Sunday, April 30, 2006

April 28-29, 2006 Parties

Marin's largest singles party of the year, Friday night, was a lot of fun. You couldn't beat the location, the Peacock Gap Country Club (althought a few folks had a hard time finding it), the Lock & Key Mixer went well, as did the Dance Party, with a giant wooden dance floor and the great tunes of DJ Mike Keating. Always scary to do a party in such a large venue, but since we had a great crowd, we hope to do Peacock Gap again.

Saturday night we did our first-ever One Key Away Party, high tech matchmaking, followed by a Dance Party with DJ Darryl K. We were very worried, because we had a lot of problems with the websites the last week before the party, and some people had trouble registering for the party. But we pulled it off, and had a nice turnout, lots of new faces. Fortunately we didn't have to turn away a lot of folks, like we did at our last party at Crossing the Bar Restaurant in SF, January 7. That night people were asking why we didn't use a larger venue, but of course we aren't psychic and had no idea the party would be so popular. We can only guess.

Dr. Janet Hecht ran our Saturday Night Singles Party, but hasn't emailed me yet with a report, so I don't know how it went. Nobody has called or emailed to complain, so I presume it went well. If you went to the party, please post a comment. Always great to have feedback, both positive and negative, about all of our parties!

Last weekend was Marin's largest singles party of the year--next Friday, May 5, is the Silicon Valley's largest singles party. It's a Cinco de Mayo Celebration, with a Middle Eastern Twist. I believe Illusions is the largest nightclub in the Silicon Valley --it's new, gorgeous, and has a huge dance floor. This will be spectacular celebration. Be there!

Next Saturday, May 6, we do our annual preview of San Francisco's giant Carnaval Celebration. Mas Makers will dance to a pulsating beat in their gorgeous costumes, then we dance until Midnight to a wide variety of music, both contempary and retro. All at the Embassy Suites San Rafael.

I didn't do a report on the previous weekend's parties, April 22, because I was away in Dallas hosting the Texas Singles Convention.

Information about all of our parties is at www.ThePartyHotline.com.

Monday, April 17, 2006

Easter Weekend parties, April 13 - 15

Hope you had a great Easter. We hosted three singles parties:

  • Thursday night's party in SF had a disappointing crowd. I don't know if it was because of the long Easter Weekend and everyone took off early, or maybe we have been doing too many parties in San Francisco. We try to strike a balance between too many and too few. Most people tell me they like having lots of parties to choose from, so we try to schedule 3-4 singles parties in the Bay Area each week.
  • Friday night's Astrological Matchmaking Party in Napa was fun. Just about everyone enjoyed our guest Astrologer, Randall Curtis. The only problem was that so many signed up for a free consultation (we had no idea so many would want a reading!) Next time we do one of these parties, we'll give Randall some help so he doesn't have to do it all. He loves doing the readings, but can only do so many at a specific party. If you missed the party, his website is www.MatchmakingHeaven.com. The food, provided by Rings Restaurant at the Embassy Suites Napa, was terrific.
  • The big party this past weekend was Spring Night Delight, Saturday night, at the Sheraton San Jose (Milpitas). Big crowd, great dance party, with Miguel and Mike of Startracks DJ. Everyone who attended was excited to learn about our upcoming Cinco de Mayo party at Illusions Nightclub in Palo Alto, May 5, which we expect to be the Silicon Valley's largest party of the year for romantic eligibles! This is a huge nightclub, that can hold 700 singles, so please spread the word and maybe we will fill it!
  • While I was hosting the Sheraton Hotel party (above), Dr. Janet Hecht, Director of Saturday Night Singles, ran our San Rafael party. Here are some of her comments. "Tonight was unusual. Only 5 regulars were there until 8:45. I was worried that we would not have enough money to pay the DJ. Then, 8:45 - 9:30, many people arrived. The music was so good that everyone was dancing. It was such a great atmosphere." We consistently have a tough time getting people to arrive earlier in the evening at our Saturday Night Singles parties. The advantage to arriving at 8pm is that we feed you. The chef puts out a nice spread of substantial hot hors d'oeuvres, but it often is gone by 9pm, when the party usually starts jumping. The other advantage to arriving early is that you get a choice seat by the dance floor. Latecomers have to settle for what they can get! If you do arrive before 9pm, don't panic if there aren't many people there. There are very few nightclubs in the Bay Area that have much of crowd before 11pm on a Saturday night.
This coming weekend has three unique parties:

1, Thursday, April 20, 7:30-9:30pm, we have a Jewish Singles Party in SF. Some people have been asking if they can attend, even though they are not Jewish. Of course! All of our parties are open to singles of all ages, ethnic backgrounds, and religions.

2. Saturday, April 22, we co-sponsor (with Singles Supper Club) a Dinner/Dance for Young Single Professionals (21-39) in Mt. View. We are trying to build up our attendance from young singles. It's tough to compete with the bars, where singles can usually go for free and meet all the young singles they want. Everyone says they hate meeting people at bars, so we give them a great alternative, but we can't do it for free (the venues we choose don't share the bar revenue with us)--we have to recoup our expenses.

3. Saturday, April 22, we have a special treat at our Saturday Night Singles party in San Rafael: a Motown party. DJ Julian will not only play today's hottest hits, but also your favorite Supremes, Four Tops, Temptations, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, and Smoky Robinson songs!

MORE DETAILS ABOUT ALL OF OUR PARTIES at www.ThePartyHotline.com.

Looks like spring has finally sprung. Enjoy the good weather this week!

Sunday, April 09, 2006

Singles Parties, April 6-8, 2006

Amazingly, with all the rain we've been having, we were fairly dry at all three of our parties this past weekend.

A lot of our regulars skipped our Lock & Key Party - Silicon Valley on Thursday night, figuring they would avoid the rain and just go to the Stanford Bachelors party on Friday. Big mistake. Thursday night was beautiful! We were able to hold the party out on Fanny & Alexander's outdoor patio, with heat lamps. People had a lot of fun, especially enjoying the ambience of an outdoor party on a lovely evening. Lock & Key mixers are ideal, because even if you are the shyest person on the planet, you get to meet everyone. It's just a gimmick, but it works! Fanny & Alexander's also gave us some great appetizers.

It rained a little during our Friday night Art & Wine Tasting Party in SF, but that didn't dampen the enthusiasm! Jeremy Sutton, the well-known local artist, was on hand to display his terrific paintings. And Patrick Dalal of WineSocials.com put on his usual lavish display of over 20 great wines. Lots of new people attended, which was great. People don't just want to see the same old faces at the parties (although it's fun to recognize people). They want the new blood.

Saturday Night Singles was a strange party. It was dead from 8-10pm. Then our singles started pouring in. The dance floor was packed from 10pm until after midnight. It turned out to be a great party. But where was everyone earlier in the evening? It's enough to turn a single promoter's hair grey! We do our best to get people to come early. I tell people if you come at 8pm, we'll feed you. Our chef always puts out substantial hot and cold hors d'oeuvres, but it lasts as long as it lasts. The other advantage of coming early is you get a good seat. The people who come late and wait for the party to be established miss out on the great food and the best seats around the dance floor.

PLEASE POST YOUR COMMENTS ABOUT ANY OF THE PARTIES. WE CAN ONLY IMPROVE THEM IF WE HAVE YOUR FEEDBACK.

Next weekend we have four parties all over the Bay Area:
1. Lock & Key Mixer in SF on Thursday night.
2. Astrological Matchmaking Party, with FREE readings, in Napa on Friday night.
3. Spring Night Delight Dance at the Sheraton Silicon Valley on Saturday night.
4. Easter Party at Saturday Night Singles in San Rafael

More details at www.ThePartyHotline.com.

See you the parties,
Rich Gosse

Monday, April 03, 2006

Last weekend's Singles Parties - March 31-April 1, 2006

WELCOME TO THE SINGLES PARTIES BLOG! In this blog I will discuss past parties and future plans, and encourage those of you who attend the parties to give your honest feedback about the parties, as well as suggestions. Let's work together to make our parties the best in the world!

We sponsored three parties this past weekend. With all the rain on Friday and Saturday morning/afternoon, I was fearful that we would have bad turnouts, but we lucked out and the rain stopped in the evenings. We had a terrific crowd Friday night at a new location, Domenico Winery in San Carlos. I had expected some complaints because there was no wooden dance floor, but everyone was complimentary. I think people liked the fact that we used the entire place as a dance floor and that it was packed all night. Barbara Millin of Singles Supper Club, who co-sponsored the party with us, did a terrific job with the food. A lot of hard work on her part, and most appreciated.

Saturday night we had two more parties: our regular Saturday Night Singles Dance at the Embassy Suites Hotel in San Rafael; and a Wine Tasting Party at Consignment Plus in Pleasanton. The Wine Tasting Party was a lot more intimate--we didn't have hundreds of people like we had in San Carlos. Patrick Dalal of WineSocials.com, who co-sponsored with us, chose some great wines. People were able to taste 15 different wines, including the exclusive Rothschild wine from France. One lady at the party complained that she was only given a taste of each wine, rather than a full glass. I guess some people don't understand the concept of a Wine Tasting party. I specifically told my staff to pour only a taste of each wine, so you can return later for whichever ones are your favorites. We never run out of wine (although we eventually run out of the most popular ones each party). Unfortunately some people at the parties get snockered on the first few wines, and are unable to taste all the other great wines.

Our Saturday Night Singles party in San Rafael started with a bad ratio--too many men early in the evening. The women eventually arrived, and it turned out to be a good dance party, but not until after some grumbling from the men. In an ideal world the men and women would arrive at the same time, in a 50-50 ratio. Just doesn't happen that way!

Next weekend we have three more parties: Lock & Key in Palo Alto on Thursday, April 6; Wine Tasting Party in SF on Friday; and of course Saturday Night Singles in San Rafael. Hope to see you there!


FOR INFO ON SINGLES PARTIES, www.ThePartyHotline.com
FOR SINGLES TRAVEL, www.SinglesTravelCompany.com
TO LISTEN TO EXPERTS ON DATING & THE SINGLE LIFESTYLE, www.SinglesPodcastingNetwork.com
FOR INFO ABOUT RICH GOSSE, www.richgosse.com
The Society of Single Professionals, a division of American Singles Education, Inc., is the world's largest non-profit singles organization. We sponsor 150 parties a year worldwide (on six continents).