Successful events should seek to establish solidarity and community
between individuals over various fault lines. These fault lines might
include community, religion, politics, and culture. The best events
engage with these interest areas and have a clearly stated goal or
purpose. Guests at Moishe House events should feel challenged and
comfortable enough to engage with these topics creatively. An example
of an event that satisfied these criterion would be the review of the
New Orleans Master Plan. Individuals were encouraged to rely on their
own specialized and professional knowledge in reviewing the Master
Plan and sketching out a list of steps to its implementation.
Individuals were inspired by their own connection to the city of New
Orleans and were given a comfortable space for free discussion and
self-expression. As each individual had a vested interest in the
rebuilding of the city of New Orleans itself, the event was
self-driven. Members of the Moishe House simply tapped into the
interests of its community of guests and structured a discussion. As
most of the guests at this event were relatively new to the city of
New Orleans, this was also an opportunity to build solidarity with
life-long residents of the city.
In addition, successful events should take time out from the monotony
of the work-week by targeting the individual's needs for relaxation,
socializing, and the spiritual. For example, one particularly
successful event focused on a study of Torah in the context of the
economic crisis. House guests discussed the role and importance of
Torah study in a chaotic world. Considering this period of social and
spiritual malaise caused by an uncertain economy, the Moishe House
served as a free space of study and conversation.
- Esther
Friday, July 10, 2009
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
What makes a succesful Moishe House event?
A four-part recipe for successful events from the Portland Moishe House.
1) Events must be interesting, fun or both.
Think about whether you would attend the event. If the answer is no, you probably shouldn't expect others to come.
Different people are looking for different things but nobody wants to waste their time on something that is stupid, boring, or at worse both. For your more intellectual crowd, offer them meaningful conversations and opportunities to learn. For the crowd that just wants to kick back, give them an easy opportunity to unwind. Or, as we do, mix the two. For example, we've had a lot of success with our "Torah on Tap" series. We've found that people come because 1) The topic is interesting and the discussion leader is appealing. 2) The "on tap" makes what could be an intimidating topic (Torah) and makes it fun and accessible.
2) Ratio is important.
If you don't have a good ratio of men to women at events, your numbers will fall off over time. Opportunities for mingling with people of the opposite sex is as critical as anything to sustained success. Go out of your way to "engineer" a good ratio.
3) Set goals and evaluate your events
Measure the success of your events on both qualitative and quantitative measures. Ask people what they liked and didn't like and store the information in your brain. Get a good sense of how many people are necessary for different kinds of events and make sure you reach your numbers. Also set goals for the number of new people, because its easy to fall back on your regulars but that won't help grow your community.
4) Use both mass and targeted communications
Since both the quality of a individuals experience and the number of people who come are important measures of success, conduct your recruitment and marketing accordingly. If you don't build a big list of people to tell about your events, you won't consistently get large numbers of people to come out for them. Equally important, however, is reaching out to people on an individual level. Mass emailing gets you a good distance, but there is nothing like a direct conversation to encourage someone to participate and build a relationship.
We hope that this post was instructive for other houses as they consider the ingredients for a successful event. If you you have questions or concerns, send us an email!
1) Events must be interesting, fun or both.
Think about whether you would attend the event. If the answer is no, you probably shouldn't expect others to come.
Different people are looking for different things but nobody wants to waste their time on something that is stupid, boring, or at worse both. For your more intellectual crowd, offer them meaningful conversations and opportunities to learn. For the crowd that just wants to kick back, give them an easy opportunity to unwind. Or, as we do, mix the two. For example, we've had a lot of success with our "Torah on Tap" series. We've found that people come because 1) The topic is interesting and the discussion leader is appealing. 2) The "on tap" makes what could be an intimidating topic (Torah) and makes it fun and accessible.
2) Ratio is important.
If you don't have a good ratio of men to women at events, your numbers will fall off over time. Opportunities for mingling with people of the opposite sex is as critical as anything to sustained success. Go out of your way to "engineer" a good ratio.
3) Set goals and evaluate your events
Measure the success of your events on both qualitative and quantitative measures. Ask people what they liked and didn't like and store the information in your brain. Get a good sense of how many people are necessary for different kinds of events and make sure you reach your numbers. Also set goals for the number of new people, because its easy to fall back on your regulars but that won't help grow your community.
4) Use both mass and targeted communications
Since both the quality of a individuals experience and the number of people who come are important measures of success, conduct your recruitment and marketing accordingly. If you don't build a big list of people to tell about your events, you won't consistently get large numbers of people to come out for them. Equally important, however, is reaching out to people on an individual level. Mass emailing gets you a good distance, but there is nothing like a direct conversation to encourage someone to participate and build a relationship.
We hope that this post was instructive for other houses as they consider the ingredients for a successful event. If you you have questions or concerns, send us an email!
A successful event - MH JHB
What makes a successful moishe event?
Besides the obvious good 'freebies' - the food, the entertainment, the comfortable surroundings - our Moishe Houseniks come for the people. We at Moishe house JHB believe that it is THIS that makes a successful event, more than any other.
We have people from different ends of the socio-economic spectrum, Jews from the religious to the completely atheist, with a healthy dose of secular 'traditional' Jews in between.
A good example of this kind of event was the annual Seder we have, and have held in Moishe House Cape Town (the house Daanie and i stayed in before moving to jo'burg) for a few years now.
A Pesach seder is something South African Jews almost all do with their families at home. The nature of one's 'home seder' is, as can be expected, linked to the type of Jewish environment that the family enjoys. Many young Jews find this kind of seder monotonous, boring, perhaps completely uninspiring. they simply can't connect to it. It was with this in mind that we started planning a '3rd seder', an event that encourages Jews from all walks of life to come together to celebrate being Jewish, to remember our history, and, most importantly, to find a connection to the chag of pesach that they didnt have before.
We form this connection by incorporating a theme for the seder - usually a group of people who, unlike us Jews, are not free. we explore their anguish, pain and suffering, and show solidarity with their cause.
the kind of people who are at our events offer diverse opinions, which has shown us that the Jewish nation is still dynamic, exciting and interesting to the wider community
We're realized that only through making events relevant, will people come to them, keep coming to them, and want more and more.
And that's why we're 'the best'! :)
Besides the obvious good 'freebies' - the food, the entertainment, the comfortable surroundings - our Moishe Houseniks come for the people. We at Moishe house JHB believe that it is THIS that makes a successful event, more than any other.
We have people from different ends of the socio-economic spectrum, Jews from the religious to the completely atheist, with a healthy dose of secular 'traditional' Jews in between.
A good example of this kind of event was the annual Seder we have, and have held in Moishe House Cape Town (the house Daanie and i stayed in before moving to jo'burg) for a few years now.
A Pesach seder is something South African Jews almost all do with their families at home. The nature of one's 'home seder' is, as can be expected, linked to the type of Jewish environment that the family enjoys. Many young Jews find this kind of seder monotonous, boring, perhaps completely uninspiring. they simply can't connect to it. It was with this in mind that we started planning a '3rd seder', an event that encourages Jews from all walks of life to come together to celebrate being Jewish, to remember our history, and, most importantly, to find a connection to the chag of pesach that they didnt have before.
We form this connection by incorporating a theme for the seder - usually a group of people who, unlike us Jews, are not free. we explore their anguish, pain and suffering, and show solidarity with their cause.
the kind of people who are at our events offer diverse opinions, which has shown us that the Jewish nation is still dynamic, exciting and interesting to the wider community
We're realized that only through making events relevant, will people come to them, keep coming to them, and want more and more.
And that's why we're 'the best'! :)
Moishe House Vienna - July
We believe the involvement of participants is one of the main elements of a successful event. As one of the main goals of Moishe house is to create a sense of community for young professional Jews, we always try to encourage participants to take part in the organising of events which make them feel part of the Moishe house rather than just guests.
We also believe that people should come out of an event either having learnt something new, having met new friends, with a happy feeling and of course well fed with tasty food!
Regarding the number of participants, we believe that the quality is more important than quantity; we would rather invite 10 people who would really get involved and would benefit truly from Moishe house rather than having large numbers coming just for the food. In Vienna, depending on the kind of event, the number of attendees can vary between 15 to 50.
We recently organised a mini retreat just outside Vienna, with both regular participants and new ones. Almost everyone got involved in putting the event together which made everyone feel like a big family.
Though we believe that the best way of getting people really involved is by focusing only on one to two people at a time. Generally these people will bring then two more each.
We wish you success in your events and a wonderful summer!
We also believe that people should come out of an event either having learnt something new, having met new friends, with a happy feeling and of course well fed with tasty food!
Regarding the number of participants, we believe that the quality is more important than quantity; we would rather invite 10 people who would really get involved and would benefit truly from Moishe house rather than having large numbers coming just for the food. In Vienna, depending on the kind of event, the number of attendees can vary between 15 to 50.
We recently organised a mini retreat just outside Vienna, with both regular participants and new ones. Almost everyone got involved in putting the event together which made everyone feel like a big family.
Though we believe that the best way of getting people really involved is by focusing only on one to two people at a time. Generally these people will bring then two more each.
We wish you success in your events and a wonderful summer!
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
June June June!!
What an absolutely fantastic month! Kicking off the month with our classic Moishe House book club, we all knew we were in for a month of incredible events!
The highlight event for me though, has to without a doubt be our Limmud style Jewish humour event. We started off the night watching some clips of the great classics in Jewish humour such as Jerry Seinfield, Ben Stiller, Adam Sandler and of course the old but great Woody Allen! We then had a discussion on what it is about Jewish humour that we really connect to individually. And we finished off the night playing a few games such as props and sherades. It truly was a fantastic night for everyone!
The end of June also brings about the start of the our winter holidays, which meant losing 2 house mates for a bit. The house has been a bit lonely for the last few days, but I do look forward to my house mates return and trust they have had relaxing holidays!
Until next time!
Ross Engers (Moishe House Cape Town)
The highlight event for me though, has to without a doubt be our Limmud style Jewish humour event. We started off the night watching some clips of the great classics in Jewish humour such as Jerry Seinfield, Ben Stiller, Adam Sandler and of course the old but great Woody Allen! We then had a discussion on what it is about Jewish humour that we really connect to individually. And we finished off the night playing a few games such as props and sherades. It truly was a fantastic night for everyone!
The end of June also brings about the start of the our winter holidays, which meant losing 2 house mates for a bit. The house has been a bit lonely for the last few days, but I do look forward to my house mates return and trust they have had relaxing holidays!
Until next time!
Ross Engers (Moishe House Cape Town)
Moishe House Buenos Aires - Julia
Different events seem to be successful in different ways... What makes an event successful? It depends on the type of event. But if we can answer ‘yes’ to most of these questions, then we have a ‘thumbs up’...
Did people have a positive experience? Did they feel welcome? Comfortable? Would they come back to the House? Will they tell their friends about it? Did we feel positive energy? Did they learn something new? Meet new people? Catch up with old friends? Enjoy themselves?
In general, making people feel welcome, comfortable and enjoy positive experiences are the most important things for us. One event that got it just right was ‘Dinner, Pictionary and Salsa dancing’. We ate delicious food, played games like Connect 4, Backgammon, card games and Pictionary and salsa-danced the rest of the night away.
Some key features that made the event successful were that we didn’t advertise the event to all 750 members on the MHBA Facebook group. Because of the nature of the event, we had to have a manageable number of people, so we invited 30 people, of whom 20 came for dinner and games and then a further 60 or so came later for the dancing. 20 people was about the critical mass needed for people to get to know each other over dinner and to enjoy playing the games together. The 60 others who came later had heard that there was an event on at the MH, so they came along to check it out, and made the dancing / party time even better!
The great thing about the games, especially Pictionary, was that everyone got involved in a relaxed, fun atmosphere. Pictionary was a great ice-breaker and allowed people to get to know each other’s names and to socialise with different people. Each person had to turn to draw something in front of everyone else for one minute. Once they had done that, talking to people wasn’t so hard! Different guests stepped up to organise different parts of the games which also enabled them to feel more part of the evening and more ‘at home’.
Another key factor was the great food, which the housemates made together J. Lots of approval from guests! And lastly, the music. Because we know that they go crazy for latino / reggaeton / salsa music, we made a playlist of these songs beforehand, rigged up the sound system and pressed ‘play’. Bingo. Happy campers.
Did people have a positive experience? Did they feel welcome? Comfortable? Would they come back to the House? Will they tell their friends about it? Did we feel positive energy? Did they learn something new? Meet new people? Catch up with old friends? Enjoy themselves?
In general, making people feel welcome, comfortable and enjoy positive experiences are the most important things for us. One event that got it just right was ‘Dinner, Pictionary and Salsa dancing’. We ate delicious food, played games like Connect 4, Backgammon, card games and Pictionary and salsa-danced the rest of the night away.
Some key features that made the event successful were that we didn’t advertise the event to all 750 members on the MHBA Facebook group. Because of the nature of the event, we had to have a manageable number of people, so we invited 30 people, of whom 20 came for dinner and games and then a further 60 or so came later for the dancing. 20 people was about the critical mass needed for people to get to know each other over dinner and to enjoy playing the games together. The 60 others who came later had heard that there was an event on at the MH, so they came along to check it out, and made the dancing / party time even better!
The great thing about the games, especially Pictionary, was that everyone got involved in a relaxed, fun atmosphere. Pictionary was a great ice-breaker and allowed people to get to know each other’s names and to socialise with different people. Each person had to turn to draw something in front of everyone else for one minute. Once they had done that, talking to people wasn’t so hard! Different guests stepped up to organise different parts of the games which also enabled them to feel more part of the evening and more ‘at home’.
Another key factor was the great food, which the housemates made together J. Lots of approval from guests! And lastly, the music. Because we know that they go crazy for latino / reggaeton / salsa music, we made a playlist of these songs beforehand, rigged up the sound system and pressed ‘play’. Bingo. Happy campers.
An Evening with New Orleans Master Plan
An Evening with the New Orleans Master Plan
By: Gill Benedek
Soon to be Published in The NPN Trumpet
On June 18th, a group of young-professionals gathered at the Moishe House to review the New Orleans Master Plan. The Moishe House invited planners David Dixon and Raphael Rabalais from Goody-Clancy & Associates to join the Master Plan review session. Earlier this year, New Orleans’ a voted on a Charter Amendment that would give the Master Plan the "force-of-law" - thus making it a legally binding document that greatly influences zoning and policy decisions for the next twenty years. A Master Plan is a document that describes, through narrative, maps and other data an overall development vision for a city's future development. The master plan is used to coordinate the preparation of more detailed plans or may be a collection of detailed plans. The plan may be prepared by a local government to guide private and public development or by a developer on a specific project.
Currently weighing in at over 500 pages, the Master Plan is packed with data, historical analysis, land use maps and sweeping policy suggestions. The evening’s purpose was to offer an opportunity for an in-depth review of the current Master Plan draft. Out of the approximately 40 people in attendance, only a handful of the evening’s participants were raised in New Orleans. While this bolstered Goody Clancy’s hope and belief that the 23-35 age demographic will migrate to New Orleans, it also highlighted the existing divisions among New Orleans' Generation Y demographics.
After a 40 minutes overview of the Masterplan, the participants broke out into 3 groups to discuss their areas of greatest interest: land use, economic development and housing. Every table engaged in a lively discussion of the issues and were tasked with identifying the Master Plan policies they supported, challenging the Master Plan’s assumptions and suggesting new strategies.
As one participant that evening noted, “The master plan meeting was an incredible opportunity to meet directly with David Dixon and Raphael Rabalais who have worked on the master plan as well as other planning efforts in New Orleans.”The following is a summary of points concluded by the breakout groups:
Land Use: The land use maps, ultimately one of the most important elements due to its influence on zoning, did not reflect the forward-thinking, bold revitalization suggestions discussed in other chapters. By suggesting more of the same, the land us maps only re-enforce a "status quo"for development rather than leading the coordinated, innovative and sustainable urban growth that the Master Plan recommends.
Housing: Being such a large issue, this group spent a good deal of time asking David Dixon further questions about housing policy in New Orleans. Common points that were echoed by the participants included strategic suggestions such as:
- New city agency positions to interact as liaisons to neighborhoods.
- Increase funding to important housing departments like NORA.
- Raising city salaries to attract talented people to work in city hall.
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