I was at my friend maggie's bbq and I invented a drink that taste like mexican candy. Sorta tamarino-ish. I don't remember the exact proportions but it was part:
Captain Morgan Tattoo
Sweet and Sour Mix
Green Apple Puckers.
One time I was at a BBQ and one of my highschool buddies turned actress (black girl about 2:36 into the video.)
And she asked me how I can keep up with my lifestyle. She was telling me about how it was like shmoozing and trying to look good to get ahead in LA. So I was like hey we're good friends, I"ll give you some of my secrets to survive when you're just starting in the scene.
1) Thrift and Deep Discount Stores: The greatest thing about these places is that no one can copy your look. The hardest part is being able to choose what will not make you look cheap and not with the times.
2) Refuse to pay for parking: Valet and lot fees add up. Get used to walking. Not only is it good for you, no one is going to want to carpool with you so you'll never be late for number 4.
3) Pre-Game! also known as Pre-Party: Now that you're parked it's time to break out the alcohol. It also nice to have conveince store cups to mix the drinks in so you can walk to the club with drink in hand. Also, alcoholic slurpees taste way better than you can imagine.
4) Get on the guestlist: It's so easy to get on the guest list for clubs that you will become easily spoiled to not paying cover ever. The email is usually right on the flyer. Just send your full name in and get there early!
Advanced Tip: If I come to a bar in downtown I can easily spend $60 on a tab just for myself. All you need is 6 more people and you can buy a $300 VIP bottle and pay for tax and gratuity. VIP service and the amount of drinks you can make with a single bottle is way more worth it than spending $60 on yourself. Sometimes there's even 2 for 1 deals on bottles.
vannie f baby: if i have a list for my bday at On Broadway..
vannie f baby: is there a limit to how many pple i put on my list
richieisceoofrnc: no
richieisceoofrnc: but they need to be the first 300 people in to be free
richieisceoofrnc: otherwise half off till 11
vannie f baby: ugh.
vannie f baby: >=|
vannie f baby: first 300
richieisceoofrnc: damn you got 400 people going to your bday or what?
vannie f baby: yeah i have a lot
vannie f baby: but.. who arrives that early
vannie f baby: well.. what other club?
vannie f baby: its either decos or on broadway..
vannie f baby: i'd like to try on broadway
vannie f baby: is deco's rules different?
richieisceoofrnc: haha i like how you say its either decos or on broadway like no other club exists in downtown
Has it really come down to this? Do those two clubs have San Diego in such a choke hold that people turning 21 feel like that's the only two places they can celebrate?
I had a discussion about this with my friend Dennis Michael about it. We both agree that before people come of age they here about spots from their older friends. What's hard for me to belive is that when you walk around downtown you can see that there are many clubs that exisit, so how does someones brain push all those alternatives aside and belive that their club choices fall between either Decos or On Broadway?
Sometimes I underestimate the control someone's peer group has over someone's life.
There was time where I had this guy named Neo on staff doing web design and photography for my events. He did an impression of me at a party running around making sure everything is ok while stressing out about everyone having a good time. He would bounce back and forth, turn his head worriedly this way and that, then point at imaginary people and say "are you ok? are you ok?" It's a trap a lot of hosts fall into because sometimes it's easier to stress yourself over the details than to have a good time!
I have since calmed down and have been able to enjoy myself more without jepordizing a single event. Parts of that attitude still cling on to me though. I was originally going to On Broadway for my friend Archie's friend Kimmie's birthday. When my friend Allision hits me up asking if they're on the list. I immediately replied with what list, what day, and what club. Turns out she mixed up the days I was trying to invite her out to downtown but she wanted to know what I was up to because her roomate Sophal's friends where in town from Nor Cal.
They were pre-partying at the appartment till 11:30 and finally started to make their way into downtown. I tried to set up a meeting spot in front of the entrance side bar but just like at V20 (a club in long beach) she was checking her phone at long intervals.
So my strategy was to stay in the downstairs hip hop room most of the time because everyone trys to get up in there. Thankfully we knew the bouncer Louis guarding that entrance so we could bypass that line. Swiming through the bodies that spilled all across the dance floor into adjacent areas I snuck by the VIP bouncer to get a better vantage point of the Karma Room. Also ran into my high school friend Jersey in one of the booths.
So this is what I need to learn. In the process of pushing my way through the crowd searching for my two friends I run into a group of 5 women.
Me: Excuse me (I push through a dancing couple and come upon a wall of women)
Girl 2#: Hiiii
Girl 3#: *winks*
Girl 4#: I like this *points at jacket*
Girl 1#: *Nudges girl 2, smiles, looks at me smiles, looks back at girl 2 smiles*
Girl 5#: Oh I love your jacket *flares jacket* and your hair! *pats head* oh and your glasses *resets frames*
Me: Umm Thanks *pushes through*
15 minutes later: Why the fuck didn't I stop and chat?!
Sigh...sadly not the first time I've done this but this is the first time I'm actually adressing it as a problem and vowing to not do that again.
When it's not my event, and if I'm meeting friends that brought their own friends, there is no mission to meet up with them. If I made an effort to look then I fufilled my obligation.
It's like my friend who used to be a bouncer at a club. When he goes out he still has to watch out for fights. Hmm I should make another blog about industry complaints.
Juicy is the second company I've taken a consultant position with. Between Juicy and Dj sG they kicked me out of my semi-retirement phase that I never really got into. (More fodder for another post)
There was a time I kept an active staff. I ran business way differently than I do now during that time. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times... It's a time period that needs its own blog.
What I want to point out in this post is that I'm happy to see that not only have I learned from that experience but I get the chance to apply those lessons through mentoring.
I hope you remember this scene from the movie Hook. That means talking to you won't make me feel old! ha.
I am the oldest of the current generation. Millenials are born between 1982 and 2003. When I meet anyone born in the 90s in my head I feel like I'm a generation apart when we're in the same boat. I'm one of the last people to know what the world was like before social networking websites but at least I'm an early adopter!
The club industry can feel like living in an adult neverland. It's powered by the young and beautiful drinking the night away. It's a world where most promotion companies do not last past six months. In my experience they don't last past their first event. Most people look at themselves and say "I'm popular and I like to party. I can DO THIS!" (I'll cover this in another post)
The point is staying power in the scene is hard to come by. People get married, have kids, or get a career where partying takes a lower priority. Staff within promotion companies change, and founders take on a different roll. New people enter the scene and the process starts all over again.
After NYE I decided to mentor one of the executives and consult for MAGEC. It's a large upcoming group 30+ staff in the 16-20 year old range. Their network covers all highschool districts and major colleges in the San Diego area. What they lack in expereince and planning they make up in sheer enthusiasm.
It's taking me a while to get over the 9-5 age year gap but I did because it's good for business and you have to invest in new talent to grow. I just never want to be known as a creepy old guy partying with the unlegal. I also didn't want my peers to wonder why I was hanging out a highschool crowd.
I'm glad to say officialy that 1) I haven't broken any laws (inside joke!) 2) This looks like the start of a beautiful business relationship.
Introductions for me have been strangely awkward for a long time. I'm never satisfied with explaining what I do in a short concise sound bite. If I'm lazy I'll let whoever I'm talking to fill in the blanks as to what I do. I'll settle for promotions or events sometime. I liked selling myself as "a living myspace" but people have a hard time making the jump of taking a web 2.0 concept into real life.
One of my favorite rants is to tell people that if I had mastery of the Japanese language I could work at a host bar and make $10,000 a month or more doing what I do here in San Diego for free. This is not to deny the perks that come with the Life it is just to affirm that like any job, there are a lot of things that go unappreciated.
Being able to even out the ratio of guys to girls at an event is not an easy task. The rule of thumb is to "always invite women, because women will invite men for you." Meeting, friending, and catering to women clientèle isn't all playboy fun and debauchery.
Women are born to be more socially intuitive. From an evolutionary biological standpoint a woman can not afford being around resource draining people because they bear children. Women can be great bullshit detectors so "faking it till you make it" isn't an option. For your party invitation to carry enough weight to bring out her own wolf pack of ladies to an event. First you have to nurture your relationships with females. You then have to present the rest of the party goers to be as interesting and fun as you are.
Below is a link to a trailer of a documentary of host clubs in Japan and the youtube video has more examples of what goes on in a Japanese host club.
They make way way more than even the best VIP hosts could here in San Diego. While I feel like I'm doing all that these men do but more and for no direct pay from the ladies, I'm not faking the funk with my friendships as do these men and some of their customers. The people I've me in the Life are priceless. I only wish that it was the type of priceless that would buy me some after clubbing Golden Dragon.
(BTW, wolf pack is a term me and one of my compatriots came up with to describe a group of tight knit women. They are usually headed by an alpha female that control the social outings of the group.
http://www.milkandcookies.com/link/65054/detail/
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