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I help run a 会話アワーというイベント at school and I'm always boggled by this simple
question: How do I welcome someone inside the room? Do I say ようこそ？ I know
いっらしゃいませ would only be for a restaurant or shop.
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2017-07-26T20:23:02.853
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2017-07-26T20:49:20.133
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question
word-choice
What do you say to welcome someone into an organization?
Inviting someone into a place is more about the specific place that you're
inviting a party into. If you're inviting them to a general location like,
say, a living room, you can use どうぞ or some variant phrase of it:

> こちらへどうぞお願いします。  
>  This way, please.

You can also use いらっしゃい when welcoming someone into a home or into a room.
(Thanks ajsmart! I overlooked this.)

If the location is a shop or restaurant, and you're a part of the
establishment, as you've noted, you'd use:

> いらっしゃいませ！  
>  Welcome!

If you mean to invite someone to a group or organization, you can use the
phrase X（へ/に）ようこそ。 For example:

> 青山学院大学へようこそ。  
>  Welcome to Aoyama Gakuin University.

On ajsmart's note, for clarity's sake, you can then say:

> 会話アワーイベントへようこそ。

...to welcome people to your event.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-07-26T20:37:59.600
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2017-07-26T20:49:20.133
2017-07-26T20:49:20.133
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answer