The Cool Table Explained

About fourteen months ago, six people went out to dinner on a Thursday night. Just dinner -- that was enough that night. We didn't really know each other all that well, but we were all looking for a group of younger folks in the Wausau area.

The next week, we went out again, adding one more to our crowd.

And the week after that, we went somewhere else on a different night.

A couple weeks later, we added one more person. For awhile, the eight of us were it, although around Christmas a couple more were added to the numbers.

A year later, we've grown to a total email list of twenty-two people every week (and a total "listing" of almost thirty people). We have a system in place involving a preliminary vote between two dinner options (a sort of RSVP) and a follow-up email for those who were interested in going. We set a new record last week of seventeen people for dinner.

We range from 22 to 30 years old and all have some kind of tie to Siemens; most of us work here, although there are a few significant others involved and one former Siemens employee (and her husband). And in the last fourteen months, we (as a group) have missed only four weeks -- Thanksgiving, Christmas, the company picnic, and a United Way Week event.

Not everyone shows up every week -- even the "core members" are gone somewhat regularly -- but we usually have at least eight people turn up.

It's expanded far beyond dinner. This group has provided a ready-made social outlet for young new hires, something that was rather lacking before (as the original six will tell you). We've earned a sort of reputation around the company, for all sorts of reasons -- we're outgoing, we're usually willing to jump in and help during company functions, and we've managed to break the ice between departments.

There are definitely drawbacks. Forty hours a week is sometimes more than enough to spend around coworkers. The line between our business and private lives sometimes gets a little hazy. Any conflict in one arena can carry over to every other aspect of your life.

But on the other hand, you can almost always find a ride to work, or someone who will take you to the mechanic to pick up your car, or drop you off at the airport.

I don't know how long the Cool Table will last. We're at that stage in life where people get married or get a new job and move (isn't the general lifespan of a first "real" job only five years?). And to be perfectly honest, at the rate we're expanding, we could outgrow ourselves and implode. [Isn't that the point of civil war? How depressing.]

In the meantime, dinners continue. And movie nights. And the occasional Saturday road trip.

Life is good.