Hey Gang,
Every scientist knows that the best way to come to a conclusion for a problem is to analyse the data of your experiment. You could say my party was a social experiment, because, well, I had a lot of facets to my party that were never really used before. So, I'd like to point out some tips for future party-planners (and some can even be used in real life situations):
1. Something may sound good in theory, but...: The Red Carpet sounded like an awesome idea in everyone's heads. I'm pretty sure that was the most anticipated part of the party. However, there were some challenges that I simply didn't think of. Some Featured Wizards couldn't tune in to the livestream because their computer couldn't handle it. Others were deaf and could not hear me call their name. And some were just embarrassed and didn't want to be put in the spotlight. All in all, this part of the party wound up a being a complete disaster. People who weren't Featured Wizards were trying to get on the Red Carpet before it was open, which really frustrated me. Then some would start freaking out on me when I sent them away because they were not supposed to be on the Red Carpet. It was way too stressful and it simply didn't yield anything worthy of going through that amount of stress. If you would like to try the Red Carpet idea for yourself a few tips I would give would be:
a. Have a practice or two before the day of the Wizaversary for the Featured Wizards to know what's going on. A confused Red Carpet Event is a bad Red Carpet Event. This will also give you more time to deal with the problems presented.
b. Get a headcount of the Featured Wizards attending. You can do this over Twitter, Facebook, or by simply asking the Featured Wizards to comment saying that they will attend.
c. Have what you're going to say about each Featured Guest prepared and ready. For those tuned into the livestream during the Red Carpet Event, you'd know that I was a mess when talking about each guest. While I thought that I could just wing it, I learned that writing it out before time would have made it seemed organized. Also, if you plan on having a featured guest that is deaf, be courteous and at the very least write out your thanks to them in chat.
d. Have what you're going to say about each guest short, sweet, and to the point. Don't ramble on about each guest, and don't take so much time to do the event, because guests (even the Featured ones) get impatient and bored. Constantly entertain your guests.
If you're planning on trying a Red Carpet Event, I wish you luck. Not only was it challenging to scrounge up the gold and materials, but it made a lot of people impatient and angry. I have to admit, not one of my best ideas. But like I said, it DID sound good in theory.
2. Keep your guests busy: I already said this in the previous point, but I feel it should be emphasized. People have short attention spans. Watching people PvP can get boring. Do something out of the box to entertain them! Have some people running instance, have a dance floor, and come up with some of your own wacky ideas to keep your guests entertained. Even if a plan doesn't work out, at least you know for the future.
3. Keep ALL your guests in mind: Again, I realize I already talked about this, but this is a HUGE tip that needs to be stressed. Try your best to make the event for everyone. Write out things for people who can't hear or for people who can't tune in to listen to you talk. Have something to do for people who don't like to PvP like a Fashion Contest. If you can keep your event as open as possible, it will turn out as best as possible.
4. Do a LOT of Decorating: I worked very hard on my Sultan's Palace to make it look the best it could, and from what I'm hearing from attendees, it sounds like all my work paid off. Hundreds of thousands of gold and Crowns were dumped into those decorations, as wells as a ton of time and opinions (*cough**cough* Paige MoonShade :D). Take your time on setting up the house, and finish decorating a week or two early. Also, come up with your own unique ideas for the house, or build off of another's idea (but don't steal it!). Use other people's housing decor as a spring board to do something even better.
5. Invite your guests to explore your house: As I stated above, a lot of time went in to the decorating of the house. But I wonder exactly how much of the people actually explored and how many people just ran straight to the dance floor. Create a unique and interesting way to invite your guests to explore the house. Of course, there will be some guests who will do this on their own. But there are some who are just there to party, so create a way to make them appreciate all the hard work that went into accepting that huge project.
6. Don't take on a ride that's too tall for you: This kinda relates to my first tip, but it's not exactly that. I'm not sure if anyone saw the huge garden of Trumpet Vines, but that was a roller coaster that I simply wasn't tall enough to ride. With the Dragon Hoarder's Pack just releasing, I spent around 10,000 Crowns just trying to get that Skeletal Dragon (oh yeah, I totally regret that). I didn't have the crowns to buy Energy Elixirs to take care of my Trumpet Vines, so they kept wilting. This was simply too much for me too handle, and I recommend learning from my mistake by not doing something you can't handle.
7. Be Organized: This also relates to not taking on challenges that are too big. If you're not organized, things are going to get pretty messy. As I learned with the PvP Tourney and the Red Carpet Event, being organized is key. Get contestants you can rely on, and don't take maybe for an answer. Your contests and your Featured Guests have to be 100% sure that they can make it to the event. If they aren't sure, don't accept them.
That's pretty much all I have to offer as far as tips go. The party did turn out to be cool in the end. Here are some photos in case you missed it:
Also, here are the Winners of the Contests:
*PvP Tourney*:
1st Place- Abigail DawnPetal (Diana WildHeart)
2nd Place- Connor MistBlade
*Fashion Contest*:
1st Place- Katherine LightWalker
2nd Place- Ben FrogStone
3rd Place- Jasmine Smith
Ok, well, I've got a lot of work cut out for me. I hope everyone has fun in the Spiral!
P.D.
