Liberal Drinks

Version 0.2 (October 2006)

Organising a Liberal Drinks is as easy as holding a piss up in a pub - because that’s exactly what it is. What’s more, with the help of Flock Together, we’ve made it even easier for you!

Getting started

There are three simple things you should do first:

• Find a suitable venue. This should be a pub that is easy to get to and has a good atmosphere.
• Decide on a regular date. We strongly recommend you decide on a fixed day to hold your Drinks every month, for example, the third Wednesday of every month, or the second Sunday. Keep to this date as it will be easier for people to remember.
• Register on Flock Together. Once you’re registered, you will be able to add meeting details onto the website (and, subsequently, here).

Once you’ve done all that, simply click on the “Add a meeting” button on the Flock Together sidebar, and enter your Drinks’ details.

IMPORTANT: Make sure you add “Liberal Drinks” to your meeting under “Organisation Details”. This will ensure that your Drinks will show up on the Liberal Drinks page on Flock Together and, of course, this website.

Promote Your Drinks

Flock Together and the Liberal Drinks website will only help you so much as far as promoting your Liberal Drinks is concerned. You will have to do a bit of promotion yourself. Email everyone you know of a liberal persuasion and encourage them to come.

If your Lib Dem local party has agreed to support your Liberal Drinks (although we stress - you don’t HAVE get approval from your local party), you can of course promote your event in their newsletter, website and email list.

Coming soon - a range of buttons for you to add to your website/blog/emails to help promote Liberal Drinks.

Tips and Suggestions

• The number of people who come to your Liberal Drinks can be variable. The good news is, you can have a very small Liberal Drinks and still have a good time. But it is recommended that you make sure one of your friends is coming so that you don’t end up on your own.
• We recommend you have a table sign so people can find you in the pub like this one (pdf, illustrated, right).  Print this on yellow card and fold it in half to make a simple sign.
• Always expect people to turn up who you weren’t expecting. Indeed, that is one of the fun things about Liberal Drinks.
• Take special care to make newbies feel welcome - offer to buy them a drink and make sure the old lags don’t dominate discussions too much.

Ideas you might want to experiment with

• Liberal Thinks - as a change from your regular Liberal Drinks, book a room and arrange a speaker for a more thought-provoking evening.
• Liberal Reads - each month a Drinker gets to nominate a book which other Drinkers are encouraged to read before the next event.
• Liberal Flicks - as a special event, arrange to go to the cinema to see a politically themed film or documentary. Then congregate in the pub afterwards to discuss.

The purpose of Liberal Drinks is to encourage liberals across the UK to break bread together, to socialise and to debate. We hope you will help us develop a nationwide network of Drinks across the country.

NEW: I’ve set up a Liberal Drinks discussion group for people to discuss organising their own drinks. If you wish to subscribe to this, simply click here.

Do you have any suggestions, tips, ideas or experiences you would like to share? Email them to James Graham at semajmaharg@gmail.com.

Version 0.2 (October 2006)

Organising a Liberal Drinks is as easy as holding a piss up in a pub - because that’s exactly what it is. What’s more, with the help of Flock Together, we’ve made it even easier for you!

Getting started

There are three simple things you should do first:

• Find a suitable venue. This should be a pub that is easy to get to and has a good atmosphere.
• Decide on a regular date. We strongly recommend you decide on a fixed day to hold your Drinks every month, for example, the third Wednesday of every month, or the second Sunday. Keep to this date as it will be easier for people to remember.
• Register on Flock Together. Once you’re registered, you will be able to add meeting details onto the website (and, subsequently, here).

Once you’ve done all that, simply click on the “Add a meeting” button on the Flock Together sidebar, and enter your Drinks’ details.

IMPORTANT: Make sure you add “Liberal Drinks” to your meeting under “Organisation Details”. This will ensure that your Drinks will show up on the Liberal Drinks page on Flock Together and, of course, this website.

Promote Your Drinks

Flock Together and the Liberal Drinks website will only help you so much as far as promoting your Liberal Drinks is concerned. You will have to do a bit of promotion yourself. Email everyone you know of a liberal persuasion and encourage them to come.

If your Lib Dem local party has agreed to support your Liberal Drinks (although we stress - you don’t HAVE get approval from your local party), you can of course promote your event in their newsletter, website and email list.

Coming soon - a range of buttons for you to add to your website/blog/emails to help promote Liberal Drinks.

Tips and Suggestions

• The number of people who come to your Liberal Drinks can be variable. The good news is, you can have a very small Liberal Drinks and still have a good time. But it is recommended that you make sure one of your friends is coming so that you don’t end up on your own.
• We recommend you have a table sign so people can find you in the pub like this one (pdf, illustrated, right).  Print this on yellow card and fold it in half to make a simple sign.
• Always expect people to turn up who you weren’t expecting. Indeed, that is one of the fun things about Liberal Drinks.
• Take special care to make newbies feel welcome - offer to buy them a drink and make sure the old lags don’t dominate discussions too much.

Ideas you might want to experiment with

• Liberal Thinks - as a change from your regular Liberal Drinks, book a room and arrange a speaker for a more thought-provoking evening.
• Liberal Reads - each month a Drinker gets to nominate a book which other Drinkers are encouraged to read before the next event.
• Liberal Flicks - as a special event, arrange to go to the cinema to see a politically themed film or documentary. Then congregate in the pub afterwards to discuss.

The purpose of Liberal Drinks is to encourage liberals across the UK to break bread together, to socialise and to debate. We hope you will help us develop a nationwide network of Drinks across the country.

NEW: I’ve set up a Liberal Drinks discussion group for people to discuss organising their own drinks. If you wish to subscribe to this, simply click here.

Do you have any suggestions, tips, ideas or experiences you would like to share? Email them to James Graham at semajmaharg@gmail.com.