immersive party theory

[totient]

I've just added some interests to my LJ user info, and one of them is "immersive parties". Some theory, from an AIM conversation:

• Flyers say "this party is organized" and get you a line when you open.
  
• The entry to the party must be active in some way. Making the participants do something to enter the created world gives them a stake in the world. For example, SCA events do this by having a pile of T-tunics for visitors to put on.
  
• You need texture. By this I mean that in order to experience a created world as "real", there has to be more to it than meets the casual eye. If the first level of further examination reveals created world rather than real world, the created world becomes real.
  
• To maintain the texture, an immersive party at a convention needs at least one staff member per 50 square feet.
  
• It helps tremendously to have a PA system.

An immersive party is like a crystal. The molecules in solution want to become part of it, but you have to be thorough and clean with no distractions to keep a single lattice.

Comments

[mangosteen]

Yah, that revelation came to me a while back after the Orange Party. The attendees must have an investment in the world.

The minimal amount of texture that will do the job is immersive decoration plus immersed staff.

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

Yep. This is why I've decided to try to adopt a low-tolerance policy in the future to people who show up to one of my "serious" parties (where I have been rather explicit about the theme and dress code and the consquences of ignoring it) in everyday street clothes and refuse to budge.

For example, at my last beach party, a couple of people brought a friend and all three of them remained in their khakis, sweaters, and shoes the entire time. They wouldn't even take off the damn sweaters despite having t-shirts underneath and the fact that it was damn hot inside. I really don't understand why they bothered to show up. It not only bothers me, but the way the behaved really did take away from the entire mood of the event (and others commented on it as well).

So what, if anything, to do about people who not only won't participate but who actively diminish the experience for others may be something to consider as well.

[palmwiz.livejournal.com]

Rich Macchi showed up to Traciy's and my No Black dressed all in black with incredibly bright colors underneath, just so he could answer our demand to take off any black clothing at the door and still be decent afterwards...

In that case, I think it added to the party, but I don't know if it would in general.

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

He dressed very specifically with the theme of the party in mind. It may have been an interpretation that you didn't foresee, but if it was still a good one (which it sounds like it was in this case), than it can still work.

I'm talking about guys who show up in their khakis and a sweater no matter what the theme is.

[jered]

Once the house is done Brian and I would like to have a Victorian-themed party, but we don't really know enough about the period to pull it off, I think.

[hauntmeister.livejournal.com]

The "Box of Humiliation" was a staple of my and Jeff's Halloween parties for years. If you showed up at the party without a costume, one would be provided for you. If we were feeling charitable, we'd let you pick your own costume. If not, other guests would pick one for you.

This way, we could still welcome people who dropped in without adequate advance planning, and they would be part of the event.

In fact, they could also be part of the entertainment. Pickings got pretty thin in The Box as the evening went on. One latecomer wasn't allowed past the entry hall until he'd had most of the parts from a toddler-sized Barney costume duct-taped onto him.

He loved it. So did everybody else. And the party theme kept on going.

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

The Box of Shame was a great thing at the Halloween party. Some people who showed up in costume traded in at the box, even. There were also some donations. :) (Of course, the aforementioned people from the beach party wouldn't partake that time, either.)

[drbitch.livejournal.com]

An immersive party must be consensual. No fair springing it on someone after they get there. Some provision for dealing gracefully with folks who got dragged along without being told about the theme, or people who can't participate for whatever reason, needs to be in place.

[palmwiz.livejournal.com]

I should perhaps clarify that the cleanliness is required of the container, not the solution, and that at a con having much of a costume-related entry action is probably impractical. So for instance, the Mini-Arisia's entry action was "registering" for the party and getting a badge. "Passport control" might be another useful entry experience. Requiring your attendees to wear orange won't work, but a host who doesn't ruins the experience.