if I don't have an apartment and can't be a host?
You can take part regardless of whether you have your own apartment. If fewer hosts sign up than necessary, we will try to organise groups of three. However, we can only guarantee participation to those who can offer to host a course. If you do have a flat, even if it's shared or very small, please sign up as a host if possible.
• I don't speak much Spanish - can I still take part?
Most participants will probably speak some English and will be happy to practise with you. However, to ensure that communication between participants is possible, we ask that everyone who signs up has at least a basic level of Spanish.
• Once I've signed up, can I cancel?
You can cancel by sending an email to runningdinnermadrid@gmail.com before 17 July. We ask you to please understand that cancellations can only be made one week before the dinner (by 17 July). Organising a running dinner is a complex puzzle, and if a piece is missing we will have to reorganise the whole thing. Cancellations after 17 July will only be possible if you offer a substitute participant (a friend of yours). Thanks for your understanding on this one!
• Won't it be stressful to go from one flat to another all night?
According to the schedule, you have an hour and a half to enjoy each course. Afterwards, the teams have half an hour to get to their next destination. To make this feasible, we'll try and make sure (as far as possible) that there isn't too great a distance between the flats each team will visit. The more participants sign up as hosts, the more flats there will be and the shorter the distances will be.
•Who is organising it?
We are two girls living in Madrid who like organising events, meeting new people and having fun. It's a completely privately organised event with no commercial affiliation.

So, if you're interested in being part of this event, send us an email with your details!