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Rant the first: Room Parties at the Con
Oct. 5th, 2008 04:06 pmThis is two-part rant. Part one is my rant about room parties at Archon this year.
As in, Where the f*ck were the room parties?
When I was the only game in town on Thursday, I assumed that it was because everyone was holding out until Friday or Saturday night.
Apparently not.
Ok, a lot of people out there are reading this. Many of you attended the con. Comment below and explain to me why you didn't host a room party, if you would please. Ok, a significant number of you did not stay in the Hotel Collinsville, and that's fair enough. You didn't stay there for one reason: It's too expensive. You stayed in another hotel and paid a little more than *half* of what a H.C. room would cost.
Or maybe you didn't have the cash to put together a room party. Groceries cost money and so does the booze. It's a big expense. I get that.
Come on, folks, I work in RETAIL here, and I'm not even management tier. And yet, I found a budget to host not just one but TWO parties at Archon this year.
I remember walking the strip and seeing no less than three room parties per strip of hallway. I know that the H.C. was booked solid; so who were all these people on the first floor? Why did none of them open their door and offer a few chips and a trash-can punch? I mean, just because when *I* host a room party, there's food and drinks and several boozes... that doesn't mean you can't open a bottle of cheap vodka and mix it with some punch or orange juice and put out a couple of bags of chips!
Hospitality was anything but, with beer and soda and no other choices. Not even basic snacks! No popcorn or chips or anything! I know that VIP has food and stuff, but is there some reason why they couldn't siphon off some budget to provide a hospitable hospitality suite? GAH! I tell you, GAH!
And maybe something to drink besides beer? A couple of boxes of wine, maybe? Bleah.
Now, I'm aware of the lack of Party Coordinator. I checked in with the con and was told by the chairman that *he* was the contact for parties... and how many of you knew that? The website was completely unhelpful in this way, and even the Gateway conventions had a party coordinator (and staff!)
I'm just disappointed.
Now I hear that Saturday night there were some parties, but they had all closed down by 1am, and as a member of the costumer scene that's right about the time when I hit the actual con for my fun.
And all I had was hospitality, a dance, and a video room... in a hotel reeking of vomit.
(and on a side note: WHAT THE F*UCK IS UP WITH THE FUNK!!!??)
So yeah, not a lot of good there.
Now, I have a couple of theories about the death of the room party as an art form. So, if any of you FAILED to host (or contribute to) a party this year, but attended parties thrown by someone else... Double check this list. If you didn't follow the unwritten rules... shame on you.
1. Carry some cash on you while you tour the room parties, because Parties Cost Money. Yep, guess what folks: That booze you're soaking up was paid for by another member of fandom. That food was bought in today's economy. As such, if there is a tip jar or donation bin PLEASE drop a couple of bucks into it. There's no cover charge at room parties, and if you were barely able to scrape together enough change to buy a badge we understand. However, many of you had cash in your wallet (back in your room ) and could have laid down a couple of bucks to help the hosts recoup their losses. Sometimes a party is hosted by an entity (like another convention) as a promotion, and therefore there is an advertising budget to cover the room party costs. However, at these parties they're likely to also be taking pre-registrations or selling something. So once again, carry the money on your person. Stick it in your pocket, bra, belt pouch, boot, floppy hat, or satchel. Share it with the people working their asses off to give you a good time.
2. Don't Crash. Seriously, folks. Those of you who show up without a badge and think you can cruise the room parties are ruining it for everyone. You don't sneak onto airplanes to get a free ride, right? You get it that the people on the airplane paid for their seats because everyone pitched in to pay for the flight. Those badges show that you paid your share for the hotel space, reduced room rates, and con resources. That money doesn't even go into anyone's pocket-it pays for the con to happen. Buy an evening badge or buy a day badge, and try to get there early enough to actually register yourself. (As a side note: I have, on occasion, invited people to attend a room party and assured them that if they were only going to be in my room I wouldn't care if they didn't register for the con. This is a special circumstance, and if I offer you this kind of deal it is because you contribute something special by your very presence. You're on the "Guest List" and are therefore not crashing the party. Just don't go soak up Convention resources if you're there for the room party.)
3. Early Birds will get worms. Ok, you know a party is happening. Maybe the host made an announcement. Sometimes the room is not ready to receive guests at the appointed hour. Maybe the host is having trouble with a piece of equipment, or maybe the food arrived later than expected, or maybe the host's personal belongings haven't been properly stowed away. Have the decency to wait until the party is announced as "open" before you come by with your well-wishes and appetite. Oh, sure, it is nice to offer help, but the problem is that a large group of people coming-and-going signals the outside folks that The Party Has Started and they start barging in. When a party gets started before everything is arranged, it causes havoc for the poor person running the show. It's a good way for someone's purse to be stolen, for someone's costume pieces to be ruined, for the food to fail to be prepared properly, and for the host to become a cranky monkey. Feel free to ask if the party is open yet. If the host cheerfully says, "Yeah! Come on in!" then there's no problem. If the host says, "no, sorry, come back in ten minutes" it means GO THE HELL AWAY and let the host finish the last minute prep. You may offer your help, but the host may not have time to stop and think of how to give you instructions. Be respectful of this.
***DURING PARTY PREP IS NOT THE TIME for you to sneak in a few minutes with the host for greetings and hugs. No, I'm serious. This is like going up to the conductor of an orchestra while he's tuning up the strings and wanting to discuss this piece of music with him. Catch the host (and his or her minions) later on and hug them then.
4. "I'm staying in the party room!" If you are co-hosting a party, (and if your roommates are throwing a party, guess what? You're co-hosting) be sure to be helpful and not a hinderance. Be helpful, or be absent. Offer to carry supplies. Offer to cut veggies. Offer to acquire ice or make last-minute store runs. Stow your crap out of sight, or risk it being misplaced, lost, or damaged. If you can, for the night of the party stow your stuff in your vehicle. If you must keep your stuff in the room, make sure that it is all properly contained and safely stowed away. Make sure you do this well over an hour before the party is set to start: Not ten minutes before they open the door. If you arrive while the party is going on, stow your crap someplace else until things quiet down later on. Oh, and a word on containment: Pack everything inside something. In suitcases, plastic tubs with lids, or for crissake cardboard boxes. Shopping bags and duffels/bags that don't zip are NOT containment. Piles of stuff laying about is not containment. Period. It doesn't stack neatly or stow away very well, and it trashes up the room. Invest in a cheap suitcase or something, and pack in that. (Go to Big Lots and find something for less than $20. You'll thank me later.) I pack in tubs, for the most part. They double as tables at parties.
So, in closing: If you're too cheap to host a room party, remember the expense that everyone else goes to in order to accomplish it. Contribute, even if it is just a dollar or your pocket change. If 50 people contribute one or two dollars, a host can recoup some of the outrageous expense of hosting a party.
If more people follow these rules, I bet we'll get more parties. More parties means more to do after hours, and more choices for snacks and drinks. More parties means more fun for everyone.
As in, Where the f*ck were the room parties?
When I was the only game in town on Thursday, I assumed that it was because everyone was holding out until Friday or Saturday night.
Apparently not.
Ok, a lot of people out there are reading this. Many of you attended the con. Comment below and explain to me why you didn't host a room party, if you would please. Ok, a significant number of you did not stay in the Hotel Collinsville, and that's fair enough. You didn't stay there for one reason: It's too expensive. You stayed in another hotel and paid a little more than *half* of what a H.C. room would cost.
Or maybe you didn't have the cash to put together a room party. Groceries cost money and so does the booze. It's a big expense. I get that.
Come on, folks, I work in RETAIL here, and I'm not even management tier. And yet, I found a budget to host not just one but TWO parties at Archon this year.
I remember walking the strip and seeing no less than three room parties per strip of hallway. I know that the H.C. was booked solid; so who were all these people on the first floor? Why did none of them open their door and offer a few chips and a trash-can punch? I mean, just because when *I* host a room party, there's food and drinks and several boozes... that doesn't mean you can't open a bottle of cheap vodka and mix it with some punch or orange juice and put out a couple of bags of chips!
Hospitality was anything but, with beer and soda and no other choices. Not even basic snacks! No popcorn or chips or anything! I know that VIP has food and stuff, but is there some reason why they couldn't siphon off some budget to provide a hospitable hospitality suite? GAH! I tell you, GAH!
And maybe something to drink besides beer? A couple of boxes of wine, maybe? Bleah.
Now, I'm aware of the lack of Party Coordinator. I checked in with the con and was told by the chairman that *he* was the contact for parties... and how many of you knew that? The website was completely unhelpful in this way, and even the Gateway conventions had a party coordinator (and staff!)
I'm just disappointed.
Now I hear that Saturday night there were some parties, but they had all closed down by 1am, and as a member of the costumer scene that's right about the time when I hit the actual con for my fun.
And all I had was hospitality, a dance, and a video room... in a hotel reeking of vomit.
(and on a side note: WHAT THE F*UCK IS UP WITH THE FUNK!!!??)
So yeah, not a lot of good there.
Now, I have a couple of theories about the death of the room party as an art form. So, if any of you FAILED to host (or contribute to) a party this year, but attended parties thrown by someone else... Double check this list. If you didn't follow the unwritten rules... shame on you.
1. Carry some cash on you while you tour the room parties, because Parties Cost Money. Yep, guess what folks: That booze you're soaking up was paid for by another member of fandom. That food was bought in today's economy. As such, if there is a tip jar or donation bin PLEASE drop a couple of bucks into it. There's no cover charge at room parties, and if you were barely able to scrape together enough change to buy a badge we understand. However, many of you had cash in your wallet (back in your room ) and could have laid down a couple of bucks to help the hosts recoup their losses. Sometimes a party is hosted by an entity (like another convention) as a promotion, and therefore there is an advertising budget to cover the room party costs. However, at these parties they're likely to also be taking pre-registrations or selling something. So once again, carry the money on your person. Stick it in your pocket, bra, belt pouch, boot, floppy hat, or satchel. Share it with the people working their asses off to give you a good time.
2. Don't Crash. Seriously, folks. Those of you who show up without a badge and think you can cruise the room parties are ruining it for everyone. You don't sneak onto airplanes to get a free ride, right? You get it that the people on the airplane paid for their seats because everyone pitched in to pay for the flight. Those badges show that you paid your share for the hotel space, reduced room rates, and con resources. That money doesn't even go into anyone's pocket-it pays for the con to happen. Buy an evening badge or buy a day badge, and try to get there early enough to actually register yourself. (As a side note: I have, on occasion, invited people to attend a room party and assured them that if they were only going to be in my room I wouldn't care if they didn't register for the con. This is a special circumstance, and if I offer you this kind of deal it is because you contribute something special by your very presence. You're on the "Guest List" and are therefore not crashing the party. Just don't go soak up Convention resources if you're there for the room party.)
3. Early Birds will get worms. Ok, you know a party is happening. Maybe the host made an announcement. Sometimes the room is not ready to receive guests at the appointed hour. Maybe the host is having trouble with a piece of equipment, or maybe the food arrived later than expected, or maybe the host's personal belongings haven't been properly stowed away. Have the decency to wait until the party is announced as "open" before you come by with your well-wishes and appetite. Oh, sure, it is nice to offer help, but the problem is that a large group of people coming-and-going signals the outside folks that The Party Has Started and they start barging in. When a party gets started before everything is arranged, it causes havoc for the poor person running the show. It's a good way for someone's purse to be stolen, for someone's costume pieces to be ruined, for the food to fail to be prepared properly, and for the host to become a cranky monkey. Feel free to ask if the party is open yet. If the host cheerfully says, "Yeah! Come on in!" then there's no problem. If the host says, "no, sorry, come back in ten minutes" it means GO THE HELL AWAY and let the host finish the last minute prep. You may offer your help, but the host may not have time to stop and think of how to give you instructions. Be respectful of this.
***DURING PARTY PREP IS NOT THE TIME for you to sneak in a few minutes with the host for greetings and hugs. No, I'm serious. This is like going up to the conductor of an orchestra while he's tuning up the strings and wanting to discuss this piece of music with him. Catch the host (and his or her minions) later on and hug them then.
4. "I'm staying in the party room!" If you are co-hosting a party, (and if your roommates are throwing a party, guess what? You're co-hosting) be sure to be helpful and not a hinderance. Be helpful, or be absent. Offer to carry supplies. Offer to cut veggies. Offer to acquire ice or make last-minute store runs. Stow your crap out of sight, or risk it being misplaced, lost, or damaged. If you can, for the night of the party stow your stuff in your vehicle. If you must keep your stuff in the room, make sure that it is all properly contained and safely stowed away. Make sure you do this well over an hour before the party is set to start: Not ten minutes before they open the door. If you arrive while the party is going on, stow your crap someplace else until things quiet down later on. Oh, and a word on containment: Pack everything inside something. In suitcases, plastic tubs with lids, or for crissake cardboard boxes. Shopping bags and duffels/bags that don't zip are NOT containment. Piles of stuff laying about is not containment. Period. It doesn't stack neatly or stow away very well, and it trashes up the room. Invest in a cheap suitcase or something, and pack in that. (Go to Big Lots and find something for less than $20. You'll thank me later.) I pack in tubs, for the most part. They double as tables at parties.
So, in closing: If you're too cheap to host a room party, remember the expense that everyone else goes to in order to accomplish it. Contribute, even if it is just a dollar or your pocket change. If 50 people contribute one or two dollars, a host can recoup some of the outrageous expense of hosting a party.
If more people follow these rules, I bet we'll get more parties. More parties means more to do after hours, and more choices for snacks and drinks. More parties means more fun for everyone.
