Nick Gray - The 2-Hour Cocktail Party: How to Build Big Relationships with Small Gatherings

copyright 2022 nick gray

All rights reserved.

the 2-hour cocktail party

How to Build Big Relationships with Small Gatherings

isbn 978-1-5445-3007-9 Paperback

isbn 978-1-5445-3006-2 Ebook

isbn 978-1-5445-2915-8 Audiobook

Part 1

The Basics

Part 2

Putting the Party Together: The Logistics

Part 3

Party Time

Appendices

Tyler Vawser moved to Little Rock, Arkansas so his wife could be closer to her family.

Tyler had no job and no connections when they got there. He didnt know a single person in town except for his wifes family. He felt alone and worried about his career. He didnt even have a friend he could text on a Friday night.

Today, Tylers life is completely different. He hosts popular gatherings that have a long waiting list of interesting people. Hes become a vice president in charge of hiring for a major education company. His life feels full, he makes more money, and he has new friends and colleagues that inspire him.

What changed? He started to host small parties. Tyler created new connections and built up his relationships using the instructions in this book. Ill finish his story in Chapter 5 its a good one.

Youll meet other first-time hosts in special Party People Profiles throughout this book. Like Tyler, they all wanted something more in lifebut they never considered hosting a party could make that happen.

Thanks to my unique cocktail party formula, which in turn helped them build new relationships, they dramatically enriched and transformed their lives. All from spending seven dollars on a pack of name tags and one hundred dollars on various drinks and snacks.

This book worked for them, and it will work for you.

Hi, My Name is Nick Gray

Ive created a lot of fantastic, meaningful relationships in my life. I count business owners, engineers, teachers, artists, and many interesting people who are just fun to hang out with as my friends.

I get to spend quality time with many of themusually every single week.

Those friends helped me turn my wacky weekend hobby, Museum Hack, into a full-fledged business that gives renegade tours at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I never thought this would happen, but that side hustle grew into a multimillion-dollar company.

Before I sold Museum Hack in 2019, we had fifty employees and were working in some of the biggest museums in the world, like the Art Institute of Chicago and the Getty Museum in Los Angeles. My company was included in the Inc. 5000 as one of the fastest growing privately held businesses in America. I gave a popular TEDx talk and was featured multiple times in the Washington Post , New York Times , Wall Street Journal , and other major media outlets.

When I moved to New York City in 2007, I only knew a few people. I was a socially awkward twenty-something from a middle-class background trying to make it in the big city.

In social situations, I sometimes felt overwhelmed and intimidated. My heart would race, and Id stutter or say something embarrassing. Entering a room full of strangers was scary. If I got invited to a party, I would hang by the bar and play with my phone. In my braver moments, Id hover on the sidelines waiting for the perfect moment to join a conversation.

That moment never came. Instead, Id find a reason to leave the party early and go home alone. I felt sad and low, like Id wasted my time. I always took it personally. It frustrated me that a city of millions of people could make me feel so lonely.

You might be wondering how I went from there to where I am now: how did I go from sitting home alone on Friday nights to having a packed calendar and lots of meaningful relationships?

Well, as youll see in this book, the solution was simple

Dont Attend Bad EventsHost Great Parties Instead

Instead of going to random bars or meetups to try to create new connections, I decided to go a different route. Instead of going to other peoples parties, I decided to bring the party to me.

What I discovered, through lots of trial and error, is that theres a specific way to structure parties to make them easy and successfula formula, if you will, that anyone can follow.

Over the last ten years, Ive hosted hundreds of these small parties. Then Ive spent the past few years writing this book and testing every single aspect of it with different people around the world.

What follows in these pages is my formula to hack your social life by learning how to throw parties. Ill show you how to easily host fun events in your own home. Youll become very good at hosting a gathering, just as I have helped tens of thousands of people to appreciate the art inside the Met.

Some people may think a party requires loud music, late nights, and tons of booze. But a party is simply where people get together and have a good time. There can be an explicit purpose such as playing board games, celebrating an event, or meeting new people. But the essence of a party is that you are there to enjoy yourself and to connect with others.

Combining partying and relationship-building may sound counterintuitive. But it works. Ill show you how throwing small parties in a strategic way can be the easiest method to make new friends and even boost your career.

The Perfect Party Formula

In the following chapters, youll find everything you need to feel confident hosting your first party, including:

• Guest invitations : who to invite, how to invite them, and when to send the invitations to maximize RSVPs and minimize no-shows.
• Scripts you can use : my favorite and most effective email templates and event reminders to send after someone has RSVPd. Youll learn how one of these messages makes people feel special, valued, and excited to attendboosting your attendance rates above 80 percent.
• Must-have supplies : checklists with all you need to prepare for a seamless event.
• Proven-to-work icebreakers : the best conversation starters that Ive found, why they work, and exactly how and when to use them.

Plus, plenty more tips and tricks to make your parties stress-free. From picking the best day of the week to knowing what to say when someone arrives earlyand how to nicely ask people to leave at the end.

I used to be terrible at throwing parties. Then I discovered these specific tactics to get better at it. They areand I cant stress this enoughincredibly easy to implement yourself.

You Can Do This!

Hosting parties that build big relationships is a skill you can learn. Everything you will read in this book has been tested and proven to work.

And sure, you might make a few mistakes. Ive had mishaps along the waylike getting caught mid-shower when my first guest arrived early or hosting a party where only two people showed up.

But Ive written this book so you dont have to repeat my mistakes.

Now lets go!

Part 1