Dinner with 12 Buffs
"I was the first guest to arrive at Art's house and he and his wife welcomed me in. I immediately felt comfortable and relaxed as I smelt the lasagna being prepared. As the other buffs arrived I met each one and socialized with people outside of my major and friend group. The conversations flowed easily and I made some new friends. I recommend Dinner with 12 Buffs to any CU student looking for an awesome home cooked meal and a welcoming presence from an alum."
Mark Whitaker
"By participating in Dinner with 12 Buffs, I was not only able to sit down and eat a delicious meal with fellow CU Buffs who became good friends, but I was also able to make valuable connections in my prospective field that were limited to me before hand."
Jessica Vigil
“Hosting Dinner with 12 Buffs is great fun as we have a chance to learn what the students are studying, their future plans and a little about their background. We also enjoyed watching their interaction with each other. While we have scholarship students we support in several areas around campus, this informal group gathering offers a different insight into CU as they’re experiencing it today.”
Marty Coffin Evans & Robert Trembly
"The kids were so appreciative of a home-cooked meal provided by alums who care about CU. Sitting in a circle, sharing their stories of how they came to choose CU, what the campus experience has been like for them -- good and bad -- was something they really needed to talk about, among themselves, but also to alums like me. Getting a sense of what it was like when I was in school, what changed, what things stay forever the same, enlightened all of us. The International students were particularly desirous of this kind of conversation; they took to the opportunity big time, and they left dinner having made new friends. For my wife and I, it was an extremely gratifying evening. These kids chowed down, laughed and talked, about their lives, their commitments, their experiences. They were polite, smart, and grateful as well, for sure, for an easy evening spent with new people. I know for a fact that should you extend your hospitality to a group of kids from CU for a Dinner with 12 Buffs, you'll be smiling for the rest of the night."
Arthur Kaufman
"Dinner with 12 Buffs was a blast! We enjoyed opening our home to other CU alumni. What better people to spend an evening with than other Buffs? Sharing campus memories and creating new connections. I would highly recommend you to host a future Dinner with 12 Buffs."
Andrea Evashevski
"Hosting Dinner with 12 Buffs was a great experience and I'd do it again in a heartbeat. The response and genuine appreciation from our guests was awesome."
Michael Bloom
"I have had the pleasure to both attend Dinner with 12 Buffs as a student as well as host. As a student, it was a great experience to network with CU alumni as well as meet other fellow diverse Buffs and learn about their experience at CU. The room was filled with Buff Pride! The experience as a host was equally rewarding. I had 12 successful young alumni attend my dinner and we all shared wonderful memories we created at CU. We shared stories about how CU helped us develop and grow to get to where we are now. Dinner with 12 Buffs helped me create valuable relationships and further the advancement of my career - all while have a delicious meal and so much fun! It's an experience you wouldn't want to miss!!!"
Chandler Barone
We want all alumni to feel like they can contribute to the Dinner with 12 Buffs program so we've made it easy and stress-free.
I don't have room for 12 people for dinner. No problem! You don't have to host 12 Buffs. You can host six or 16, as many as you feel comfortable accommodating.
I don't like to cook (Or, trust me, you don't want me to cook!). Some hosts prepare a delicious meal from scratch while others choose to pick up a prepared meal. Students and young alums will be happy either way!
I'm too busy. To accommodate your schedule, there are three dates to choose from. If just one of them works for you, we'd love for you to host a dinner. Plus, most of the planning is taken care of by Alumni Association staff. You just have to let us know when, where and how many Forever Buffs you can host.
Now you're in? Great! Contact Dawn Barone to sign up to host a dinner and receive more information to help you plan your Dinner with 12 Buffs!
Below are a few quick things to remember when hosting your Dinner with 12 Buffs:
Dinners usually last two to three hours.
Have your guests check in so that you can provide an attendance list to the Alumni Association after your dinner.
Do you have a digital camera or smart phone? If so, please take pictures and email them to Dawn Barone.
Your guests will come in a wide range of attire from business casual to spirited CU gear.
We suggest that you do not serve alcohol.
Consider a theme. Having a theme can make for great conversation or put the room at ease. Some ideas include:
Pizza Party: Order in your favorite pies, set the scene with a red-checkered table cloth and chow down. Bonus if you have Spicy Ranch on hand.
Time-saving Take-Out: Order the best Mexican or Chinese food in town and relax because there won't be any dishes to clean up!
Movie night: Plan your menu based on your favorite movies. Make treacle tarts and cauldron cakes if you're a Harry Potter fan, cheeseburgers for Pulp Fiction or anything shrimp in honor of Forest Gump.
Breakfast for dinner: Consider a breakfast buffet of french toast, eggs, bacon or your own first meal faves.
Break the ice with a game. Make a room of 12 strangers feel like friends instantly with an ice breaker. Here are a couple of examples:
Two Truths and One Lie: Each person takes a turn at introducing him/herself and then tells the rest of the guests three “facts” about themselves. Two of them are true and the third is a lie. The guests have to guess which “fact” is a lie.
Example
Hi, my name is Chip and…I'm an aerospace engineer and I helped build part of the MAVEN satellite.
I can run a sub 5-minute mile.
I've never been to The Sink.
I Want to Know: Ask each guest to write down a question that they would like someone else to answer. The questions should be the type that would provide insight about an individual’s personality, tastes, values, etc. The host collects the questions and puts them in a container that is passed around the room. Then, as each guest introduces him/herself, s/he pulls a question out of the container that s/he has to answer.
ExampleWhen and why did you decide that you wanted to attend CU?What has been your most memorable CU experience?
If you could go back in time and make one decision differently, what would it be?
If you could have lunch with anybody, living or dead, real or imaginary, who would it be?
If you won the lottery tomorrow, what would you do?
Celebrity: This game can be played after dinner if time allows. Using scraps of paper, each individual writes down the names of 10 to 15 well-known figures. The assortment of names is put in a container. The group is then divided into two teams. The first team selects one of their members to take a turn. S/he picks a piece of paper out of the container and tries to make his/her teammates guess the identity of the person whose name is on the paper. When his/her teammates have guessed correctly, s/he picks another piece of paper, describes the person, the other teammates make their guesses, and the process continues until a minute has elapsed. At that point, the number of people that have been identified by the team equals the number of points the team earns. The second team then selects a teammate to take his/her turn, until all the players on both teams have had one time “at bat.” The team with the most points at the end is the winner.
