The Islands of the Fraternal Order of Moai

Okay, so we're hosting our first room crawl, and we'd be very appreciative of any of you veterans giving us some fine-tuning tips.

We have one of the rooms with the little kitchenette/mini-fridge. When and where do folks buy ice, and how do you keep it? We'll have a couple of styrofoam coolers with us, and will probably just stick 'em in there, as the fridge probably won't fit much.

With 300 or so attendees, what's the etiquette on how many drinks to make? I've heard you make what you can afford, and when you run out, you close your door. Is that what's generally done? Or was I misinformed?

Anything else I need to know to make this go smoothly?

Mahalos in advance!

You serve until you're done or your time slot is over, whichever comes first.

Something to remember as a room host...

There are multiple rooms open for each time slot. That means that A... you won't see everyone in your room. And B... you aren't (and probably shouldn't) be serving a 'full' cocktail. A 6 oz cup, for example, is enough cocktail to enjoy but not so much that anyone is going to get seriously hurt. Big enough to share, small enough the host rooms don't go broke on materials or time.

It is a really good idea to batch up your drink in such a way as to minimize the amount of time it takes to serve. Mix all your booze into a pitcher and all your other ingredients into a second pitcher. Then you are just mixing whatever measure from one, whatever measure from two, and you can mix and serve really fast.

Actually, it is even simpler than all that. Imagine hosting a party at your house. Now imagine all of your guests showing up at just about the same time. That is kind of what it is like to host a room. So much fun!

So very much fun!

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If a midget smokes weed... does he get high or medium?

You heard it exactly right. This is the second most important rule.

Chip's advice is spot on - which obviously shows his status as a veteran of many many room crawl campaigns.

Other items:

Ice - not sure if the hotel can supply or if FOM will be buying it for all room crawls like last year. There are markets and gas stations near the hotel in a pinch.

Tip bucket - have one and make it big and front and center. People want to reward you for your efforts and feel like they are bankrolling your next crawl room!

Batch as much as you can so your work is minimized during the crunch....and don't worry about top shelf liquors with this crowd....

Be sure to have a punch bowl/bubba keg or other large container to mix with.

...and don't forget that the other room crawl hosts will have whatever you may realize you forgot -extra bar tools, spare limes, bags of sugar, etc.

the first most important rule of all?

.....have fun, dammit!

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So lightweight are his shoes.

Good advice from two splendid hosts - thanks, fellas!

We are definitely batching. Oh goodness yes. I can't imagine doing it otherwise. We even batch our little party drinks these days. We have a 3 gallon server thingie - so we'll probably mix it right in there. We'll pour ahead and have the drinks ready to go when we open the door.



The ice we'll need more for chilling the bottles, not for use in the glasses themselves (we're using cocktail glasses), so we shouldn't need a truckload.

So you figure ingredients for 150-175 drinks would be okay? Or not enough?

Having been left with more than one sticky room when it was all over, I thought the people who served just inside or at their doors last year were brilliant. You can still decorate, yet not have the mess for the rest of the weekend. If I ever host another room I'm so doing that.

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"I'm a drinker, but I don't mess with the 151." - Loni Love

We use a server thingie like yours for the drinks we dispense in the Velveteen Lounge Kitsch-en tent and it works great. Definitely a good way to go.

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"I'm a drinker, but I don't mess with the 151." - Loni Love

Hmmm...hadn't thought of that, Kelly. Because of our decorating plans, we kind of need to have people come in to at least the front part of the room, but the sleeping area should be undisturbed - hopefully!

(Adding kitchen wipes and paper towels to the list.)

You cannot have enough cleaning products, especially those.

these people are animals....

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So lightweight are his shoes.

You can't have enough ice!

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Do you know how big a pineapple is? That's a drink value.

A smaller bucket and some bar towels are incredibly helpful when it's time to clean up. A nice tip included with a nice note to the housekeeping staff can score you some extra towels to aid in prep and/or cleanup.

99% of the guests understand you are doing this in your room. If you make it look like guests go here and not here people will respect the boundaries. The couple of people who don't understand which side is which are easy enough to shoo out of the verboten areas.

Don't count on the ice machines at the hotel. Our crowd makes those machines cry. There is an ice house across the street and a CVS down the street about a half-ish mile. The CVS even has the crappy Styrofoam coolers for cheap so +1 for the chain store option.

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If a midget smokes weed... does he get high or medium?

An ice house across the road? I Google Earthed the area but nothing jumped out. Is it in the Bait and Tackle place, or at the gas station by the bowling alley? Can you get it by the bags?

Either. Both.

and Yes.

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If a midget smokes weed... does he get high or medium?

The room crawl coordinator (Rev) will be bringing everyone ice... don't worry about that! And cups, if you don't have special ones.

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"I don't just pass judgment, I lean on the horn and flip it the bird!" - Stephen Colbert

That is super-helpful! Good to know. Thanks!

Even better! Thanks!

Yes, the Rev provided this service last year (I seem to recall the ice was 2000 Lbs worth, so he was literally a ton of help) and is doing so this year as well. No need to rely on ordinary ice machines. He’ll deliver proximate to the start of your slot. When you have the bags, throw them all into the tub and save out two for your coolers, or however many will fit in there. During crawl you’ll go through 4 bags or so, depending on how much ice you use, and Risk Management recommends you use a lot of ice. Several rooms per slot and, what, three tiers? Best to slow that drinkie down.

150-175 is about right with headcount: you can’t practically serve more in that time but you can probably pass out 150 drinks. You may have some extra, you may not, and there will be plenty of people who would like to help with the remains. The crunch time lasts an hour and change—by the time it tapers off you have the choice of whether to throw in the bar towel and head back to the pool or wait out the bitter end alkies.

Additional: it’s nice to have a dedicated surface from which to pour, whether you’re appropriating a piece of furniture, packing a table or building a custom bar like some maniacs do (I don’t actually want to know what you’re doing until I see it, cos that’s how I roll.) Refills: if you can batch everything into single containers you only have one pour to refill your serving unit. If you don’t have big enough containers, do the premix in one and leave the booze in its bottles. It’s always impressive to see a host pour an ENTIRE bottle of hooch into a punch container (“wow, that’s gonna be strong!” Well not unless you have a lot of it.) Bar napkins do not hurt one bit. Tip jar: underneath your pouring surface have a bucket to dump your jar when it gets full. This is frequently overlooked and the last thing you want to do at crunch time is figure out where to stow wadded-up cash fast. Also watch out for “sticky fingers”. It is VERY unusual but there’s a rogue in every crowd.

As nuts as the crawl is, it is basically just a party with a fantastic rush to the bar. Everyone is there to enjoy the drinx and décor and they will be patient, so it’s not nearly as insane as it looks. For you: remember a large bottle of water or gatorade because you will work hard for several hours and forget to hydrate. It's a marathon, not a sprint, unless you're hosting. Then it's a sprint.

Whuuuut? Well there goes your reputation


CQ
RMS
A/VS
OCPS

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When you lead your revolution, whitey better be standing still because you don't run worth a damn no more.

Excellent info, CQ! We're looking forward to the craziness - we just want to be as well-prepared as possible. I hadn't even thought about drinking water - good call!

does anyone else think that a "room crawl virgin" sounds like a drink to serve to the designated drivers at the room crawl?

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i run the stasi like bob fosse

Or, the venue was near an active volcano...

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ƒore Dæ Capé

'Don't she turn my green eyes blue.'

Reserve Tyromancer and Philogynist

Ha!

"What, no tip?! INTO THE VOLCANO WITH YOU!"

Well, I've only got one thing to add as everyone summed it up perfectly!

If you can, grab an extra body or two to be able to "tag out" of your room. If its just you and Barry, it might be a bit much, but if you have some additional helpers, you can let them run the room for 15 or 20 minutes while you go and check out the other host rooms!

Those that are hosting and running out for a quick peek during their block should be able to "skip the line" as courtesy to fellow hosts.

In the next email (or the one after that) I'll be posting some CRAWLERS etiquette. Tip, be polite, dont pretend to be a host to skip the line...we know who the hosts are and will club you, etc, but if any of our veteran hosts has some input on that, please PM me and we'll make sure that this crawl goes silky smooth!

Thanks again Hibiscus, as well as all of our room hosts! You guys make this thing hummmm!

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plop plop fizz fizz

We've got it covered! Xtine and Aaron have kindly offered their services as co-hosts, and have already been invaluable in the planning and prepping.

And thanks to YOU, Bargoyle, and all the gang who put so much effort and aloha into what has become such a big part of everyone's year! Mahalos a-plenty, sir!

Yes, we will be providing ice and cups to hosts on request again this year. I expect we will stick with the plan from last year and drop about 60 lbs. of ice at each room before the first round. If you toss it all in the tub there won't be much melt.

-Rev

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To taua na Moai!