I got an invitation to an event on Facebook for an event that is a while away. Not even 10 minutes after receiving the invitation, I get an SMS from the organiser saying, "Don't forget to RSVP, would love to see you there!" I wasn't sure if MrMan5.5 was free, so I didn't RSVP that night. In the morning, I woke up to another SMS reminding me to RSVP. Then three Facebook messages. At this point, I'm pretty sure it wasn't just the host thinking I was forgetful. I might be forgetful, but over the span of a day, do I really need 5 reminders? So the messages were probably directed at everyone. It just made me think that I'm really not suited to being a housewife if it involves sitting around doing nothing until there is a big event.
What I would like to know is whether there is still any need for an RSVP for some events. What do you learn when people RSVP?
-who plans to attend (and from that you can work out how many people plan to attend)
-who received your invitation
- who you should avoid inviting in the future because they're notoriously hard to contact, and never show up anyway.
When it's something like what QC did for her birthday, then I think it makes sense to need to know numbers, because there is only a limited number of places, and so if people say they aren't able to attend, then you can invite someone else who is. For things where a booking is required, or you need to purchase tickets beforehand, numbers are also important. But when it's a casual house party, is it really necessary?
You could argue that numbers will tell you how much food to buy, but everyone just seems to overbuy anyway, and with the wonders of modern refrigeration, it means you won't have to cook for the next few days or so! (Maybe it's just an Asian thing, but we always seem to have so much more food than is ever needed. I was eating food from my 21st for the week after - and that's taking into account that half of it was offloaded at my party. Mmmm, spring rolls.)
To be honest, I am finding it annoying that I am getting pestered so much. I don't really want to go for that reason. I forgot who it was who reminded me of the quote, but it's from Street Fighter (the JCVD movie), where Chun-Li has been captured by Bison, and he says to her, "For you, the day Bison graced your village was the most important day of your life. But for me, it was Tuesday."
1 comment:
Wow. That is annoying.
If you're going to SMS people then don't use facebook. facebook is so that you don't have to sms people and people don't have to be pestered!
I mean, sure, if the event is getting close and heaps of people haven't replied at all then you might want to contact the important people individually and make sure they got the invitation... but, yeah. You're allowed to take a few days to work out if you're attending an event!
I think for most facebook events, RSVP is a good way to keep track of who's got the invitation and it is pretty nice to know who's coming ahead of time. What if only one person was going to show up because everyone else was going to some other thing you didn't know about?
As someone with a bit of social anxiety looking at the guest list is a good way of working out whether an event is something I want to attend. If there are a large number of people going and I am really not in the mood for large crowds - I have that information. If I can cope with a small gathering of people I already know and I like - I might have that information too.
I am not saying that everyone should wait and make their decision based on the fools who say yes early - but I think RSVP lists have value for both sides even when the actual numbers of exactly who is going and who isn't aren't important.
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