CIANCIA MEETINGS:

Our meetings take place regularly, the second Tuesday of every calendar month at the lovely homes of our hosts.

The atmosphere is friendly and elegant. Nowhere else, other than in Italy, could you expose your mind to hours of witty conversation with native speakers, news and jokes, facts and chitchat, all of it while tasting Italian food and wine. Every nationality and level of proficiency is welcome, as long as you make a sincere effort to speak Italian. Attend one meeting. We guarantee you will be hooked! To become a member, contact us! To learn more, scroll down

HOSTING CIANCIA:

What does it take to become a host? Before booking an event, we ask you that you review the guidelines on this page, outlining the hosting requirements.

Fairly central location
In order to promote attendance, we try to locate our meetings within reasonable commuting distance from everyone. As a general guideline, an ideal location is considered reasonable if within 20 minutes driving distance from outside perimeter to the center, or from downtown Atlanta to location, in normal traffic conditions.

Size of home
Because of the enthusiastic attendance to our meetings, the host needs to provide adequate space to comfortably fit up to 80 people. If your house or living room is smaller, we recommend a spill-over space of at least 200 sq feet. It could be a porch, a deck, a terrace or a den. During the warmer months, you may host the meeting in an open space (such as a garden or a deck) but we would still recommend that you have a suitable indoor area in case of rain.

Suitable parking space
If you don’t wish that people park in front of your garage or on your driveway, please set up cones or ribbons to keep the cars out. It is important, however, that there is plenty of parking space within walking distance from your home. Please, when you send us your proposal, include parking directions to your instructions.

Directions to your home
It is the host's responsibility to furnish accurate and reliable directions to his or her house. We will verify the directions, but you can tell us about landmarks that make navigation easier to follow. This can be done by sending directions to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . Gas stations and other Landmarks are considered extremely useful to get the bearings to your location. Please include any special instructions about your entrance facility and don’t forger details as floor and apartment’s number. You might also make your entrance drive or door more visible with a few colored balloons, an Italian flag, or any other evident sign.

Host profile
Ciancia members love to know something about the host they are about to visit. Please furnish a brief profile of your passions, professional activities, and connections to the Italian culture. This info will be included with our bulletin and will be useful to introduce yourself in a short speech during the meeting.

Exposure
The exposure that a hosting status or other sponsoring affiliation bring is self evident. Our bulleting goes out to over 1,200 subscribers, their families and friends. Our website receive 500 hits per month, and our club grows at a rate of 30% a year. A private host puts himself or herself on the map of the Italian community. His or her business and activities gain great exposure, not counting on the club’s status and the friends you make by hosting our club. If you are the owner of an Italian-related, commercial venue, such as a restaurant or an art gallery, bear in mind that the sampling and the display of your products has a great effect on our members. In addition, your buck gets great mileage in terms of advertising yield: for most events, with a cost of 10 to 20 cents per hit.

Participants
Ciancia members have proven to be proper and extremely well-behaved guests. In fourteen years of activity, we have not had a single accident involving broken items, wine or food spilled on rugs or carpets, or any improper behavior at the meetings. All our members are well-educated individuals with a keen taste for the language, culture and traditions of Italy. Several members of the committee attend each meeting and help keeping an eye on the crowd. After you move a precious glass vase or your favorite camera to a safer location, as a host you have nothing to worry about, but enjoy the beauty of the event.

Noise consideration for your neighbors
The members attending our meetings are quite considerate in regard to your neighbors. However, even at conversation level, a large group may become lively, if a bit noisy. If you leave in an apartment or a condominium, please make sure that your immediate neighbors are aware that you are having a large gathering. Better: invite them over!

Bathroom facilities
It is important that you make available to our guests a bathroom or two where you feel comfortable giving access to strangers. You may want to assure that there are fresh towels and enough toilet paper for such number of people.

Safety
It is important that our meetings are held in a safe environment. Fire escapes – if any – should be self-evident and free from any obstacle. In addition, any fragile, breakable, sharp or hazardous item should be removed from the area where the meeting will be held.

Food & Drinks
One of the joys of hosting a Ciancia meeting is showing your culinary prowess. Our guests bring food and wine to the event. You may cook for half of the expected attendance: a couple of pasta dishes, a platter of appetizers, some Italian cheese and plenty of fresh bread can serve as starters. Remember, we are feeding 80 people. Nuts, veggies, cookies, grapes, anything helps pleasing the attendees. You may also consider to have a couple of starter bottles of red or white wine. Believe us, you will have several bottles left unopened at the end of the meeting, and if there are leftovers, you don’t have to cook the next day.

Picnic supplies and garbage bags
It is paramount that you provide picnic supplies for 100 people. The following are on your must-have list: 200 napkins, 12 large trash bags, 120 paper or plastic plates, 100 plastic forks, plastic spoons (if required), a minimum of 200 plastic glasses (transparent, low-profile are preferred because it is hard to knock them over), plus plenty of paper towels. Ciancia provides a fund ranging between $60 to $100 to the host for covering such plastic-ware expenses, except for restaurants, whose exposure is well worth their monetary effort.

Please, lock your real glasses! We don’t want any broken glass around. By the same token, we do not recommend silverware, as it tends to end in the trash.

Trash Management
In order to keep the place clean during the event, we recommend that you to place a few garbage bags or recycling boxes on different corners of your home, including any terrace and garden. You will cut in a half the clean-up.

Meeting's duration
Meetings start around 7:30 p.m. and may go on until 10:00 p.m. or even later. if at any point you wish to wrap it up, talk to one of our representatives and we will kindly tell any remaining attendees that it is time to go.

Children
Rarely do members bring a child to the meeting. Please let us know if you are concerned with children under a certain age attending the meeting. We will indicate your wish on the invitation.

Pets
Our members do not bring pets to the meetings. However, you may have pets and may be concerned about the impact of such crowd on them, or with them running out. Please, take preventive measures to avoid undesired accidents.

Smoking
Smoking is absolutely out of question, however, it is fair to smokers to provide an outdoor space where they can enjoy a puff or two. Most Italians smoke.

Notice of change of plans
Unless, there is an emergency, we would ask you that you give us at least four weeks notice if for some reasons you are no longer available to host the meeting. If your regular working schedule includes frequent last-minute travel, we ask you that you give it careful consideration, or have a substitute person able to handle the meeting, before booking a Ciancia meeting.

Booking a meeting
So, you think that you have what it takes to be a host? Please get in touch with us at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . Write on the message subject field: prospective host!

Thank you for considering to host a meeting of Ciancia!