Best fun/techy ways to make a party better?
May 4, 2011 2:26 PM Subscribe
How can I make my party more techy, fun, communal?
I'm turning 30 this month, and I'm planning a party for about 20 friends at my apartment with booze, finger food, etc. Only some people know each other, and there will be a few different groups of friends (some from work, some from a club I was a part of, etc.).
What are the ways I can up the ante AND leave everyone with some cool memories? Looking for general ideas (i.e- have name-tags prepared with three interesting facts about each person), applicable web2.0-ish sites, iPhone/Android apps I can ask people to download, etc., that will facilitate discussion, act as ice-breakers, save memories, and generally just make it a fun party.
Supplies: average/large LCD TV in the area where we'll be, two laptops, an extra computer screen, a printer, an iPhone, one digital camera, HDMI cable, pointer/clicker for presentations, my main router + extra router, PS2, AppleTV, DVD player.
I'm turning 30 this month, and I'm planning a party for about 20 friends at my apartment with booze, finger food, etc. Only some people know each other, and there will be a few different groups of friends (some from work, some from a club I was a part of, etc.).
What are the ways I can up the ante AND leave everyone with some cool memories? Looking for general ideas (i.e- have name-tags prepared with three interesting facts about each person), applicable web2.0-ish sites, iPhone/Android apps I can ask people to download, etc., that will facilitate discussion, act as ice-breakers, save memories, and generally just make it a fun party.
Supplies: average/large LCD TV in the area where we'll be, two laptops, an extra computer screen, a printer, an iPhone, one digital camera, HDMI cable, pointer/clicker for presentations, my main router + extra router, PS2, AppleTV, DVD player.
Earlier on in the party I think it'd be kind of neat to use some of the iTunes' audio visualizers while playing party music, and show them on the LCD in the main area. I personally think these visualizers are pretty cool-looking - if you don't like them, go download some you do like. Could also show album art, if you're good at making that collection in your iTunes complete.
Alternatively, Youtube music parties. I've been to parties where when the music selection on the home computer kinda started to wane, so we logged into our youtube accounts and showed music videos off our youtube playlists. Also, you can instantly grab a song you think of... i recommend stocking up a playlist ahead of time, to verify sound and video quality though. DYI MTV.
When the party's winding down late at night and the stragglers are still around, showing some classic cartoons from your childhood would probably go over pretty well - Ninja Turtles, for example.
posted by lizbunny at 3:04 PM on May 4, 2011
Alternatively, Youtube music parties. I've been to parties where when the music selection on the home computer kinda started to wane, so we logged into our youtube accounts and showed music videos off our youtube playlists. Also, you can instantly grab a song you think of... i recommend stocking up a playlist ahead of time, to verify sound and video quality though. DYI MTV.
When the party's winding down late at night and the stragglers are still around, showing some classic cartoons from your childhood would probably go over pretty well - Ninja Turtles, for example.
posted by lizbunny at 3:04 PM on May 4, 2011
A friend of mine described a cool party he went to. Everyone put $10 and a suggestion into the pot. The suggestion was for what to spend the money on. Some time into the party, the suggestions were projected up onto the wall and people put in their votes on the computer.
$200 could be enough money to do some crazy things. You could buy a slip and slide and a lot of KY Jelly. You could send someone on a flight to complete a task like buying everyone the local delicacy. You couldbuy $200 worth of tater tots and have an eating contest.
Obviously it would be better if the task can be completed concurrently, and maybe have a streaming video (a la iphone).
posted by just.good.enough at 3:44 PM on May 4, 2011
$200 could be enough money to do some crazy things. You could buy a slip and slide and a lot of KY Jelly. You could send someone on a flight to complete a task like buying everyone the local delicacy. You couldbuy $200 worth of tater tots and have an eating contest.
Obviously it would be better if the task can be completed concurrently, and maybe have a streaming video (a la iphone).
posted by just.good.enough at 3:44 PM on May 4, 2011
The organizers of design meetup CreativeMorning have different nametags per session, each with a question on it. Examples can be seen here. I think using something like this would be a much more fun conversation starter than three interesting facts, mainly because when it comes to that kind of thing I can never think of three interesting things about myself.
posted by mismatched at 5:48 PM on May 4, 2011
posted by mismatched at 5:48 PM on May 4, 2011
You could have each guest add their "favorite" song to an online music streaming site that lets you create albums. Then have guests guess whose song it was while it's playing. It will really get conversations started and perhaps create some bonds between people who might otherwise feel they have nothing in common. While I would never suggest you to break any copyright laws, it might be fun to provide each guest with a CD of the songs with the names of the person who picked them.
posted by loquat at 6:32 PM on May 4, 2011
posted by loquat at 6:32 PM on May 4, 2011
Leaving ChatRoulette on a laptop connected to the TV has started some pretty entertaining conversations at parties I've had. (Your Mileage May Vary, depending on the crowd.)
posted by Jonathan Harford at 4:34 AM on May 5, 2011
posted by Jonathan Harford at 4:34 AM on May 5, 2011
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- Give access to your music playlist via the iTune remote app, let people select/veto/knife-fight-over songs
- Create a Flickr group for people to post their phone pics throughout the party, show these photos (and the photobooth photos) on the laptop or TV (Google's Photo Screensaver can probably display the Flickr RSS feed)
I love posts like these. I'm dying to see what others come up with.
posted by coondognd at 2:37 PM on May 4, 2011