Open House...

[gizmonl66]

Hello to all,
I am holding an Open House party in a week. I have hand delivered almost 100 invitations. I plan on e-mailing a reminder this week. The problem is that I have only received 3 RSVPs so far. I don't know how to plan for this event...how much food? How many prizes? etc. The party is a Mystery Hostess Party which I thought would create some excitement...apparently not! (off the topic...does the person have to be present in order to qualify for the Mystery Hostess?)
What can I do to prepare for this? How exactly do you do an open house?
I was planning on just displaying the products with the price next to it...

Any suggestions/comments will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks so much,
Gwen

[propartyplan.com]

Instead of emailing all your guests to remind them, call the ones you can...This will give you the opportunity to find out if they are coming and if they are not, you will be able to see if they are interested in ordering or booking a party...Make sure you have a special available to offer them on the phone if they can't make it to the party...This will entice them to book or order....
I would require them to be there to earn mystery hostess benefits...that is just me..but your guest that took the time to come should be treated special for coming...marcy

[bjncourt]

I just went through this not to long along.

You do need to call people to see if they are coming. Not only will you get a better count but it will be a reminder in people's heads. Find an excuse to call them - maybe you're giving away a free gift, another entry if they bring a friend. Tell them about the latest hostess special. Something like that. Then if they say they can't come you can ask them if they'd like to put an order in, look at your product a different time, etc.

Good Luck with your Open House!!!!!!

[ilovecharms]

I just came across this post from last summer, but it hit home with me. I have made the mistake in the past of emailing people instead of calling directly. It is just so much easier to pop in 50 email addresses and be done wtih it but I had little success that way.

It is kind of scary (I don't really know why) to make calls to people you don't know, but the results are soooo much better! At first I found myself talking too fast or trying to say too much (nerves) but I found that if I slowed down and was a lot more casual, people responded well.