As we sit in the reception, every person who walks in or out approaches her.
Advertising circulars sent early last month got a lukewarm reception, a person involved with FAO said, and in early November, the company warned that sales were "disappointing and significantly below expectations".
The Swedish Stress Reception treats persons referred by insurance companies with a history of long-term illness.
The V.I.P. reception, $425 per person, begins at 6 30 p.m., and general admission, $225 per person, starts an hour later.
Jordan Kerner, a film producer in California, said he had noticed great interest since holding a 200-person reception for the general.
The first Houston event for Mr. Gore, officials at the Gore campaign and the Democratic National Committee said, was a $1,000-a-person reception at the home of Denman Heard, a Houston lawyer.
Sarah Kovner, another fund-raiser supporting him, said she was fielding offers of money and help after she held a 70-person reception for the candidate at her home in New York.
One night earlier, centrist House Democrats of the Blue Dog Coalition took a break between votes to travel six blocks from the Capitol to an elegant private home, where representatives of software giants Microsoft and Intuit joined other high-tech lobbyists at a $1,000-a-person reception for the group.
As he waited to board a flight back to his native South Korea, Kim Tae Won still could not believe the reception his 40-person theater troupe had received all week from standing-room-only audiences in this provincial capital in southern Japan.
His efforts will be on display on Monday, when his fund-raising team holds a $1,000-a-person reception at a Manhattan restaurant for Mr. DeLay, whose positions have drawn opposition from a host of New York politicians, including Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, a fellow Republican.
