Medieval Banquet

How has this idea enhanced your club's operation, etc.?

Cosmos Club's 'normal' lecture lunches take place in French or German, we have symposiums on genome matching and manipulating DNA, or we have dinners with politicians, newscasters, and famous people our members are friends with. This event, while also historical and meant to be educational, is mostly for the fun of it. There have been other 'fun' events put forth in the past, but nothing has taken hold like the Medieval Banquet. The interesting format of this event allows our members to let loose and forget some of the seriousness of their day-to-day lives. They get to dress up, act out skits and sonnets, and some of our members have even created minstrel bands for these events. It is truly an event where it doesn't matter if you are a doctor, an accountant, an artist, or a senator, you are all there in medieval garb, to have a wonderful night. Along with being a fun outlet for the membership, the staff have gotten a window into the fact that our members are just like the rest of us. They are some of the most distinguished people of the world and during the normal day-to-day, that can be intimidating to the team, but when you have a career computer scientist and his renowned agronomist best friend show up to the Club in knight's tunics and plague doctor masks, you see the human nature come out and the connections made during this event are much more palpable. I think this has done an incredible job of making our Club events more well-rounded and I think it gives us a window into knowing how best to add in additional ‘fun’ Club programming.

How was this idea implemented, and what have been the club members' reactions?

The Medieval Group in general has been one of the most well-attended lecture series' since it's inception. This event in particular is sold out every year and draws members from every membership category. The Club sees incredible 'buy-in' with many of our groups, tables, and committees, but the way they show up for this event is over the top. We have gotten so many wonderful comments from our members about this event and threats that if we ever discontinue this series, they will riot. It is hard to beat feedback like that! Cosmos Club will not ever likely be able to host a yacht rock event like some of our country club counterparts, so we will revel in our 'ye olde' opportunity and continue to impress our members with the Medieval Banquet.