Some history:

Every year at AWE (and Augmented Reality Event, for 10-15 years before that) we've organized large group dinners for anyone we know or meet or can find that same afternoon. "Just show up and we'll find you a seat."

It's always been a great time. We wind up sitting next to people in the field that we see in the halls or on stage. It's a great way to make new connections.

Paying for the dinner is a unique challenge each year. Early on, one of us could expense it, legitimately. Not so much now. Lately, we've tended to split the giant bill manually, by table, or using your latest cash apps to send money around. Someone always winds up paying too much or too little and it's very taxing at the end of a long day.

So this year, we decided to simply negotiate the dinner prices up front and then sell fixed price tickets. As long as we can sell enough tickets, this is a very affordable way to share a meal. If we sell enough, the net proceeds go towards funding XR Guild activities that give back to the community. If we don't sell enough, we will have a lot of extra food, but still enjoy ourselves.

And if we can get a sense of who would benefit from sitting near whom, we can try to arrange some arranged seating, TBD. We'll send out a questionnaire to anyone who signs up. But even if it's totally first-come seating, you'll almost certainly wind up talking to interesting people and enjoying good food. And there's always an option to move around over the course of the evening and meet new people or others you wanted to catch up with.

If you don't want to buy tickets but still eat at this venue in the general seating, there's a small benefit to us as well if you mention the XR Guild when paying. It's something the restaurant does for non-profits. If you can't come but have some money to sponsor others who can't afford the $50 ticket, then there's also a charitable donation path you can use to "pay it forward."

We appreciate all kinds of contributions and look forward to seeing you one way or another.

Professional Networking Dinner at AWE

Great Food and Conversations about XR, supporting the XR Guild