Last updated: January 19, 2023
Big cities attract sharp, smart, entrepreneurial people.
Exactly the kind of people I like to meet.
On the night of 30th August 2018, I hosted a New Friends Cocktails and Icebreakers Party at Thompson’s Gallery in Marylebone, London.
Lots of sharp, smart, and entrepreneurial friends were made!
Video Welcome
The preparation
So how did I manage to get this bunch of people – from artists to business-owners, linguists to start-up big-shots – together in one place?
It started with my friend Kelsey. She kindly offered up her funky art gallery as our venue.
I took things from there: I reached out to some pals in and around London, plus a whole host of new contacts suggested to me in a preliminary Instagram post.
And people showed up!
The power of social media to connect people from all over the world is pretty extraordinary, huh?
Getting into the groove
So how do you get a bunch of strangers talking to each other? And talking something other than small-talk?
The recipe is simple.
You a) give them name tags, and b) make some fun ice-breaker games.
People are often a little dubious about structured sessions like these, ESPECIALLY the Brits.
Name tags? I thought we’d grown out of those in, like, primary school?
But after the first round or two… everyone got into the swing of things. They began to open up to people they’d never met before. It was a beautiful thing.
It’s all fun and games
One of my new favorites is a trick I learned from Kelsey: serving drinks in cups with numbers written on the bottom.
Every number had a pair, which meant that people had to go find their match. It brought people together who’d otherwise never have struck up conversation.
The guests
Now let me introduce you to my colorful cocktail of guests! You can see a full list of RSVPs on our Splash page. Here are just a few:
The venue
The art gallery was beautiful inside, as you can see in this photo.
Thanks to Megan and Kelsey for letting us have a party in their gallery.
The agenda
19:00 Cocktails kick off!
19:05 First round of icebreakers
19:45 Introduction to the awesome artists displayed at Thompson’s
20:00 Ice-breakers: Round 2!
Conclusion
After a couple of hours of ice-breakers over cocktails, heart-to-hearts, and new friendships, the party came to a close – but continued into the night at a nearby pub (couldn’t have found a more British way to end it!)
This was such a great night – and so much fun.
Getting a group of smart, motivated, funny people together is really inspiring. And what better way to attract a bunch like this than to host a cocktail party?
I hope to do it again soon – drop me a line if you want to come (and let me know why) to my next cocktail party in London!
Testimonials
“Thanks for hosting Nick! I met some really great people tonight” Linh Chi, marketing
“Thanks for the fab night!” Atalanta Xanthe, artist
“I met some really cool people! Thank you, Nick!” Seonaid Beckwith, linguist