FROM STRANGERS TO COMMUNITY
One evening, I invited 10 strangers to bring a book they were open to lend for a few months. Each had 2mins to say why they loved the book. Then, any guest who would want to borrow it had 1min to convince everyone else they were the best person to have it.
This wasn't a book exchange, but an invitation to reveal ourselves through playful storytelling. Each book lent from one stranger to another was a promise to meet again. Six months later, the promise still holds.
@Pascaldemontreal This sounds so wonderful! I might "steal" this idea myself!
@acenicks another component that contributed to the success of this event was what happened before the book exchange session started. I had set up a food table where guests had to prepare their food while standing. I chose a recipe where people could look ridiculous in front of each other: they had to make rice paper rolls. Because everyone's rolls were ugly, they were allowed to 'make mistakes'. It set the tone for the evening.
@acenicks Furthermore, because there were only seats in the living room, people had to change seats quite often and talk to different people through the first 2 hours of the gathering. It allowed for as many introductions as possible. (Nothing is worse than to be seated at one chair for a whole evening when the point is to make new connections.) Let me know how your event will go, and if you would tweak some of the design.