Define the perfect Pennsic Party

Good: Places to sit.

Bad: Dense crowds.
Long (10 minutes is long) performances unless they're the stated point of the party.

Places to sit.

LOTS of people (small parties are fine if you know the people or don't want anything too crazy. I like both, and this post is about crazy).

A good bar (good only has to include a variety of alcohols and non-alky beverages to mix drinks with, and perhaps a standard beer selection to choose from (tap or not, irrelevent)).

Music (the kind people can participate in, not just sit and listen to (the latter being more suitable for smaller parties)).

-Good- IDing (I've been a supporter of this even before I could drink, just because it's stupid to get other people in trouble just to illegally drink at -their- locale).

Most importantly, a basic party theme (this is particularly if you want to stand out and attract attention. The 'theme' concept can become too exclusionary if the idea is centered on attracting/allowing only a particular persona/crowd to participate/enter, so it should be more of a general idea/thrust than a strict rule if you're aiming for a big party. Otherwise, have fun).

~ Kole

Good: performers - fire breather, spinner, etc...
Good: water for performers/drummers/etc...
Good: seats reserved for musicians of all varieties (melody and drum) - not all of us want to lug a chair everywhere we go and not all of us can play standing up
Good: melody musicians

Bad: hard to hear if anyone is talking (i.e. stage) during/for a performance unless you're next to the 'stage'
Very Bad: disorganized drumming, lack of leadership

True Story: last year (PW 35), I went to a party and as I approached, it sounded like a cacophony of drumming going on. As I got closer to the fire, I saw that there was an almost complete circle of drummers, so I started walking around to see where I could sit and drum. What I realized, as I was walking around, was that the two sides of the fire were playing TWO TOTALLY DIFFERENT RHYTHMS!!!! I continued to walk around the fire as I made my way out of the party.

As a fellow party hoster and goer, I have mixed feelings.

Space at Pennsic is a premium thing that you'll only find at Royal encampments. Really... Unless the Land 0 Crats figure out and offer extra space for big party throwing camps, you're going to be squished no matter where you go.

When we threw Hell Nite we'd have some 3,000 + people show up during the party. Our camp space didn't really allow for us to have 3,000 people standing or sitting... but we managed. We'd squeeze all of our tents as much as possible and position things about the open space to sort of have a flow (Feng Shui?) of traffic. The bar in one spot, fire centrally located, whip chicks up on the hill, games scattered throughout. It seemed to work pretty well. Though the lines getting in (pending on when you got there) could get out of hand and really long, we always did our best to keep people entertained. The entire party could be seen via the road, so all those waiting to get in had a bird's eye view at least.

This year, we had more people in camp, and less space. Hell Nite just wouldn't work. We also tried moving the party area closer to the water, and in a period ONLY ring of tents. We thought we'd attempt to make our party area more "in The Dream". We used the hill as an amphitheater with the entertainment at the bottom. Because of the limited space we had "invite only" which was really just bring a bottle of wine and costume. Yeah, some actual invites were given out, but only to those folks who helped us in the past with our parties (running security, whip chicks, bar maids, etc) and then to anyone who asked for one.

In all, I think the size and flow of the Bacchanalia worked very well. Almost everyone had a costume (which made it a great photo op) and there was a ton of wine to be drunk (along with beers, meads, cider, etc).

I even had my living room of my tent opened so that folks could come and sit, drink, eat, and watch the party from a "front row" style seat. We had many visitors (thanks to all that did stop by!) and I had a blast (So did Azhrde, even though she wasn't feeling well). We welcomed anyone who wanted to stop in and sit. As did (I believe) one of our other pavilion tent owners in her living room.

But, finding seating for 500 or 1,000 people is virtually impossible. Even if we mass created bench seats for that many, we'd have to use a Uhaul to bring them all (also not very feasible). Seating at a party, any party, is always a premium. Honestly, it might be best to bring your own folding chair if seating is needed (or request ahead of time to have one saved for you).

Oh, one last thing, yes, we do try to provide seating for drummers/musicians, as we had our camp's folding chairs at the back of the performance area. Whether or not they used them, I"m not sure.

At Pennsic there are really only two REQUIRED elements for a party - Alcohol & Light. Like moths scadians are drawn to these things. When one or the other is out, so is the party. OPTIONALLY to make a better party I want:

1. Intimacy, in other words, you don't have to shout to talk, you can meet a stranger or friend and converse, and can catch a show (poi, sung, spoken, whatever). You aren't jostled by everyone trying to reach the bar. But the bar might be packed, it's just that there is a zone where you can get slightly away.

2. Water. It's easier to drink copious quanitities of alcohol, dance and play like a fiend, and even talk, if you aren't dehydrated. Further, water makes it possible for you to be functional the next day, when you may wish to fight, or go to classes or something. It's easier to carry around a bottle of Captain's Private Stock or other inebriant than it is to carry enough water to wash it down. (Grog after all was water and rum.)

3. Seating, sit down to talk, to drum, to just drink and watch. Also to show how "chivalrous" you are to an attractive prospect "give" your seat to them. Nothing says I "care" like a dry chair at War. I spend allot of time sitting on the Ravenspittle. After walking from top side it's a huge relief. Eschew Walmartesque "camp chairs" they are flimsey, take up a ton of space, and totally blow any "period feel. A bunch of benches are great and they can be stored away easily...also they encourage people to cozy up.

4. Plausible Deniability to time & place. While folks are sitting, drinking, flirting, and watching they should be able to forget the time, year, or century. I LOVE being in Casa Bardicci, parts of Vlad's or other camps where I can scan about and because of the mix of garb, alcohol, and decor I can "deny" the 21st century even if it's only for a few moments. Those moments are MAGIC, and Pennsic is a venue that sometimes makes them possible. There is another aspect of plausible deniability that is more sinister....

5. Plausible Deniability in mundania. The proliferation of cellphones and cameras at war is a mixed blessing and curse. Magical moments at night can turn into nothing less than personal tragedies because some ass with a camera is taking pictures and posting them to the internet when they should simply be in the moment capturing the passage of events in memory. During the day, capture all the photos you want, at night put the damn phones and cameras away and just have fun. I'd love to go to a party with a prominent "NO TECHNOLOGY" sign on the door, and a policy of kicking-out shutter bugs. I've seen this in action at some parties and it works to a point, some idiot always manages to get a shot or two off before he's caught. Certainly 10-15 years ago there were more "spontaneous" moments simply because people didn't fear some quick handed paparazzi turning the moment into an eternity.

In my opinion, if you were to provide the two required and five optional elements, you really don't have to worry about the theme, performers, music, or company. They will all come and be as varied and wonderful as you might imagine. Maybe I'm naive, but I think good people will rapidly gravitate to a known "safe zone" at War. As they seem to do.

Dragan
What we fear comes to pass more speedily than what we hope."
- Publilius Syrus - Moral Sayings (1st C B.C.)

One of my favorite nights at war was when my camp was invaded by a bunch of drummers. The heads of our camp has just gotten married so the entire camp was in this state of mess and who-the-hell-cares attitude toward throwing a party. With the arrival of a bunch of amazing drummers, we had a party and one of the best ones i can remember.
The best thing about it is that all we had to do was offer light and water. We didn't serve a drop of alcohol.
I don't think there's a perfect mixture for a perfect party. It's got to be the mood of the people who come. That night the mood was set by some drummers going "hell yeah!" and then other people showed up going "hell yeah!" and so it was a hell yeah kind of night.

I also like ending my nights at vlad's. It's totally the diner of pennsic. At the point where the other parties die, you can wander to vlad's and only the people who are die hard interested in being social are left.

I love hitting up the later hours of bardicci parties. with the atmosphere.

Men with out pants will always be a favorite... It's totally got a bit of a sausage fest thing going for it (I'm a girl, I have NO qualms with that... but ladies, really you should check it out) It's also got an invasion of awesome blue people every year. It's also the largest adult-style party I get the chance to see or go to.

Elspeth said:
<Another thing, and this isn't something people running parties can really control, but I wish more people were willing to talk to strangers at parties. Too many of the parties felt like people going to a bar instead of parties. Hard to explain. Not saying that people have to always bring others into their circles or whatever, but more openness would've been nice. >

I kind of have to second that. This was my first Pennsic and I had a blast, but I was definitely pushing my comfort limits in being outgoing to meet people. I was there with an old friend who is a regular Pennsic-goer. She is very reserved. I realized pretty quickly that unless we started talking to people, it would be just the two of us standing there talking to each other. So I just started making random comments (not rude, but like "love that dress!", "oohhh, shiny!", etc.) about people walking by until someone responded back, a conversation started, we got included in the party amoeba and off we went. This is not ~normal~ behavior for me, trust me. However, it served the purpose. Later in the week, we went out with some people from home who know me fairly well and they were shocked at my behavior! It was their first Pennsic, too but we had the best time and met wonderful people (most of whose names I can't remember, sorry!). One of the reasons I felt I could do that was the anonymity of the whole thing. Like I'll ever see (or recognize) the yummy almost naked guy at MWOPs again (although he did taste good!).

On a different note, I second the water thing. I'm a big water drinker and try to avoid hangovers by mixing my water with my alcohol. I think clearly