Makers Social

Purpose

Maker Social's are social evenings hosted on the last Thursday of each month, and are an opportunity to meet other people without worrying so much about getting in the way of their hacking. The Social evening is focussed on a buffet hosted in Cakespace, although some food is provided at Makespace's expense, makers are welcome to bring in their own contributions if they see fit.

Planning

There's normally some discussion of the social on the google group. If you want to run the buffet you are best advised to

• Read this guide, all of it, first.
• Post to the group offering to run the buffet
• Keep an eye out for competing activities, such as a beer fest
• ... preferably a couple of days in advance to see if anyone objects.
• Arrange to see Mark Wainwright to discuss spending limits.

If after all this you're still running the buffet, Hurrah!

Buffet

Aiming to feed about a dozen people to the level of a small meal normally does the job quite nicely. Please remember that there will most likely be vegetarians in attendance.

Never be afraid to pass off special offers as divine inspiration (Unless it's Corona.)

The typical menu for the last few months has been.

• A selection of fruit juices. Supermarkets tend to have at least one (own?)brand on a three-for-two or similar offer: Be inspired
• A vegetarian quiche or similar
• A meat-eaters quiche or similar
• four-six (Depending on INSPIRATION) packs of party nibbles (Savoury Eggs, Mini Sausage Rolls, etc.) , half of which should be veggie.
• Dips
• * Coleslaw (Supermarket own brand)
• * Potato Salad (See above)
• * Tomatoish Tortilla chip dip.
• One or two BIG bags of Tortilla chips.
• Vegetables chopped up into finger food.
  • Cherry Tomatoes (300g punnet does well enough.)
  • Cucumber (One's enough)
  • Bag of carrot batons
  • Grapes
• A few cook-at-home bagguettes
• A selection of cheeses, (three or four.)
• three or four varieties of biscuit/cracker to go with the cheese
• Butter
• Some sort of cake.

Alcohol

Makespace is normally a dry zone, explicit permission must be sought from the directors before alcohol is consumed, start working on this a few days before the social. The rules require that

• Tools or tagged equipment MUST NOT be used by people who have been drinking.
• Only alcohol provided by the organiser can be consumed
• It must be made clear that alcohol is only allowed on rare occasions.
• At the end of the evening, any unused alcohol must be gathered and either
  • Taken off site,
  • Stored securely
  • Explicitly marked "For Social Nights Only." (In practice most people have finished by 23:00, so making this a formal end time is reasonable.)

Before buying any alcohol check with Mark to see if there is any stored in the office from the previous social. Following a period of consultation and experimentation, it is recommended that a white wine and selection of reasonable Real Ales is offered. If you need guidance ask Mat Cook, and a certain supermarket is currently offering a "Four for six quid" deal, which keeps the cost down and Every Little Helps (Hint Hint) The same consultation period also concluded that there are certain beers that are not acceptable even if they are on special offer.