Guest Post by Vince Lin

I am 28. I graduated from college at the tender age of 20, and never looked back. College parties were fun, however so are young adult parties, when done right. Lots of folks end up working a job they hate, and then living up to other people’s expectations about marriage, life, and kids.

For those of you who enjoyed college and are now in the next chapter of your life, or who are not in school, we have put together a page dedicated to throwing EPIC parties. By Epic, I mean, honestly awesome, social proofing, memorable events that will have everyone talking about you as the next social nexus.

Our inspiration for the last party was Project X. Obviously, we’re not looking to ruin a house. However, we did want to recreate the fun and sense of total freedom and self indulgence that the movie portrayed so well with hand held, free moving cameras.

Project X Party:

To give you a taste of what happened behind the scenes with Kirby:

Planning

• The most important part of any plan is planning. Sun Tzu would agree, as he tells us the battle is won before it begins. Proper planning is key. Given that cycle time and time frames are very important for a promoter, the ability to plan thoroughly with a degree of speed and accuracy is very important. This can only come from experience, so if you are planning a party for the first time, take the time to do it as best you can.
• Your cost and ability to absorb expenses needs to be setup before anything happens. If you are financially not in a good position, wait to throw a party. Another idea from a previous night club promoter is to get sponsorship. For example, can that vodka brand be supplied for free in return for promoting their brand at the party?
• You can throw a party where the host incurs all costs, which most house parties are. To minimize this, spend money on things that people perceive as high value, and get from discount stores things that people don’t. For example, most college kids could care less about alcohol as long as it is there. Cases of beer will work well here. Minimize your cost by asking people to bring beer and food to complement your existing menu.
• Size is important. A 30 people crowd is very different behaviorally from a 150 person party. Learn to command the crowd when necessary (i.e. moving inside or to the pool) and when to left things flow. A speaker phone or microphone will help.
• Crowd types. Who is the ideal demographic? Make sure your social circles are aligned to get along. The host can add grease to this via party setup where people have to interact with one another, as well as by playing host and introducing everyone to each other.
• Fun committee. Your core team of guys who got your back needs to help you if this is a party of more than 50 people. Plan beforehand the budget and the things you need, and send each person to a different store. Team up for heavy equipment like speakers and stereo. Each one of your lieutenants need overall direction from you in order to win.
• Having a checklist is SO key to making sure you hit the important things you need to prepare for.
• Put notes, checklists and menus in a sheet protector, so that these things are available if things get out of hand and they don’t get wet/destroyed.
• When you need to, hire outsourced talent. Things like lightning, furniture rentals, and even sound systems may be outsourced depending on your budget. In terms of pricing, this depends on what you want to improve in house. If having good music is important to you anyway, you may want to take the reigns on music and DJ’ing. If serving alcohol isn’t your thing, consider hiring a professional bartender.
• When you throw 1-2 parties and start getting some much deserved street cred, you could get bar tab at a local pub if you negotiate it properly. If this is the case, all you need to worry about is the door, guest list, and promoting the event.

Execution

• If planned properly, the execution takes care of itself. Sometimes thing come up that are unexpected, like a booked band doesn’t show, or a speaker breaks. No ice in the fridge, etc. Don’t panic. Here are the major milestones to any epic house party:
• a) Pre-Party 7-8pm: The first few girls that arrive will drive the scene. Make sure they are treated well and introduced to everyone. DON’T invite guys that will hit on them right away. You want them to feel comfortable and relaxed so they stay, and for future parties. In fact, your first house party, you shouldn’t directly hit on any of the girls. Make them feel comfortable and build trust. They will eventually sleep over and from the very comfortable setting, things will happen naturally.
• b) by now around 7-9pm people will start arriving. If not, don’t freak out. Most people arrive late. Remain calm for your core crew and current guests.

• If you have food, serve them in an outside of spacious location that’s easier to clean up. Be sure to enforce the guest-list. You will have the DJ, photographer, and people who are PAID to be at the event. Meet them and give them at least 10 minutes, describing what the party should be, and what you expect from them. Pay promptly and let them know you’re all business when it comes to people having fun and making money. This will build your rep within the relatively small entertainment community as well.
• c) This is a critical moment as crowds will be arriving around 10-11:30. The party starts to take on a momentum and life of its own. If you don’t have enough people at this point, realize that something went amiss with your promotional efforts, which we will talk about later. Try to get crowd control at the bar, dance floor and food stations.
• d) 10-11pm: You want to play host and interact with people, and make sure different social circles mingle. At the same time, don’t forget to have fun yourself. Approach the girls (or guys) you’d like to meet and introduce yourself as the host. Have a cool, friendly vibe. Good things will happen and people will initiate things with you if you are the host, so there’s no need to be over aggressive.
• e) 10-12pm: Talk about your core crew and your friends in a positive light, each one of you giving value to each other. This ensures the perception of a tight crew, and the value of someone else giving you props is much higher than if you said it yourself. “I’m really cool”, vs. “that guy right there, is the coolest dude here!”
• f) 12-2am: hookups will start to happen, so have protection to hand out, or have locations people can make out at. If you party gets shut down, this is around the time it will happen as well.
• e) 2-4am: bounce to your house, or a more intimate setting with the core crew. Games like spin the bottle and truth or dare work well here. It is important this is at least a 1:1 ratio if not higher girl to guy ratio. There’s nothing worse than 10 guys and 1 girl at this time.

A good ratio...

Post Assessment

• The next day, hopefully you wake up with a just slightly annoying buzz, and a lovely lady next to you in bed. Do a quick debrief with your core crew. If everyone’s scattered, do an email recap or meet another time on Sunday for lunch and talk about the party. Figure out what you’ve learned and what went well, and worked, what didn’t.
• Follow up with the photographer, post and tag the photos 2-3 days – enough for people to relax and start craving evidence of their sinful night.
• Clean up! If you rented a place, clean up early morning is essential. Don’t worry you probably won’t feel tired if it was a good party – they have that effect on people.

Marketing

• I was going to talk more about this, however I realized that this is sort of a trade secret.
• One tip I will leave with you: get a social connector on your core team. This is of the utmost importance. Social connectors will hit other social connectors, who bring exponentially more people than non-social connectors.
• Keep a list of all the girls on the guest-list, and invite them on Facebook to a group or as friends. If you have emails and numbers, even better.