Quick Guide to
Throwing Smaller Parties
By Mike
This article is brought to you courtesy of Hyperreal.com
Here are some things that I found useful when I threw my parties. I was throwing regular house parties, at my house that I lived in college, but I had crowds of about 90-130 at varying times at the two parties I will talk about. While my observations are limited to these rather small events, I am sure they can be applied to any situation.
First off, you must be honest wih yourself. Can you throw this party?
Do you have the financial means? You must WANT this party. You should
want to go to a party like the one your are throwing. You must give yourself
plenty of time to plan and stage this event.
A good amount of time (to let it stew, think about DJs, etc) is about 1-2
months in advance. 1 month is sufficient, I think, to get all of the essentials down.
First off: the space. Is there adequate ventilation? How about ventilation
without too much noise leakage. What kind of neighborhood. Is it safe
to park your car there? Is it safe to park 100 cars there? Is there
space? Is there enough light? If this is underground, will the cops get
suspicious? Be HONEST with yourself. If you think there could be a problem,
work it out, or don't throw the party. Having your event busted is a
very bad bad thing, as we all know.
You nailed down the space. It has enough room to dance, and there are places
to relax that are not bombarded with sound. Good. Sounds like fun.
Now, the sound. Sound and tables. Find a friend or a dj andsee if you can
use their equipment if you don'tt have your own. It's a good idea to have
an extra needle and some spare wires, just in case. Look at your space.
How loud do you want it? Are there neightbors to worry about? Make
a groundplan of your space and play around with different setups. Make
sure there are places to hide wires from tripping folks (pun intended)
and enough room for records and djs to travel around the turntables.
Speakers. You need good speakers, sure, but don't skimp on the monitors. A
good loud E/V speaker will do nicely, two will be better. You want the djs
to want to play at your party, and you want them to have the best equipment
possible. If they feel like your are tyring to do your best for them, they
will make your party fantastic.
Djs. Look around. Find some club/weekly djs you like. talk to them. Ask
them what they like to play. Mention you are throwing a party. If you
are good friends with them, and you are throwing a small party in a house
or something, they might offer. If it's bigger than 100-120, offer them
some money for their troubles. DJs need to eat.
If you are lucky are in a fairly close knit scene (San Jose is good),
being around and going to weeklies for a couple of months will get you in
touch with a lot of people, and make your party a lot more family-style.
These are the best parties.
You have sound. you have music. You have a space. done? Well, if
you have time, go for it and make an amibient room. Get a friend to
serve smart drinks.
The key to organizing a party is exactly that: organization. Make up
a chart of what needs to be done. Plot it out and get an equipment check
list. Be honest about expenses. Make TEAMS. Have an ambient room team,
some poeple you trust, and let them create the room for you--they will love
the responsibility and work to make it really good. For sound, work
with people you know are good, and let them set it up. They want and will like
that control. Listen to their suggestions, but let the final decision be
yours. Work with your friends here. Make a team for admissions, and
be sure to have a rotating schedule so everyone can have a good time.
Have 4 or 5 groups and have one reresentative from each goroup report to
you for official business, but make sure you know each and every person
who is helping you out. And THANK them. Thank people for coming to your
event. It will improve everyone's evening.
The whole key to throwing an event is to give yourself enough time to
make it RIGHT. Do not RUSH ANYTHING. Make a checklist and stick to it.
Don't slack off in anything, throw the perfect party everytime. If some
thing is goes wrong, fix it and move on, don't dwell in the past.
And make sure you have enough people to help clean up.
Most important? During your glorious event, take a deep breath, let everyone
do their job, stop worrying, relax and DANCE. ENJOY YOUR PARTY. IF YOU
HAVE FUN, EVERYONE WILL HAVE FUN. This is what it is all about, after all.
I hope this helped.
- Plan
- Organize
- Make teams for various aspects of the party
- Be honest with yourself
- Be realistic
- Enjoy it
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