Quote:
Originally posted by daoine
I'll co-sign on this whole post.
Our alum group meets at least once a month -- one's usually at a restaurant or bar, and then if there is another its something more like a networking/philanthropic/official business type meeting.
I think you're going to have to be very energetic about the whole thing for the first 3-4 months. Vary the day of the week that it's on, in case people have other commitments that prevents them from ever coming on a Tuesday or whatever.
Make sure you get as many email addresses as possible, so you can keep the communication easy and cheap.
Hopefully, you'll find a core group of 5 or 6 people who tend to show up a lot. Once you get a core going, you're pretty much set. 
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Excellent points.
However, I would like to add that having your event the same day each month is easier to remember and keep track of than moving it around. Similar concept to chapter meetings on the same night each week.
Perhaps, before picking the day of the week, you might want to take an informal survey as to which day of the week is best. Since Monday and Friday piggyback the weekend, I would restrict it to Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday.
First off, find out which days of the week guys just can not make it. As daoine pointed out, people often have commitments on a certain day of the week so just find out.
Secondly, you can have everyone rank - best to worse - the days. This will give you an idea which day most people would be likely to show up. It might very well be that half the group may not be able to do Thursdays. The other half, maybe Tuesdays. But most everyone can do Wednesdays. Remember that in any given month, someone may not be able to make it on that certain day. But in general the day works for them.
Thirdly, if some can only make it one certain night, and others a different night, then similar to daoine's suggestion, alternate the nights.
Finally, what ever plan you come up with, keep it consistent. Remember, you want to make this as easy for everyone involved.