As part of our 200 Dinners Pittsburgh, Mayor Bill Peduto has offered to host five people in his conference room for lunch — he can’t make dinner — on Saturday, May 14th. Interested? Register here to win and read more about this rare opportunity for a seat at the table with our wonderfully engaged Mayor. Winners will be notified on Wednesday, May 11.
And no, it’s not too late to get involved with 200 Dinners Pittsburgh. While the official registration has closed (see below if you did register), you can still grab a couple of friends, head out to dinner and discuss the future of our city. Report back to us when you’re done and feel free to send a photo or two.
Here are some sample questions to get you going:
What makes you proud to call Pittsburgh home?
How can Pittsburgh attract the best and brightest to continue creating opportunities here?
What is one idea that would solve a problem in your neighborhood?
What should Pittsburgh become and how do we get there?
What is preventing Pittsburgh from tackling inequities in our communities?
Feel free to raise your own questions, and take a few notes so we can report on your conversation.
About 200 Dinners Pittsburgh
More than 100 people have signed on to host a dinner (inviting their own guests) and 200 more are registered to attend one of the many dinners scheduled in restaurants and community centers around town on May 14th.
NEXTpittsburgh and Vibrant Pittsburgh have joined forces to host 200 Dinners Pittsburgh, a bicentennial event celebrating the future of our city. As Pittsburgh becomes increasingly more diverse and more welcoming—that is, as we work to make it so—200 Dinners Pittsburgh will bring Pittsburgh residents together at dinners citywide for a discussion of ideas on ways to improve our city. We’ll supply a handful of questions to get you started (see above) but the focus of the conversation is up to you.
Each host or assigned person (or anyone really) can report back on the discussion and we will share results through social media and in a follow-up feature story in NEXTpittsburgh, complete with photos.
If you’re the host, you choose the dinner you want to have and who you want to invite. Use this handy host kit for reference. It can be at your home, at a restaurant or a potluck at a community center. It’s completely up to you, from a formal sit-down to a casual buffet. Can’t make it happen on Saturday night? Friday is ok, too. Or even breakfast or lunch earlier that week. The discussion is the important piece and reporting back on it.
Determining who attends, and how many, is up to the host. We want everyone to feel welcome so we encourage hosts to invite newcomers to their dinner, and we hope that all hosts and attendees will use this opportunity to broaden and diversify their networks.
There’s no minimum although we suggest you have 15 or fewer guests so a good discussion can take place. Want to hold more than one dinner at multiple locations? Go for it.
We’re providing the on-ramp. The dinners are up to you.
Sign up here to host. Remember, hosts invite their own guests.
While it’s too late to officially register to attend a dinner, we suggest you invite a few friends for lunch or dinner anytime next week so you can join in the conversation. Coffee works, too. Make it easy and let us know how it goes!