A Ligonian welcome party
A welcoming committee or reception committee was a group of people assigned to welcome others to a location.
Upon initially meeting Captain James T. Kirk at a cocktail party in 2266, Lenore Karidian said she assumed he was the welcoming committee. (TOS: "The Conscience of the King")
Captain Kirk and the USS Enterprise were ordered to go to Organia in 2267 to prevent the Klingons from using it as a base of operations for their impending conflict. Despite the apparent primitive technology, the people of the planet were not interested in their appearance and went about their business. Eventually, a reception committee of a single man arrived and extended his arms in welcome. (TOS: "Errand of Mercy")
When the Enterprise visited Sigma Iotia II to check on the state of cultural contamination, the Boss Bela Okmyx arranged a reception committee for their arrival. The committee consisted of two men, Kalo and Mirt, armed with Thompson submachine guns who escorted them to the Boss after threatening them. (TOS: "A Piece of the Action")
The Ligonian welcome party sent to the USS Enterprise-D in 2364 as a prelude to negotiations for a rare vaccine for the Anchilles fever consisted of four attendants and the Secondary Hagon bearing a red carpet, preceding the arrival of Lutan, the First One of Ligon II. The group insisted on using their own transporter, and Hagon unrolled the red carpet for Lutan to walk on when he arrived. (TNG: "Code of Honor")
When the young Tetrarch Varis Sul of the Paqu visited Deep Space 9 in 2369 to negotiate with the Woban, Jake Sisko and Nog styled themselves as the "unofficial welcoming committee" in order to spend time with her. They offered a station tour of the station's sights. (DS9: "The Storyteller")
The Botha sent a single ship to meet the USS Voyager when it crossed into their territory in 2372 to determine whether they met "criteria" required for entering their space. They were upset to find the captain, Kathryn Janeway, was unavailable to greet them, as they observed strict protocols. Among the criteria, they desired to know about the weapon systems aboard Voyager. (VOY: "Persistence of Vision")
Then the Taresians welcomed the Voyager to their planet in 2373, their welcoming committee attempted to lure Harry Kim to stay with them by catering to his every whim. (VOY: "Favorite Son")
When Neelix first visited the Talaxian asteroid colony in 2378, he was somewhat disappointed "they didn't exactly send out a welcoming committee." (VOY: "Homestead")
Sarcasm[]
There were times when the term welcome party was used to indicate groups bent on a violent ambush or who were otherwise unfriendly.
When Trip Tucker and Malcolm Reed infiltrated a Romulan vessel in 2154, they were having trouble locating the bridge. However, Tucker noted they hadn't run into any welcome parties. (ENT: "Babel One")
When the USS Discovery attempted to contact the Ba'ul in 2257, they were initially ignored. However, later, when the Ba'ul hailed the Discovery, Captain Christopher Pike guessed it wasn't to invite them to a welcome party. (DIS: "The Sound of Thunder")
When Captain Pike attempted to deliver the Discovery to Section 31 later that year, they did not immediately respond to his hails. Admiral Katrina Cornwell wondered if they were too busy planning the welcome party. (DIS: "Project Daedalus")
When Minister Jaro Essa attempted to stop Kira Nerys and Jadzia Dax from reaching Bajor with incriminating information in 2370, he sent forces to destroy their sub-impulse raider. Kira called them his "welcoming committee." (DS9: "The Siege")
Later that year, Julian Bashir, in the runabout USS Orinoco attempting to rescue Benjamin Sisko, his son Jake, Quark, and Nog from the Jem'Hadar wondered where their welcoming committee was. (DS9: "The Jem'Hadar")
When Harry Kim and Tom Paris were imprisoned in 2373 in the Akritirian maximum security detention facility, they were beaten at the entrance by a group of violent criminals. Paris would later characterize the group as a "welcome party." (VOY: "The Chute")
When the USS Voyager entered The Void in 2377, they were attacked by various ships also trapped in the anomaly. They discovered there were twenty nine ships within the Void that had life signs on them. Paris quipped it was quite a welcoming committee. (VOY: "The Void")
The holo-novel program Crisis Point: The Rise of Vindicta opened with the USS Cerritos being boarded by Romulans, and Commander Jack Ransom suggesting they throw them a welcoming party. (LD: "Crisis Point 2: Paradoxus")