I have been checking out various venues around San Diego every weekend, to see if the facilities and amenities seem good for an upcoming, fun event. I like to set up dates with the managers and/or owners to do come mutual brainstorming. My goal is to create new, exciting, breakthrough events that work well in 2010 and beyond. As much as I yearn for the Good Old Days to come back, they're not going to, so I like to create NEW traditions and events that are just as wonderful as our favorites from the past.
So, when I'm out bar-hopping and approaching the managers, some places blow me off without listening, and others are quite open to the idea of hosting our crew. I can't take it personally if the initial contact doesn't go well… These places have met their share of wannabee leaders, and they can't be faulted for assuming that FMSD is another big, fancy idea with no constituency. Sooner or later, word will reach everybody through the grapevine that we're the real deal.
Thanks to the urging of Anthony, Mr. San Diego Leather 2010, I checked out The Flame last night.
Holy Toledo!
The place is NOT what I have expected from the past. The new owners bought the place about a year or so ago, and clearly spent a lot of money to upgrade and massively remodel the place. I can't imagine a better venue for a dance-party. The dance floor is huge, there's a lot of parking nearby, there's a kick-ass back room that has a separate bar and a stage for demos, and Gardenia, the new manager who is very open to having us come in. I will be having a meeting with her and the owners of the place on Thursday.
I will be bringing up these bullet-points:
- I don't want any pay for hosting events there. That should surprise them.
- The DJ supplying the music (whether it's one of theirs, or one of ours) has to be consistent, time after time, event after event. They will need to be 100% in synch with the needs of our crowd. I'm real bossy about this, because I've attempted to set up events like this in the past, and if the music ain't making us stomp our feet and shake our butts, people won't stay, or rave to their friends afterward.
- No smoke-machine. Ever. They had it on last night. That stuff is atomized baby-oil, spewing out and coating our lungs, and I lose my ability to speak when I'm exposed to it. I cough for hours afterward. I have never see what value it adds to a dance-party.
- I want to be the overall judge of what changes, if anything changes. I know my crowd, and I have a lot of experience with this stuff. I don't want everything to stop in the middle for a drag show or a fundraiser, if we're there to DANCE. Yeah, I'm a big old Control Queen. I figure as long as I can't help being this way, I may as well be really good at it.
The over-arching theme of what I want to convey on Thursday is that I take full responsibility for the safety and well-being of the space. By nature, I'm a human Border Collie, and I gather people together in environments where everybody can relax and have a superb time. If things go haywire just because the owner or manager at a venue get the idea that they know our crowd better than anybody else, then I get really itchy and antsy and want to repair the damage, and I can't always do that.
Any feedback?
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