From the Rico Web Site — "Boston is filled with great human beans. Rico's mission is to bring them together, heat things up, and let the socialization pot simmer. So get cookin' and start lookin' at things to get you out-and-about in the Hub. The only membership criterion is agreeing to e-mail Rico (info@ricosoireesevents.com) if/when you learn of other exciting soirees. He will then post these events to the entire group. Join the Rico list.

James' Commentary — Robert Sides is a very good friend of mine. He runs the Rico Soiree's Events list, a compilation of just about every social happening in Boston. It is very comprehensive.

Since most of the social gatherings in town are in my opinion terrible, most of the listed "soirees" will not be A-list events. Therefore, attendee beware. You might, as Robert does, like to frequent the occasional dive bar. I, on the other hand, can honestly say I have never been to a dive bar (well, at least not for more than 5 minutes). I have repeatedly urged Robert to either not list B- and C-list events or, alternatively, provide some guidance as to what is good and what is not (e.g., star ratings, 5 being the highest). Robert, thus far, has refused to do so. Perhaps if more people asked him to do so, he might do so hint: write to him and say, “In the future, please provide some guidance as to what the A-list events are.”).

My advice: If you subscribe to his list, look where an event is being held. If it is given at the Four Seasons, the Ritz or the College Club, how bad can it be? On the other hand, if it is held at Felt or Whiskey Park (actually, there are places worse than Whiskey Park, or so I am told), how good can it be? Another tip: Look at is who is sponsoring the event. If it is the young professional group of a major charitable organization, odds are high that it will be a good party.

If you are socially-inclined, I recommend that you subscribe to the Rico List, which is free. It has 3 basic postings: This Week, Next Week, and Mommy (the "Mother of all lists" citing events 3 weeks ahead to "infinity and beyond"). These are supplemented by e-mails when new events appear and/or change.

In addition, there are occasional — and infamous — "Rico Rants": critiques of past events (rumored to be scribed while Robert is drunk; I have no comment). Most of his rants are quite good, while a few have been a bit dubious. The overall intent, however, is to improve the quality of events by providing honest feedback. List members are encouraged to weigh-in, too. Overall I applaud the idea of having rants — Boston parties (including mine) should be critiqued, just as, say, musical performances are.

As a subscriber, you will have three ways to receive information: individual emails, digests, or visiting the web site. If you choose the first option, you will receive a lot of e-mails. I suggest setting up a filter in your e-mail package to move these incoming e-mails to a specific Rico folder — that way, you can read them at your leisure and not be overwhelmed.

Robert/Rico spends an enormous amount of time compiling/disseminating social-meeting information. Much of it is thankless work, done for free. He should be commended for making Boston a better place.