Jump to content

Best way to host a Christmas party at my house?

HenryCrawford

By HenryCrawford,
in General Discussion Forum

 Share
You are about to reply to a thread that has been inactive for 3069 days.

Please take a moment to consider if this thread is worth bumping.

Recommended Posts

HenryCrawford

HenryCrawford

Posted
Posted

Hello again, everyone! After the success of my previous question (How is a house a castle?) I've decided I'd like to post another one. So here it is...I am planning to decorate my home for the holidays (Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's Eve). I'd very much like to have some company at my large but humble home or castle. Therefore, I am thinking of hosting a Christmas party there in the hopes of spreading the holiday cheers. What is the best way to do this? Any and all helpful steps to my plan would be very much appreciated and accepted.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Lindal Kidd

Lindal Kidd

Posted
Posted

Hi, Henry!

The hardest part of any event in Second Life is getting people to come to it!  Here are some ways to advertise your party...

  • Write a notecard.  Attach the landmark.  Send the note to all your friends.
  • Pass the note to everyone you meet between now and the party date.  Invite them!
  • Make a texture with the party information on it.  Apply the texture to a prim, add a "giver" script and a landmark.  Then send the invitation prim to all your friends.
  • If you belong to a group that will allow it, place a copy of your party invitation prim on the group's land for people to read and click.  Put one in front of your castle too, so your guests and visitors will see it.
  • Advertise your party in group chat, if the group allows it.  For example, many events in Caledon are announced by residents of Caledon in the ISC group chat.  If the group allows you to post notices, you can do that too...notices are more persistent than chat, and people can go back and find it for (I think) 30 days.
  • If the party is open to all comers, create an Event on the Second Life web page, in Community/Events.
  • If you're a blogger, and SL residents read your blog, announce it there.

Now another question to ask yourself:  WHY would anyone want to come to my party?  You should offer something unique and fun.  Of course, you can hire a DJ, especially if you have room for a dance floor and have a dance machine.  Or a live performer.  If you hire someone who is popular and has their own "following" they may be able to help fill out your party crowd.  Or you could offer games, or a scavenger hunt, or simply "Presents for EVERYBODY!!!!"  Maybe you want a theme for your party.  Holiday and Winter themes are appropriate, of course, but maybe you can come up with a twist to make YOUR party stand out.  Nightmare Before Christmas?  Winter SLOlympics? 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
HenryCrawford

HenryCrawford

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Hi, Henry!

The hardest part of any event in Second Life is getting people to come to it!  Here are some ways to advertise your party...

  • Write a notecard.  Attach the landmark.  Send the note to all your friends.
  • Pass the note to everyone you meet between now and the party date.  Invite them!
  • Make a texture with the party information on it.  Apply the texture to a prim, add a "giver" script and a landmark.  Then send the invitation prim to all your friends.
  • If you belong to a group that will allow it, place a copy of your party invitation prim on the group's land for people to read and click.  Put one in front of your castle too, so your guests and visitors will see it.
  • Advertise your party in group chat, if the group allows it.  For example, many events in Caledon are announced by residents of Caledon in the ISC group chat.  If the group allows you to post notices, you can do that too...notices are more persistent than chat, and people can go back and find it for (I think) 30 days.
  • If the party is open to all comers, create an Event on the Second Life web page, in Community/Events.
  • If you're a blogger, and SL residents read your blog, announce it there.

Now another question to ask yourself:  WHY would anyone want to come to my party?  You should offer something unique and fun.  Of course, you can hire a DJ, especially if you have room for a dance floor and have a dance machine.  Or a live performer.  If you hire someone who is popular and has their own "following" they may be able to help fill out your party crowd.  Or you could offer games, or a scavenger hunt, or simply "Presents for EVERYBODY!!!!"  Maybe you want a theme for your party.  Holiday and Winter themes are appropriate, of course, but maybe you can come up with a twist to make YOUR party stand out.  Nightmare Before Christmas?  Winter SLOlympics? 

 

Wow! So many great ideas and suggestions! I feel so free to select which ones I can best make use of. This is a wonderful answer...Thanks for this, Lindal Kidd!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Persephone Emerald

Persephone Emerald

Posted
Posted

I'm not especially fond of celebrating the holidays in SL, but I threw one Christmas party that tuned out ok.

1. Put up festive decorations, especially a Christmas or Festivas Tree.

2. Most people have some decent transferable items. Put them in gift boxes around your Christmas tree & let your guest help themselves to one or two each. If they're guy gifts, maybe use blue wrapping paper, red for women's gifts, then let your guest know the color codes before they select their gifts. Start saving transferable gift boxes now or buy or make full perm ones.

3. If you want, you can have a gift exchange game, where people can take one of the other person's gifts or ofter something from their own inventory. Do you have a snowball catapult? Can you make bouncy balls for people to run around inside? Bumper cars? Get creative and look for fun toys in your inventory.

4. If you can't get a DJ, try to find a music stream with holiday music. Just don't use those horrid singing elves. Singing dogs or cats maybe, but not those elves.

5. Invite people from groups you belong to. If it's an adult group, have adult games such as Strip or Dare Truthball. If it's a goth group, have gothic decor, games & gifts. The groups you like should give you ideas for an interesting party theme. It doesn't have to be a typical Christmas theme.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Amethyst Jetaime

Amethyst Jetaime

Posted
Posted

Everyone who posted gave you great ideas.  However, unless you own the sim, the first thing to do is check the covenant to see what it allows.  It may prohibit you having a public event (ie an event anyone can come to).  It may prohibit signs of any type, posting the event in events search etc.  If you are unsure about something you see in the covenant ask the estate owner.  You don't want to be evicted for breaking the covenant over a one time party.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
HenryCrawford

HenryCrawford

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Hi there, Amethyst! You're absolutely right. With so many great ideas from so many people, I can hardly go wrong here. In fact, I've already started some preliminary stages of planning this party. Gifts are definitely a must and I definitely creeate some invitations via notecard. Yes, I own the parcel I live on, even though it's not a full sim. It's 1/8th in fact. However, it's a pretty good size...At least I hope. Anyway, as for music, I have a Christmas tree which can cover this. I also have at least a few food items I can hand out for my guests. As for games, I don't really have any just yet. Although I do have a couple working musical instruments my guests could play if they feel inclined to do so. Is this a good start?

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Isobel DeSantis

Isobel DeSantis

Posted
Posted

I gave a really good party a few years ago. We were renting a homestead or 1/2 a sim so there was plenty of space. We had an ice rink with skating for singles and couples, a sled ride and a live DJ. The most successful part though was I hid 24 numbered gifts around the sim  - I had a shoe store so all the gifts were shoes exclusive to the party, but you could give anything. Basically your own mini-hunt, limited to 1 day. We opened the sim for I think 18 hours to cover most time zones and I advertised the party in my store and to my subscriber group.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Dresden

Dresden

Posted
Posted

HenryCrawford wrote:

Anyway, as for music, I have a Christmas tree which can cover this.

Oh but no... a musical Christmas tree simply won't do, Henry sweety.  At minimum you'll need a DJ.  They certainly don't need to be a professional though... after all, it's just a house party and not like you're opening a club or something.

Any idiot with some music and the right software can be a DJ in SL.  I myself have DJed for a number of good friends' parties/grand openings and I'm by no measure what anyone in their right mind would consider a professional.  Hell, you could even DJ it yourself if you wanted to figure out how.  But really you should just see if one of your friends is able and would be willing to do it for you... that way you'd be able to concentrate on just being a good host.

...Dres

Link to comment
Share on other sites
You are about to reply to a thread that has been inactive for 3069 days.

Please take a moment to consider if this thread is worth bumping.

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing
×
×
  • Create New...