"Never in Boston's 376-year history has there ever been a social phenomenon like James. Bursting onto the Boston social scene in 2002, in a few short years he has single-handedly transformed Boston's social environment for the better. Every day the city becomes increasingly divided into two camps: those who are on James' list and those who aren't. Those who are attend the best parties in town, meet fascinating people, and are invited to a myriad of other events. Those who aren't hear about how wonderful they are from those who are and wish they were invited. James accomplishes this through his captivating charm, endless energy, and extraordinary brilliance. What is even more remarkable is that he does this not for profit but as a charitable venture. It's inconceivable that Boston will ever have another social force more important than James." — Samuel Fletcher
Founded in November 2002, Boston Convivium has become the most successful "high end" social group in Boston. I am best known for my large cocktail/dancing parties at the Taj Hotel (formerly known as the Ritz), with over 500 people attending. I have not given those parties since 2006 but starting in Summer 2008, I will be starting such parties again, and that is why I am looking for more greeters. I also give regular cocktail parties at "high end" venues in Back Bay, Beacon Hill and the financial district, such the Gamble Mansion in Back Bay (home of the Boston Center for Adult Education), 33 restaurant, Great Bay, Bar 10, the Charlesmark Hotel and Davio's. In addition, I send out announcements for other people's events. I host these parties as a pro bono activity.
Currently we have more than 4000 people on the invitation list, with the number expected to more than double in the next four years (or as an economist would say, the second derivative is positive). We have been so successful primarily because we carefully screen who is added to the invitation list. We look for intelligent, interesting people who are polite, have good social skills, who are not rude or flaky. (See our membership criteria and our expectations for our members.) By screening on these characteristics and eliminating those who appear not be a good fit, we offer a very different social experience than any other social group in Boston.
In addition to being selective about membership, in other ways we do things differently from almost all of the other social groups in Boston. We host our parties only at upscale venues — you will never see a Boston Convivium party at Felt or Whiskey Park. We never have loud music, so you can actually talk with the other guests. We have a dress code. Everyone wears nametags, so you know who are talking with. We have facilitators to introduce people to each other. In addition to our cocktail parties (small, medium and large), we send out invitations for events such as black tie charity balls, classical music concerts, Museum of Science movies, book readings, sails on Rick Williams's Chariad sail boat, dancing at the Boston Harbor Hotel, and polo matches.
Boston Convivium is a social group, rather than a business networking or singles group. Literally thousands of friendships have been made through our events. Although we are not a business networking group, some people come for that purpose, and hundreds of business relationships have occurred — people have found jobs, employees, clients, customers, investors, partners, and members of Board of Directors. We are not a singles group — lots of married couples and couples in committed exclusive relationships attend — but many people who come are single and looking. Four marriages, three engagements, and hundreds of medium- and long-term relationships have resulted from our parties.
We seek greeters with a very high level of personal responsibility — you return telephone calls and e-mails promptly, you should up on time, you do not cancel, you have low total cost of interaction. If you're flaky or not good at follow through, this is the wrong position.
If you are interested in applying, please read this entire ad carefully and send us all of the information requested below, including all of your phone numbers and several photos (face shots and full body shots). Otherwise, you simply slow down the process. Again, please do not respond until you've read the entire ad. If you are not already on our our invitation list, you should signup for the parties.
Responsibilities include:
The large cocktail parties I hosted in 2004 through 2006 were free; I do this as a pro bono activity. Starting in 2008, there will be a cover charge for the large parties, for several reasons:
Greeter will receive free admission to all of our events, even if they are not greeters for the event they are attending. Typically there will be several greeters at each party, so although the greeter will stay for the entire party, there will be substantial time off for the greeters so they can mingle with the guests.
Since we will be giving several medium-size and large parties a month, we have a regular need for greeters. We are looking for girls who are willing to be greeters on a regular basis. We prefer to have a small number of greeters, rather than lots of greeters who we use infrequently. Greeters should plan to be in Boston for at least one year and should be able to stay the entire evening. Our parties typically start between 6:30 and 7:30 and end between 11 p.m. or midnight.
A week or so before each party, we will send you an e-mail asking you if you would like to be a greeter for that party. You do not need to say "Yes" for each party, but if over time you have not said "Yes" for some of the parties, eventually you would be dropped from the greeter list. (You would still be welcome to attend our parties as a guest.) Once you say "Yes", it is essential that you do not cancel. The last thing we want to do is to scramble for replacement greeters at the last minute.
To summarize:
This position offers many benefits:
The girls we choose will have the following characteristics:
I cannot emphasize enough the importance that you be polite, well-mannered, not rude, and not flaky. If you do not return phone calls or e-mails quickly, if you are not exceptionally kind to people, if you don't have a high level of personal responsibility, there is not a good fit.
If you interested, the first thing you should do is signup for the parties if you are not already on our invitation list. Then, send me an e-mail at bcgreeter@gmail.com containing all of the following information:
In your e-mail, please state that you understand this is a volunteer position and that you can afford this.
To repeat, please include all of the information listed above in your e-mail. If you don't, it just slows down the process. In the subject line of your e-mail, please mention "Greeter". Please send this information to bcgreeter@gmail.com.
As noted above, the kind of person we hire will want to come to our parties. If joining our group (which is free) does not interest you, this is the wrong sitution for you. Please look at our membership criteria and our expectations for our members. You may also be interested in reading what others have said about us. If you are not already on our our invitation list, you should signup for the parties.
If you'd like to know more about me, see my biography. I own a leveraged buyout firm called Kensington Partners and I am also active in starting Web-based businesses. (Anyone interested in working on an entrepreneurial basis in an Internet start-up should write to me at jmitchell@kensingtonllc.com).