Now, this is the dinner date catch of the century. Seems like everybody and I do mean everybody wants to host a dinner party for the Obamas. Well, the problem is first the Obamas have not been known for being all that social. Which means if you are hoping to land the Obamas at your dinner table using traditional social schemes; it would be a good idea to rethink that thought.
Certainly, Michelle and President Elect Barack Obama would make ANY dinner party a hit! So how do you invite the Obamas to dinner? Right now landing the Obamas for dinner is all fair game which they have not accepted any open invitations.
The first thing is to understand the Obamas as an audience and how to target them! Here are some tips covered in an article written by JULIE BOSMAN in The New York Times:
A new president’s first foray into the social scene in the capital can be heavy with symbolism, a hint of how the first couple plan to engage with unofficial Washington. Failing to do so could mean missing an opportunity to meet the press, make bipartisan overtures and advance the White House political agenda, as other presidents have discovered.
The first step is to reach out to the people who have influence with the Obamas, said Tammy Haddad, a media consultant who gives an annual boldface-names brunch the day after the White House Correspondents’ dinner.
“The social question is, who are the closest people to the Obamas personally?” Ms. Haddad said. “Who’s the hottest property inside their small circle?”
A common tactic is to host a gathering not in honor of Mr. Obama, but for someone close to him, such as one of his top aides, making it difficult for him to refuse the invitation, one Washington hostess slyly suggested.
That was how Desirée Rogers, a longtime friend of the Obamas and the incoming White House social secretary, lured them both to her Chicago Gold Coast condominium in November: to attend a birthday party for Valerie Jarrett, a senior adviser to Mr. Obama.
JIMMY CARTER and his wife, Rosalynn, arrived in the capital in 1977 determined not to socialize with the insider crowd, a stance that rankled Democrats in Washington.
“The Carters made the vow that they would never get tangled up in Georgetown dinner parties, and indeed they did not,” said Diana McLellan, the author and onetime Washington gossip columnist. “They alienated their base, and it created a huge dislike of Carter. It was catastrophic.”
Another possibility, Ms. McLellan suggested, is to secure the attendance of an A-list guest.
“You have to find somebody Obama is dying to meet,” she said. “That’s the old Washington way, to dangle the bait, you know? And Obama would be such big bait, anybody in the world would come to a dinner for him.”
End
Here is my personal tip, as I mentioned you have to understand the Obamas as an audience and what they stand for. This is a couple this is just as likely to have dinner with a poor or even middle class family over a wealthy family.
Host a dinner party with a theme! Consider inviting people who are making a real difference to impact the world! A Changing The World Dinner! Those are the people that the Obamas want to meet.