User:Maxandmat/KitchenParty

KitchenParty ...

KitchenParty is a Social-Food movement started in Rome, Italy. It is now based off of the website www.kitchenparty.org where social and food-based gatherings are organised.

It's mission is to bring people together through the medium of food. "We hope that one day it will be possible to travel to nearly every city in the world and be able to share food with others."

History
Originally conceived in 2010 by Andrea Sorrento, an avid chef, host, and couchsurfer. Andrea sought to establish an informal exchange of stories, food, and experiences.

The movement began with friends and acquaintances eating together and quickly became a social phenomena with young under-40 Romans in the city. Andrea and his friend Max's weekly and bi-weekly dinners became so well known that complete strangers who had been told about these events began attending. This idea began to take off and within months Andrea and Max were not the only ones in this community hosting dinner parties for strangers.

As these food-based gathers increased in frequency they caught the name 'KitchenParty', which despite being English, was used widely by the Italian community. In addition, members of the expatriate community began to attend.

Struggling to keep up with the demand and with a desire to establish a coherent system to organise these Kitchen Parties, Andrea and several friends launched the kitchenParty.org website.

In the subsequent year, KitchenParty has gone global and now has members in over 40 countries hosting regular food-based social events.

The two largest KitchenParty communities are currently in Rome and Buenos Aires.

How it Works
Due to the organic nature of its growth, the community has established certain rules and boundaries.

Anyone can participate or host a 'KitchenParty' however the site has incorporated functions that allow a host to request potential participants to bring food dishes that will contribute to the meal, drinks, a small financial donation to help cover costs of more elaborate meals, or something for entertainment such as a poem, song, and story.

Participants can search the website looking for potential KitchenParties and view the profile of the host. Likewise, the host can view the profile of participants who would like to join their kitchenparty and decide whether to confirm or decline the invitation.

Seeing the possibility for travelling, KitchenParty launched a new modality called "Travel with Taste". This allows travellers to initiate KitchenParties where they are travelling.

Organisation and Policies
KitchenParty is run by volunteers across the globe. The core elements of administration remain based in Rome. As a non-profit organisation, it relies on volunteers to spread publicity and awareness.

Controversial Marketing
Despite Rome's rich culinary traditions, food-hospitality is uncommon. KitchenParty, in an attempt to challenge cultural norms embarked on several Guerrilla-type marketing campaigns. The most famous of these is the "stop eating the same boring food with the same boring people' leaflets, which were distributed to diners and plastered in restaurant bathrooms throughout the city.

This approach to marketing has come to characterize their advertising strategy.

The Roman artist Valerio Giacone designed the logo and several advertisements for KitchenParty.