Executive Dinner

The highest quality relationship per hour of any B2B format, and the easiest to ruin. Eight to fifteen covers, one table, and a set of rules that are not optional.

When to use

• Deal sizes justify a high cost per attendee and the buyers are senior
• A cluster of target accounts is in one city, or will be for a conference
• A customer relationship needs executive depth
• Any time somebody suggests "we should do a dinner", which is when the doctrine matters most

Inputs

• Reads: workspace/audience/target-list.csv, workspace/program/charter.md, workspace/events/<event>/venue.md
• Needs from user: the host, the city, the target guests, the budget, and whether an anchor voice exists

Workflow

1. Set the shape

2. Apply the doctrine

Four rules. Break one and the format fails.

No slides, no demo, no pitch. The moment a screen appears it becomes a vendor presentation and candor stops. Every person at that table has been to that dinner and they will recognize it instantly.

A guest frames the conversation, not your executive. Your host opens for five minutes on why this table and why tonight, with no product in it, and hands to an anchor voice from outside your company: a customer executive, a respected peer, an industry figure. They carry ten minutes. Then facilitated discussion.

Seating is designed. Assigned, with cards, deliberately mixing accounts. Split people who arrived together and never cluster people who already know each other, or they will talk to each other all night.

The night ends with a team huddle. Twenty minutes after guests leave. Not the next morning.

3. Secure the anchor voice early

The anchor is the hardest thing to get and the thing that most determines quality. Options, in order:

1. A customer executive willing to talk about their own experience honestly, including what was hard
2. A senior industry figure with no commercial relationship to you
3. A guest with the most relevant experience in the room, asked in advance to open

If the anchor is a customer or partner, their participation may need internal approval on their side. That is a comms conversation with a lead time, not a favor. Ask at least six weeks out and get a yes in writing.

4. Design the conversation

Prepare three anchors in advance, phrased as genuine open questions rather than as prompts for your product:

1. A build-versus-buy or wait-another-year question in their domain
2. A question about what a regulator, board, or auditor actually asks for
3. A question about what separates the projects that survived from the ones that did not

Give the host a one-page cheat sheet: the anchors, who to pull in when the room goes quiet, who to cut off gently, and the clock.

The host's job during discussion is the clock and the quiet people. Not talking.

5. Write the run of night

5:00pm   Room check. Seating cards placed, lighting and sound checked, walk the space
6:30pm   Reception, open bar. Host greets every guest at the door personally, before anyone sits
7:15pm   Seat guests. Welcome
7:25pm   Host framing, 5 minutes. Why this table, why tonight. No product
7:35pm   Anchor voice, 10 minutes
7:55pm   Facilitated discussion. Every guest speaks. Host watches the clock
8:45pm   Dessert, targeted 1:1s. Each of your people owns two pre-assigned guests
9:15pm   Host closes. Names the specific next thing
9:30pm   Guests depart. Team huddle, 20 minutes

Adjust the times, keep the structure. The dessert window is where most of the commercial value is created, and it only works if ownership was assigned in advance.

6. Assign guest ownership before the night

Each of your people gets two named guests they own for the dessert window and are responsible for following up. Written down, confirmed in the huddle. Nothing happens by chance during dessert.

7. Gifting, if you are doing it

Check the recipient's policy first. Financial services, healthcare, government, and public companies frequently have strict value limits, and an over-limit gift creates a problem rather than goodwill. Personal beats branded. A logo turns a gesture into swag. Budget the gift, the packaging, and the shipping as three lines.

8. Close it properly

The host's closing names a specific next thing, not a general thank you. If the dinner front-runs a conference or a stage appearance the next day, say so and give people a reason to find you.

Output

• Writes: workspace/events/<event>/dinner-plan.md with the shape, doctrine, anchor, conversation design, run of night, seating chart, and ownership assignments
• Prints: the run of night, the seating chart, guest ownership, the anchor status, and anything unresolved with a date

Rules & quality bar

• No slides, no demo, no pitch. Non-negotiable
• A guest anchors, not your executive
• One table, 8 to 15 covers, truly private room
• Seating is designed and mixes accounts
• Guest ownership assigned before the night
• Huddle the same night
• Gift policies checked before choosing anything
• Below eight confirmed, cancel and rebook rather than running a thin room

Related skills

• Reads: audience-machine, invite-motion, venue-selection
• Pairs with: staffing-and-briefing, event-followup
• See also: docs/field-notes.md notes 5, 6, and 7