After having done several, there are a few things we can suggest: * Have some way of designating whether dishes are inedible, scorching, or merely hot * A range of drinks * Cool-down dishes (yogurt, raita, ice cream (my habanero ice cream from the last hotluck would not count) or just plan milk) * Lots of garbage cans - we've found that the availability of cans correlates directly to how little cleanup is needed afterwards * Take-home containers: each person brings enough for 10 people, so there will be way too much left over. So, we've made the rule that the ticket out the door is an adopted container full of left-overs * Ask people ahead of time to bring a paper copy (or email copy) of the recipe of what they brought, and then compile and publish it afterwards (we've had limited success with this...) Have fun! Scott