You may have heard about The Dinner Party Project, an event that puts people together for food and conversation. Started by Dana Marie Roquemore, TDPP was an effort by her to reconnect with Orlando after moving back to the area. She started by taking the names of people she knew and drawing seven of those names in a sort of random lottery and inviting them to her house for dinner.

Now, anyone can join in the lottery, but the dinners are still “by invitation only” from the names drawn.

But beginning June 29, Roquemore is teaming up with local artist LeAnn Siefferman for a monthly series of dinners called Making Conversations.

For the discussions, Siefferman, a ceramicist, has created special dinnerware with conversation starting designs. They’ll be used at the gatherings to lead table talk on the evening’s topic.

Those topics include:

Mental Health – June 29th
Homelessness – July 27th
A Changing Climate – August 31th
Race & Privilege – September 28th
Aging and Staying Engaged – October 26th
Gender & Identity – November 16th

And this won’t just be a bunch of people spouting their views on each topic. Professional facilitators from Valencia College’s Peace and Justice Institute will be on hand to lead the discussion.

All dinners will be held at 1010 West, an event space at 1010 W. Church St. in downtown Orlando, and will begin at 6:30 p.m.

But unlike regular Dinner Party Project gatherings, you don’t have to enter a lottery to attend. Tickets are available for $75 per person and includes a cocktail, four-course dinner, and, because the conversations are bound to go on after dinner, coffee from Credo. Also, $35 from each ticket will go to a local charity, thanks to partnership with Tito’s Vodka.

This link will take you to The Dinner Party Project website where you can register.