Sentence:  For the occasion on which everyone already knows everyone else and the host wishes them to meet one or a few honored newcomers , then the `` open house '' system is advantageous because the honored guests are fixed connective points and the drifting guests make and break <WSD>connections</WSD> at the door . 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  a relation between things or events (as in the case of one causing the other or sharing features with it)