The Good Host
EVERY meeting, conference, seminar or social gathering should have a host. You know - the affable little creature who goes around and asks everybody if they are comfortable and agrees with them when they say the weather is just fine, or dull, or terrible, as the occasion and that person's climatic inclinations may lead him to believe. He is the guy who flits from corner to corner with a glass in his hand and sees to it that everyone else does the same. A host is, in short, the glue that binds disjointed beads of humans and persuades them to believe that they are having a good time. Or a fruitful one at the very least.
This latter function is important for the event to be considered a success. By that yardstick, a host is either a good host or a bad host. A good host is someone who has successfully managed to make people believe that they thoroughly enjoyed themselves at a party, or got some work done at a meeting. A bad host is one who is able to do neither. This is one of those straightforward things in life where there are no grey areas or in-betweens. Everything is smoothly divided into black and white. There is no such thing as an average host. You don't come away from a party saying it was all right. You either had a blast or the entire shindig was as rotten as a dead hippo in a gutter. The same holds true with meetings and conferences.
For instance, imagine you have just got back home after a meeting and your better half asks you how it went. You are supposed to say that you got a lot of issues cleared and that the meeting was extremely productive and path breaking, or, if you have been the victim of a bad host, that it was a sinful waste of your precious time. Of course, there are, and always will be sore thumbs who will go against all known codes of decency and shock the socks off their spouses by shrugging off a meeting or a conference or a party as being `okay', but they must ask themselves just who they are trying to fool. Nay, these gatherings - civilised or otherwise, must have a definite epitaph to make the job of remembering easier for better halves and for posterity. And what that epitaph will be depends a lot upon the sort of hosts these gatherings will have.
To begin with, good hosting is neither rocket science nor brain surgery. It is more like tea. You take a lot of leafy-headed business people, ply them with wholesome liquids and bring the whole concoction to a simmering boil. Sooner or later, you'll have yourself a flourishing get-together. When you are hosting a meeting or a seminar, remember to:
a. Maintain focus: It is the job of the host to keep the focus on the agenda that needs to be discussed. If people stray from the decided path, gently nudge them back onto the right track. If it is a seminar you are hosting, you would do well to have speakers who can appeal to the audience effectively.
b. Be flexible: Be open to ideas. Some would say that being a good host is all about having multiple personality disorder. You cannot afford to be the same person to two different people at the same social gathering. It creates all sorts of problems if you try and be constant in your views and opinions, even if they have been acquired over a period of time and are bound by logic or based on rationality and reasoning. This is not wholly true. You can state your opinion; only make sure everyone else gets to do the same. And finally, when it comes to your own beliefs, it helps to be a little bendy.
c. Be prepared: Have pamphlets, documents and similar paraphernalia handy so participants can glance through them at will. Keep pens, pads and papers ready before the event begins.
And finally, remember to have clearly defined roles:
A host is a lot like a designated driver. If one hasn't been appointed before the event, things are likely to get chaotic.
A host must play chaperone to the other participants. Good hosting is clearly defined, and hosts and participants are acutely conscious of which responsibilities are placed with which party.
ARJUN SENGUPTA
arjuns.hyd@cnkonline.com
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