Before the High Holidays of 5772, the Klei Kodesh of our synagogue were looking for a way to increase attendance at the second day of Rosh Hashana, in lieu of attending another congregation’s services or staying home. Men's Club proposed using a modified HMV format (welcome to Men & Women), as one of the programs. After a brief planning session, the program was named "Rosh U" (as in Rosh Hashana University) as an alternative to Musaf, and 3 opportunities to reflect on the theme of the New Year were decided: Men's Club HMV, a Torah discussion and a Mahzor discussion.

Planning for this HMV session was typical of most HMV sessions, with these parameters:
a. We only had about a 60-minute window.
b. We needed to stay 'on theme'
c. We were involving Men and Women, potentially spouses, in the same session.
d. We needed to be prepared to lead up to 3 'circles', depending on the attendance.

A conference call was held with 3 experienced HMV leaders from our club, and along with some emails, an list of questions was developed, along with a few moments of instructions about the format. The planning was done about 2 weeks prior to Rosh Hashanah.

I have attached the list of leading questions from the past 2 years.

Marketing was done primarily though Bimah announcements, as well as the monthly bulletin from the synagogue (which was too large to attach to this application).

Of course, no pictures were taken on Yom Tov.