<p>For anyone who have attended in the past, can you share your experiences? Is it awkward if people are quiet and hardly anyone talks?</p>
<p>Also, what time does the dinner usually end (or duration)? Will there be planned activities afterward, like a movie or games, or do people head out after the dinner?</p>
<p>The answer: It all depends.</p>
<p>For the awkward part it shouldnt happen. There is an SAA representative at your dinner who is assigned to make sure things go smoothly, lead activities if everyone is awkward/boring, etc.</p>
<p>Dinners typically last 2-3 hours, but 4-5 hour dinners have been known to happen. If you have any time restraints let the SAA person or your driver know..</p>
<p>Usually people eat dinner, have dessert, linger with conversation, and go.</p>
<p>Thanks namaste for the response .</p>
<p>Just came back and will now follow up from what I asked so everyone can be encouraged to participate in the future.</p>
<p>Dinner With 12 Strangers was an interesting experience. There were actually only 10 attendees, since a lot of people (like 5-10) dropped out at the end. Half were students, and half were alums (lawyers, plastic surgeon in their 40s). We got there at 6:30 and chatted, had an icebreaker in Apples to Apples, and finally ate dinner at 8:15. Dinner was okay; the menu was actually planned by the SAA representative. After dinner was desserts, which was bigger than the actual main course. There was like 4 different desserts to eat, which they cram down your throat and you have to eat them because they're from a secret recipe that is supposedly extremely good. I think I gained 5 pounds from desserts, and I don't think the girls who ate their plate would fit in their jeans tomorrow.</p>
<p>As namaste said, we just lingered in conversation for like 2-3 more hours, sitting at a table and talking/sharing about random things. The alums like to talk .... they could talk forever. Ultimately, we left at around 11:30, so the entire dinner was 5 hours, longer than I expected.</p>
<p>Overall, it was a good experience because I met a lot of people from different backgrounds. The worst you can get out of it is a good dinner and dessert, all for free. You don't even have to wash dishes. Generally, people are very talkative, so you don't have to worry about awkward moments.</p>