From the people behind last year’s infamous Mather Lather foam party comes the latest attempt to sate the partying needs of restless Harvard students: HarvardParties.com. Though the site’s name might seem oxymoronic, founders Zachary A. Corker ’04, Paul H. Hersh ’04 and Darren S. Morris ’05 have pledged themselves to a new breed of social justice by advocating what they call “equal opportunity partying.”
The fun-lovin’ trio behind HarvardParties.com are the winners of last year’s Harvard Student Agencies Entrepreneurial Contest, and are using their “huge upfront cash payment” to revolutionize campus social life. Even if you’re not looking to host the entire freshman class, Corker, Hersh and Morris insist that it is important to fight for your right to party. For those who decide to take matters into their own hands the HarvardParties.com boys offer the crucial elements to a successful room-party:
Logistics
First and foremost the boys insist that registering a party is crucial to its success. “Basically a party is fun if it’s well planned and enough people go,” says Corker. With this planning in mind, depending on the size of the party, hosts must fill out the appropriate forms with the House or Freshman Dean’s Office. Larger parties may require a Beverage Authorization Team, and those with alcohol and 150+ guests need a Harvard University Police detail. Charging admission requires a license from the city of Cambridge. Tickets and wristbands can be purchased through links listed on HarvardParties.com
Music
“It’s all about good music,” says Hersh, who emphasizes that music can either make or break a party. He’s partial to 1990s themed parties because of the tunes.
Crowd Control
“A successful party is by definition crowded. We’ve resorted to a list before, but we’re more critical mass type guys,” says Corker.
$$$
“It’s not about how much money you spend,” Hersh notes. “I’ve been to parties where they spent $800 on alcohol that still turned out really bad.” The trio assures that fast flow isn’t necessary to throw a good party and that the right atmosphere can come at a low cost with the right planning.
Alcohol
The boys offer 3 simple formulas:
Bad party + alcohol = bad party
Good party + no alcohol = good party
Good party + alcohol = legendary
Their favorite drinks include the Blue Hawaii (vodka, pineapple juice and Blue Curacao) and Gin and Tonics for black light parties because of the fluorescent quinine. They also praise their house specialty—the Magnum 313 with Rum, Vodka, Cranberry Juice, OJ and a secret ingredient (it’s Sprite, shh!)
Food
“Edible gummy stuff is great. Hidden Sweets has erotic gummy stuff, and there is a store called Sweet and Nasty that has great party snacks,” advises Corker.
Themes
With themes being a trickier issue, the boys advise against the hackneyed. “Pimps and hos never again,” they urge. They also note that a Latin-American Drug Lords party thrown last year went down in flames. Instead they offer ideas like Stocks n’ Bondage, Golf Pros and Tennis Hos, and Stoplight Parties where attendees wear Red (stop right there), Yellow (proceed with caution), or Green (go for it!) to indicate their willingness to get it on.
Secret Ingredient
“The number one successful key to a party is foam,” says Hersh. Corker prefers shaving cream, and cites a shaving cream wrestling party as his favorite event from last year. All else aside, “The most important thing is to have a vision for your party and follow through with it,” says Corker.
