Each Chapter dis-organizes their own outings (i.e. lunches, teas, tours etc.)
A "hoot" is the Red Hat Society word for an event that is unstructured and extremely informal. All that is required is that one chapter hosts an activity then lets as many other chapters know about it as they can. For example, maybe The Founding Chapter decides to take the train to a little town to shop for antiques on a certain Saturday. The Founding Chapter gets the word out to other chapters who can choose to show up that day too. Red Hatters will easily identify each other by their regalia. Each chapter is responsible for its own lunch reservations, transportation, etc.
HATquarters organizes regional get-togethers in various parts of the country. These are similar to a convention, but consist of less time sometimes only a day or two. They may include the necessity for reservations and detailed arrangements, all of which will be handled by HATquarters. Information will be posted on the Red Hat Society website and included in their mailed quarterly bulletins. All official Red Hatters are welcome to attend.
Sometimes a chapter will choose to organize a regional get-together in its own area, or even a state get-together. These events may last one day or several days, and usually include arrangements for meals and hotel rooms. This will, of course, require that those who set up these events actually do some (uh-oh) work. Though the RHS wouldn’t be hosting these regionals, HATquarters can assist by helping chapters find each other and by offering the website bulletin board for postings. Members planning a large regional Red Hat event should contact HATquarters before proceeding to avoid conflicting events.
The RHS hosts one national (international, really) convention each year in a different part of the U.S. All members of official RHS chapters are invited to attend. These events take a year to plan, and every effort is made to provide attendees with one of the most memorable times of their lives. A typical convention would begin on a Thursday and conclude on the following Sunday.