I’m excited to finally start hosting Jeffersonian Dinners.  As I mentioned, this dinner will take place at my home on Sat., Apr. 7 and the cost will be $40 – including alcohol! (people can bring their own as well).  I’m going to have the format as follows unless the time does not work for some people: 7:00 to 7:30:  Meet, mingle, and eat 7:30 to 8:30:  Healthcare focused discussion (people can continue to eat during the discussion) 8:30 and beyond:  Open ended conversation For those of you who have not shared a photo and personal bio, please do as I like to share this information with each guest.  It’s also part of the spirit of Jeffersonian Dinners to create an atmosphere where people can get to know each other better. A few questions that I will pose to get people thinking include: What was your first entrepreneurial endeavor and what did you learn from that experience? Is capitalism the optimal economic system for developing a healthy climate for entrepreneurs? I also suggest people watch part 1 and 2 of these videos focusing on a debate on the benefits of the profit motive which we will discuss as it relates to both health care an entrepreneurship:

Milton Friedman on Self-Interest and the Profit Motive

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ev_Uph_TLLo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPqdRqacpFk Here is a further description of the format.  Please let me know if you have any questions! The Rule:

1. You must have a single conversation. You talk to the whole table and the whole table listens. The whole time. That’s 8 to 14 brains on one topic. It’s powerful and unique.

The progress of the evening:

1. Come with a list of 5 or 7 questions you might pose to deepen the conversation as it progresses. 2. Begin with your guests’ stories. Each person shares a personal reflection on the question you posed ahead of the dinner. Try to connect with their personal passions around the topic. 3. Let the conversation take you where the passion goes. 4. As the host, insure that all participants feel welcome and have a chance to talk. Don’t run it like a meeting (“Joe, we haven’t heard from you yet”) but as a congenial dinner party (“Joe, I’d love to hear more about how you feel about [something that you know about Joe and how he feels].” Bottom line is this (as it was for Mr. Jefferson) it’s all about human beings connecting with each other. 5. Give your guests an opportunity to share something at the end of the evening – something that they learned, an idea that was especially inspiring or an item they plan to follow-up on in some way. Depending on the purpose of your event, you may wish to formalize this more (next steps, notes from the evening, etc).

After your dinner:

1. Share contact information from the evening – this can be a simple email to thank all the participants.