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HOW TO Throw a Hot Party
driscoll, South Boston (United States) · 4/9/2007 17:12
| Crazy hip-hop party in Singapore, by http://www.flickr.com/photos/believekevin/1238618894/in/set-72157601672413358/ |
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The key to throwing a hot party is vision. Close your eyes and imagine the party you want to throw. Notice how many people there are. Is it crowded or comfortable? How are the people dressed? Are people talking or dancing? What does it smell like? For best results, you might trying this imagination process with a friend or two.
Step 1: Do the groundwork
The first and most daunting challenge to throwing a hot party is identifying where and when it will take place.
In order to properly pick a date, you need to consider your intended guests. An iCommons party attracts people from all over the social spectrum. Consider the typical nightlife habits of the city in which you will be throwing your party. Which nights of the week do people typically go out? Follow this pattern. It's best not to be a pioneer when it comes to scheduling.
Choose a date early and tip-off all of the city's movers and shakers ASAP. Let them know the size of your event and the people you will attract. This will discourage them from planning competing events. You aren't announcing the party to the public yet but trying to ensure that your event is TPTB (The Place To Be) the night it goes down.
People who book venues don't like ambiguity. They want to know the date and the time in black and white. Come to them only after you have chosen a date.
For any venue, you will need to know the following things:
- the legal capacity of the room
- the availability of a soundsystem and/or projector
- the staff that will be on-hand for the event
- door charges and the money distribution
- what (if any) promotion is provided and how the venue prefers to be listed on promotional materials
- options for open bar or drink tickets
- time limits (doors open, last call, everyone out)
With a little diligence, you can find a venue just about anywhere. Remember to be creative. Start with places you've been to before and then move on to untapped resources like community centers, public parks, schools, and private function halls. For example, many towns in the US have a hall owned by the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) that can be rented for a relatively small fee.
Step 2: Plan to engage the senses
Once the venue and date are set, you are golden and ready to spend time thinking about the fun stuff.
Bring yourself back to that original vision and slide into the shoes of one of the guests. To plan a hot party, you need to consider all five of your party goers' senses.
What does it sound like in the party? Will there be music? Is it live, from a DJ, or a laptop shuffling mp3s in the corner? Is the music making people dance, drawing their attention, or providing a soundtrack for conversation?
Try to limit the number of artists and performers at your event to three. Three is the magical, manageable number. Three provides enough diversity to satisfy all of your guests but will not disorient and distract them. A classic trio features a DJ, VJ, and single live performance about 30% of the way into the evening.
What does the party look like? Think about your venue at the time of the party. How will it be lit? What is on the walls? What is underfoot? What do the bathrooms look like?
If you are unhappy with your responses to any of these questions, you might need to do some decorating. Clip lights and colored bulbs from a hardware store can provide a very simple, adaptable lighting rig. Consider dropping sheets of cloth from a discount fabric store to cover up ugly walls or to partition a very large space. If you are using a projector or TV, remember that it will give off a large amount of light.
Hot parties always err toward being too dark rather than too light.
What does your party feel like? If it's cold outside and hot inside, you might need a coat check of some kind. If it's hot everywhere, you might need some big fans.
How does the party taste and smell? If your party falls during the typical mealtimes in your city, you must consider your guests' appetites. You can subtly encourage people to eat in advance by making your start time a few hours after the typical meal time. On the other hand, parties with a culinary theme can be extraordinarily fun, memorable experiences.
In many countries, alcohol is commonly drunk at parties. If you are running the bar, severely limit the number of drinks available. This will make the lives of your bartenders much easier. I have had great success offering just beer and vodka with a choice of mixers. If the drinks are free or the price is reasonable, you will hear few complaints about this system.
How do the people get to your party and how will they get home? Do they take a cab, walk, or public transit? Will people have a hard time finding the venue? Making a map and writing clear directions is always worth your effort as a promoter. You don't want to be handling a dozen SMS messages from lost guests while the party is practically empty.
Step 3: Getting the word out
So how did everyone know to come to your party in the first place? Strategic promotion is fundamental to throwing a hot party. Your promotion will take multiple forms: word-of-mouth, online social-networking, and flyering.
Word-of-mouth starts right away while you are ironing out the date and location. Let people know what you're up to. There is a hot party on the horizon and they should keep their eyes open. Word-of-mouth requires using your mouth so bump those gums!
Hot parties have hot fliers. Get your graphic designer friend to whip up a flyer that'll look just as great as a JPEG as it will printed out on paper. This flyer should include the following information at a minimum:
- name of the party
- date and time
- venue name and street location
- telephone and/or email to contact for more information
- logos for sponsoring organizations
- information about age restrictions, dress codes, etc.
Some promoters roll back the start time on their flyers in an attempt to trick their perpetually tardy patrons. I have found that this fudging of times is such an accepted practice that most party-goers will assume the party starts an hour later than listed. To upend this expectation, try putting the exact time and stressing that party goers must be prompt in terse text nearby. "9:00PM - BE ON TIME, SRSLY" has worked wonders for me in the past.
And, yes, paper flyers are valuable. In the weeks leading up to your party, be stationed outside of other local parties to hand out flyers as people start heading home. A flyer on the way out of a venue is much more valuable than a flyer on the way in because people will actually read it. You should also pin flyers up at local businesses catering to the guests you hope to attract. For many people, a paper flier makes an event seem more "real".
Now post that JPEG everywhere. Make bulletins to MySpace, create an event on Facebook, send out mass emails, put the details on your blog, make an away message, change the IRC channel subject, etc. A particularly crafty move is to change your profile image on social-networking sites to the flyer image. That way, the flyer is implanted on the pages of all of your friends!
Step 4: Timing is key
Timing is critical with promotion. You need to tell people about the party a few weeks in advance so that they have time to forget. That way, the second time you tell them will trigger a long-lost memory; making their attendance feel like a foregone conclusion. You will be surprised at how effective this strategy can be.
Two days before the event, stage on an Internet blitz that lasts for at least 24 hours. On the day of the event, send out email blasts, make more MySpace bulletins, and get some serious SMS forwarding going. Remember, make sure everyone knows that your party is TPTB.
Step 5: The party is not over till the punch is drunk
Once the party starts, your job as organizer is to circulate through the crowd, introduce yourself to the guests, make introductions between strangers, take many photos, and have fun without becoming drunk. You need to be available and sober for staff of the club to make sure everything is running smoothly. Unfortunately, throwing a party isn't always quite as fun as simply attending one!
After the party, post the best photos on the web and write thank-you communication into all of the online spaces to which you advertised. Your party was hot and everyone knows it!
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media-events
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Heather Ford · Johannesburg (South Africa) · 4/9/2007 18:50
your call: is this comment useful?
One important question: How did you raise funds for the party? It would be valuable if you can elaborate on your experiences...what worked and what did not work.
Looking forward to hearing from you on that.
Cheers!
Kiruba Shankar · Chennai (India) · 13/9/2007 03:15
your call: is this comment useful?
A strong request to you to please make mark your schedule to be here. A 'Heather & Jimmy 50 parties' MUST have both Heather and Jimmy. :)
Kiruba Shankar · Chennai (India) · 13/9/2007 03:17
your call: is this comment useful?
Heather Ford · Johannesburg (South Africa) · 15/9/2007 22:46
your call: is this comment useful?
Kiruba Shankar · Chennai (India) · 16/9/2007 15:44
your call: is this comment useful?