With Strangers brings people together to connect over bold conversations that get past the ordinary. You’re invited to share, get inspired by each other’s stories, and to discover the magic of community. From intentional conversation over a beautiful meal, to unique and creative meetups in the city, With Strangers creates the time and space for people to truly meet.
Upcoming Events.
UPCOMING EVENTS
UPCOMING EVENTS
THE TABLE IS ALMOST READY.
Jess is hard at work planning her book tour for The Table Where We Meet - stay tuned to get in on all the fun.
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Dinner With Strangers brings people together for a night of intentional conversation in unconventional spaces over a beautiful meal. With the only rule being no work talk, join a guided discussion about the good, gutsy stuff of life, like where we come from, what we’re learning, and what we care about.
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TalkingWith Strangers is a monthly series that brings together local dreamers, makers, and doers who are boldly pursuing a more connected world. We’ll highlight monthly speakers, and get the whole room connecting through breakout small group conversations.
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IRL With Strangers is a monthly initiative that brings people together to connect within the community.
From yoga classes, spin classes, art gallery openings, wine tastings, poetry readings, market meet-ups and park hangs, IRL With Strangers takes events one step further to create opportunities for connection while trying something new, all while partnering with businesses in the city that care about the bold pursuit of making our community a more connected place.
EVENT FORMATS
TELL ME MORE.
Got questions? We’ve got answers! Here’s what most people want to know more about.
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The intention of Dinner With Strangers is to skip the small talk and create space for storytelling, conversation, and learning from each other. To do so, the format for the night looks like this:
Mix and mingle time - question prompts on cards are provided to help get past initial nerves and get the conversation started!
Sit-down dinner with guided conversation - each dinner has a theme. Jess will guide the group through a few questions where everyone is invited to share a response. The intention of this is to give everyone the opportunity to share, for every voice to be heard, and for the group to witness 12 different walks of life that may or may not be similar to their own.
After-dinner connecting - Once we’ve all heard from each other and dug in deeper, this is your chance to follow up with someone who inspired you, ask each other questions, float around the room, go down a conversational rabbit hole, share more of your story. Debrief what you’ve learned, and then take home what inspired you. :)
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Sure! We’ve had a few pairs of friends or acquaintances attend a ticket together (some people come with people they’ve met recently or coworkers/ gym friends that they want to get to know better, and we love that!)
98% of guests attend DWS alone, and since showing up as equals with an equal amount of investment and an equal amount of vulnerability is what makes Dinner With Strangers so magical, we ask that you keep it to one emotional support buddy :)
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Jess calls Toronto home, so you can bank on a monthly dinner in the city year-round.
Dinner With Strangers visits Brooklyn and Vancouver often, with new cities added all the time (tldr: this depends on Jess’ work and travel schedule). Want Jess to come to your city to host an event? Send her a message!
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Listen, Jess thinks she has the coolest job of all-time. However, we’re serious about this one rule! No work talk!
Even if our jobs are incredibly fulfilling and a huge part of our identity, we’re so much more than our jobs. Additionally, whether we like to admit it or not, we tend to make judgments - both positive and negative - based on what we do for work. And lastly, talking about work is a comfort zone for most people and generally keeps things in the safe (read: not vulnerable) zone of conversation, and Dinner With Strangers is all about getting past the surface and sharing a part of our deeper selves.
Here it is, the hill that Jess will die on. Sorry/ you’re welcome. You’re going to love it. :)