OK.... many Party Organizers, especially the "New Ones"....think finding a Venue to Host Your next party at is going to be EASY... during my 22+ years of planning my events... the VENUE-BOOKING is the SECOND thing I do to LOCK Down My EVENT.... it is THAT important... ...so....if you want to get into a new venue..... you want them to take you seriously, give you good dates, flexible terms, and eventually treat you like a partner. Here's the thing most first-timers completely miss: The deal doesn't start when you sign the contract. It starts the moment they first hear your name. Everything you do from that very first call tells them exactly who they're dealing with. And in this business, reputation is currency. Here are 10 things you can do right now to make sure yours is already working for you before your first event even happens: 1. Show up early. Always. If the meeting is at 2pm, be there at 1:45. Not because they told you to. Because that's who you are. Being on time is late. Being early is on time (Remember that STATEMENT! Live by that and you will stand out from literally 90% of the people they deal with. 2. Dress the part. Not the way your crowd will dress that night. The way a professional shows up to a business meeting. Sharp, clean, put together. You're not auditioning for the party. You're presenting yourself as someone they can trust to run one. First impressions in this industry stick. Make yours count!...and remembered! 3. Do what you said you'd do. If you said you'd call Tuesday, call Tuesday. If you said you'd send over the proposal by end of week, send it by end of week. This sounds basic. It isn't. Most people don't follow through consistently, and venue managers notice immediately. When you do what you say, every single time, you are now the exception. That exception gets better treatment. 4. Pay early, not just on time. If the deposit is due Friday, send it Wednesday. Nothing communicates reliability like money that arrives ahead of schedule.

Most people will tell you that being a sub-promoter at $1 per head is a dead end. Def. of a "Sub-Promoter": "You are finding and inviting and getting the Ideal Person To Attend Someone Else's Party" They're wrong, but only if you treat it like a school, not a permanent job. Here's what nobody tells you: the $1-a-head model is the most honest teacher in the nightlife industry. It punishes you for bringing the wrong people, rewards you for knowing exactly who shows up and why, and forces you to build something that will matter a lot later: a real list that actually responds to you. The problem isn't the $1. The problem is when promoters stay there forever because they never learned what the grind was actually teaching them. A Real Day in the Life: It's Wednesday afternoon. You've got a night on Friday at a mid-size venue. You have no salary, no base, and no guarantee of anything. You start working your phone. You're not texting 300 random contacts hoping someone shows up. The promoters who do that bring 12 people and make $12. The ones who actually eat are texting specific people for specific reasons. You're reaching out to the birthday girl whose party you helped host in March. She has 8 girlfriends who go out together every few weeks. You're texting the guy who runs his company's Thursday social scene, because his crew of 15 converts almost every time. You're messaging the college senior who told you at the last event that her sorority was planning a night out. These aren't just names. They're group anchors. One yes from a group anchor is worth 10 single replies from randos. Thursday you put up three stories. Not a flyer. A story that looks like a friend who's excited about Friday, not an advertisement. The promoters who blast the same graphic to their 1,200 Instagram followers and get 8 people to show are the ones mistaking noise for outreach. Friday afternoon, your guest list sits at 44 names. You have rough confirmations on about 30. You know from experience that 22 to 25 of those will actually walk through the door.

It's not marketing skills. It's not connections. It's not even money. ….𝐢𝐭'𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃 𝐏𝐄𝐎𝐏𝐋𝐄…. After 22 years organizing San Francisco events, I learned to walk into a room and INSTANTLY feel the energy. I could tell within 5 minutes if someone was a connector or just talk. If a venue owner was genuinely interested or wasting my time. If a crowd was vibing or just going through the motions.….when I was throwing my own parties… I Always KNEW if my Party Was ON Fire or NOT… .....it was just an Energy and Insight I developed Early on… but the Best part was, it was NOT LEFT UP TO COINCIDENCE more on that another time.... This skill isn't taught in business school…. You develop it by PAYING ATTENTION. By Being Part of the Action… By watching body language. By listening more than you speak. By noticing who gravitates toward who and why. In nightlife and entrepreneurship, reading people is EVERYTHING. It tells you who to partner with, who to avoid, and how to create the energy everyone craves. ….𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭…. "𝙋𝙚𝙤𝙥𝙡𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙜𝙚𝙩 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙨𝙖𝙞𝙙, 𝙥𝙚𝙤𝙥𝙡𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙜𝙚𝙩 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙙𝙞𝙙, 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙥𝙚𝙤𝙥𝙡𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙣𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙜𝙚𝙩 𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙢𝙖𝙙𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙡." — Maya Angelou… I love that Quote… How good are you at reading people? PS. I would LOVE to see your comment below….

Money Being Made On "The Side"... by Your Very Own Saff... NO...You are kidding me Alf. You cannot mean what you are writing here. Yes, I mean every word. And I've been through the ringer several times. One of the worst cases I had was a security guard at one of my huge events. We had 3,000-4,000 people there. He was pocketing a lot of money on the side where people had the smoking area. If it wasn't for a good friend of mine passing by there, the idiot was even trying to solicit people to come in this way so he could pocket the money. You've got to watch out for these things. Now, obviously, I got smarter over the years. I started planting people to see if one of the security guards (or any of the security guards) try to do anything funny. Another area you should be concerned about is: where the cashiers are. Also, you have to have an eye or a control system on your money collected at the door. In this industry, there's still a lot of cash, exactly where that cash goes and you have trusted people there, you've got to make sure that works. VIP passes: one time I had somebody copy my very sophisticated RipCard (which is actually a VIP pass too). Obviously, I saw the copy afterwards because they had to render that at the door. I was quite impressed with how they managed to copy it with colors and everything, it looked almost identical. so there are a lot of things you need to watch out for in this industry . CHIME IN: If you have any other tips or insights, let me know right here in the comment section and we can share ideas on how we can protect ourselves and keep the monies we so well deserve.

...well.. then let me know where you are and if you want to have a conversation about it. ....as that's what I did for 22 years in San Francisco, California! I became one of the biggest party organizers there. I threw the most extravagant, fun, unique, one-of-a-kind parties that people still remember. Want to learn how? I can give you all the insights and tricks, and you will not believe how easy it is. Hit me up with a DM and I'll get right back to you, or even comment here.