The Allen Lunch: A Great Networking Tool As We Get Past Covid

Article by Herb Rubenstein

Introduction

You have heard of the “Allen Wrench.”  It comes with every put it together yourself piece of furniture. You have never heard of the “Allen Lunch.”  This format for lunch is named after Jay Allen, of CXO in Denver, Colorado.  Recently, I attended my first “Allen Lunch” and I recommend it to people who want to get together with lots of people at lunch for a robust discussion.  This article, which has been approved (and edited) by Jay Allen, himself, explains the format of the “Allen Lunch” in a manner that anyone can use it right away.

Explaining The Allen Lunch

In any given month, many people typically ask Jay Allen out for lunch.  And, he asks many people to go to lunch.  Some of these people actually go to lunch with Jay “one on one,” the traditional style of a lunch meeting.  The “Allen Lunch” is different.  For many of the people who ask Jay to go to lunch, and for many of the people Jay asks to go to lunch, Jay reserves one day or one lunch per month and all of the people who invite Jay or Jay invites are invited to the same lunch.  The rules are simple.  Everyone kicks in $20 or so for lunch at a local restaurant (cash or check preferred, credit cards are accepted).  Somewhere between 20 and a maximum of 30 people show up for the monthly lunch, by invitation only.

A private room is reserved and each person takes one to two minutes to introduce him or herself.  The lunch is from 11:30 – 1:00, although hard-core networkers stay until 1:30. Business cards are passed around and people can state to everyone during their introduction where they have worked, the type of work they are looking for, and their hobbies as well.

Benefits and Limitations of the Allen Lunch

The benefits of this type of lunch format should be obvious.  Jay meets lots of people and gets a lot of business done.  He gets advice and he gives advice, as each person does in the relaxed lunch setting.  He gets to say yes to virtually everyone who asks him out to lunch and he gets to invite lots of people to lunch without being out lots of time and money for 10 – 25 business lunches during any given month.  The beauty of this lunch is that it can be organized the way Jay does it, or it can be organized within a large organization.  Of course, one person must be the central organizer, but organizing this event over time is easy.

The limitations are equally obvious.  There is no private time in an “Allen Lunch.”  Lunch meetings on really pressing business often must be completed quickly and must be done using a traditional one-on-one format.  However, the benefits of an Allen Lunch, especially as we come out of our necessary Covid-related restrictions are potentially enormous.

I used a similar approach at the Autism Society of Colorado where I served as Development Director.  Every Tuesday at noon people were invited to learn about Autism.  No one was asked for money and the educational lunch, a version of the “Allen Lunch” was very successful.

The “Allen Lunch” I attended had no sign-in sheet because Jay Allen already had the contact information of almost everyone there.  A sign-in sheet might be a good idea.  In addition, every once in a while, an “Allen Lunch” could include a featured 10 or 15-minute speaker.

Conclusion

By and large, the “Allen Lunch” seems to take networking to a new level.  Most of us can get 90% of the business we want to get done in “meet and greet” lunches in just a few minutes, and this time is certainly available to everyone at the lunch.  People can bring guests, the restaurant is thrilled to have the business, and if you are the one organizing the lunch, you will probably save a lot of money on lunches each month and save a lot of time as well.

In fact, you don’t even need to have this lunch in a restaurant if you have office facilities with a large conference room or meeting facilities and can bring in great lunches.  We got to choose from five items on a special menu on the lunch.  Obviously, if you have such a meeting at your company or organization’s facility, food selection may be limited.

I recommend the “Allen Lunch” to everyone who has or wants to have five business lunches in a month on a regular basis, especially where one on one dealings are not required.  Lots of business can be had in a short time in a wonderful setting, and you will be performing a community service, be able to say yes to lots of people who ask you out to lunch, be able to invite lots of people out to lunch with a low cost and little time expended.  It will create goodwill and help most any business or nonprofit executive who needs to network and meet and touch base with both new people and old friends on a regular basis.  And it will help us get rid of the Covid blues so many of us have experienced over the past several years.