I remember coming up to Chicago back in 2003 - 2004 for improv classes (yes, that's actually why I moved here) and all the times I wanted to go out and try different restaurants. The problem was, I didn't really know anyone here. But because food and I are BFF's, I would walk down the street, find a restaurant that looked good, march inside and sit down to a nice meal and glass of wine all by myself. Now, I can do that; but I know a lot of people who can't, or wouldn't dare. And certainly, I would've rather had company.
So I have an idea that's been rolling around in my head for a few months now, and I'm interested in your opinions about it.
I was thinking about all the gay men and women who travel to Chicago on business, and how I bet it would be nice if they had someone to have dinner with that was also a gay professional. They likely don't know anyone here except their straight colleagues, and they're tired of eating alone in their hotel room. I think it would be great if we could set something up where IGC provides a dinner companion. Not a "date", because the two people live in different cities/states; but someone they could talk to and have a nice dinner with, knowing that the person was educated, intelligent, stable and secure.
It wouldn't cost anything extra for my current clients (the ones who reside in the Chicagoland area) and these dinners wouldn't count towards their introductions.
I would have to be able to interview the out-of-towner in person so my Chicago clients would know that he/she is A-OK. But once I did that, for the rest of the year all the out-of-towner would need to do is call or email us ahead of time, and we can get to work on setting up the dinner(s).
Obviously there's a few kinks to still be worked out, but I feel like it might be a nice service to offer.
Thoughts?
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2 comments:
Though I'm not an IGC client (yet. maybe) I think this is a really good idea. I think you should open it up to non-clients (locally) since not everyone a visiting lgbtq professional might want to have a good conversation with would necessarily want to pay your (in this economy) fairly high fees for a brief dinner or drink opportunity. Some might just want to get out of the house and meet an interesting visitor.
Why don't you ask for volunteers to help you in this project?
I think that's definitely a possibility....except I would still have to interview the potential client/non-client. The whole point being, of course, that gay or lesbian professionals visiting chicago would be assured that they were meeting someone where they had some things in common. And that's how we operate now - which is that the information a client gets about their match is factual, not simply what the person wants someone else to know.
But I agree - to get out of the house and meet someone new...could be a really fun thing for a lot of people! I would have done it for sure.
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