[swiftcoder]

I think there's a cultural element to how much of it people will know to do without being explicitly told what to do.

In the US successful gatherings tend to require a fair bit of wrangling - I've been to more than one potluck where everyone showed up with roughly the same dish...

[MrScruff]

I think that goes everywhere though, I’ve been to at least one of every type of party described in this discussion thread in the last year and I’m not American.

[shadyKeystrokes]

MR. Quiche - we meet again..