Hacker News Reader

Being a polite host is part of convincing people to feel good about you and what you're saying. That's why there is so much entertaining (dinner, drinks, parties, etc.) in politics, sales, and international relations.

There is also at least one study[1] showing that people who have recently eaten have a more positive impression of others.

[1] Mentioned last night on the show "The Brain" on PBS, which I highly recommend.

http://www.pbs.org/the-brain-with-david-eagleman/home/

what fun is advocacy if you can't use connotation to attack your opponents? it's even better when you can make clever puns and show off for your readers. they'll be tickled.

They invited journalists to present exactly this. It's pretty clear. You don't randomly invite journalists just to show off that you can host something.