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Facts about throwing good parties

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Re: Facts about throwing good parties

#161

Post by ramses0 »

jkaptur wrote: post #116

"Couples often flake together. This changes the probability distribution of attendees considerably" It's interesting to consider the full correlation matrix! Groups of friends may tend to flake together too, people who live in the same neighborhood might rely on the same subways or highways... I think this is precisely the same problem as pricing a CDO, so a Gaussian Copula or graphical model is really what you need.…

We tend to calculate "people at percentages", ie: 2 adults, 2 kids, 50% chance of showing up rates as an attendance-load of 1.5 virtual people (for food calculations).

Then sometimes you need the "max + min souls" (seats, plates), and account for what we call "the S-factor" if someone brings an unexpected guest, roommate, etc.

Lastly: there is a difference between a "party" and a "soirée" (per my college roommate: "you don't have parties, you have soirées!")

All the advice is really accurate, makes me miss hosting. If you want to go a little deeper, there's a book called "How to be a Gentleman", and it has a useful section on "A Gentleman Hosts a Party", and then "Dads Own Cookbook" has a chapter on party planning, hosting, preparation timelines... there's quite a bit of art and science to it!

Re: Facts about throwing good parties

#162

Post by CSMastermind »

> Most people will only go to a party where they expect to know 3+ others already.

Is that true?

I've been to two weddings where the only person I knew was the bride and I was just like, well I guess I'll make friends there. Had a blast both times.

Re: Facts about throwing good parties

#163

Post by hshdhdhehd »

ssl-3 wrote: post #10
buildsjets wrote: post #7

I sure miss the kind of parties where they have to get an emergency court order to cut power the building at 3am. I learned everything I need to know about throwing parties from Dave Barry. If you throw a party, the worst thing that you can do would be to throw the kind of party where your guests wake up today, and call you to say they had a nice time. Now you'll be be expected to throw another party next year. What…

I had a halloween party once. It had everything: Substance abuse, debauchery, a proper PA system shaking the floor, good lighting, costumes, good people we knew, random other people we'd never met before, a keg of beer, epic bean dip... everything but the police, somehow. Anyway, my boss showed up. I don't know if I invited him or if he just decided to be there on his own. He was having a great time with everything,…

Fuck. You lot have lives!

Re: Facts about throwing good parties

#167

Post by barbs »

> " Parties are a public service, you’re doing people a favor by throwing them..Throwing parties is stressful for most people, but a great kindness to the community, so genuinely pat yourself on the back for doing this."

I sort of agree, but I also think they're intrinsically a lot of fun, and if you're not enjoying yourself and only doing it to provide the service then you probably shouldn't be throwing them.

Also, in my experience the best parties were the ones that, at a certain point, would carry themselves forward from their own momentum. Everyone participates in their own way, so if the music needed changing or there needed to be more alcohol, it would sort of work itself out automatically. Basically, it's less about the host providing everything and more providing the environment for the party to run itself.

Re: Facts about throwing good parties

#168

Post by globular-toast »

iansimon wrote: post #113

I'm already out after Rule 1 (prioritize your ease of being). If I prioritized my ease of being I wouldn't throw a party in the first place.

This is why I've never thrown a party. I don't hate socialising, but I want to go home. I'll often leave without any fanfare when I've had enough. If I throw the party, I can't just go home or, worse, it's in my home, which is the only place I can go.

Re: Facts about throwing good parties

#169

Post by barbs »

baby wrote: post #56

I've organized so many parties that I feel qualified to comment here :D (actually sorry but the other commens I've read feel silly). Love the number one advice of the post: focusing on yourself having a good time. Although the more you organize the easier it gets. > 5) Use an app like Partiful or Luma I refuse to use an event page personally because I think it makes it less personal. I always DM people directly if I…

> - don't have seats otherwise people will sit down, and sitting down is the party killer

My Nan used to always say to me:

"You know what happens to girls that sit down at parties?"

"What Nan?"

"Nothing!"

Re: Facts about throwing good parties

#170

Post by hutattedonmyarm »

ryukoposting wrote: post #132

Call me bad at parties, but a dedicated app for inviting people to the party is too much fanfare for my taste. If everyone waits around to see if their friends are going, nobody will RSVP because they're all waiting on each other to RSVP. We're all friends here. A good party fosters serendipity. Granted, I'm the same person who accepts any invitation to any concert, and intentionally doesn't listen to the band ahead…

> Call me bad at parties, but a dedicated app for inviting people to the party is too much fanfare for my taste.

I agree. We threw a halloween party. We just discussed who we wanted to invite and threw everybody together in a whatsapp groupchat to announce the thing.

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