SoNo Park Holiday Fest This Weekend

Ok, so I haven't posted in a few weeks.  One big reason is that Paula and I have been hard at work on the SoNo Park Holiday Fest, which will take place this Sunday from 10am to 5pm.  Our company, Party Production Rentals, is one of the "presenting" sponsors, and we are helping chair the event as well.  We've learned much from this, our first foray into planning a fair on city streets.  More on that later... for now, I want to share what a cool event this will be. 

Live music. Chili. Craft beer. Arts & crafts.  More chili.  Great prizes.  Kid's activities.  And more chili.  Thorn Street in North Park between 32nd and Boundary.  Be there.

The event features a chili cook-off with chili from 20 great area restaurants such as Urban Solace, Alchemy, Big Kitchen, and Vagabond. Coming to judge, we've got local politicos such as Susan Davis and Todd Gloria, plus well-known chefs like Deborah Scott.  Individuals can also test their chili skills and bring their own homemade chili to a "pot luck" style competition inside the San Diego Ceramic Connection.  You can taste the chili when you buy a hand-spun ceramic bowl that you get to keep (and trust me, this will become your favorite all around bowl in your kitchen). 

There are 7 different bands/artists playing, including Joey Harris of Beat Farmers fame.  The beer garden will feature craft beers from Pizza Port, Ballast Point, Karl Strauss, and Stone Brewing.  We will also have the Charger game showing at Delucca's, so there won't be that dilemma of whether to miss the game or not. 

See the event Web site for more details. 

We hope to see y'all on Sunday!  The canopies, tables, staging, chairs, linen, belly bars and more will all be provided by Party Production Rentals.  We'll have a sponsor table, and I'll be the EmCee for the event, so please stop by. 

So We're Planning a Street Fair

Paula and I have planned many parties and events in San Diego, but never before have we done a street fair.  In the spirit of "we'll try anything once," we are planning a street fair.  It's called the SoNo Park Holiday Fest, and we're co-chairing the event with a few other parents from McKinley Elementary in North Park.  The event we'll be on December 5, and we're closing down Thorn Street between Boundary and 32nd to make way for live music, a beer garden, chili cook-off, arts & crafts, kids' activities, and more.  Even if you're not in the South or North Park communities (hence SoNo Park), please join us for a fun time. 

The complexity in putting on a street fair - other than getting people there, paying for it and making it super cool so people will go on about it for weeks - is making sure that you're following all the proper regulations.  In San Diego, as I would expect in most cities, there are a number of steps that you have to go through in order to put on a street fair.  And since we're closing streets, serving beer and food, having bands with electrical gear, and putting up tents, we're hitting on most of the same requirements that would be involved in say, putting on Street Scene.  It doesn't really matter if you're expecting 50x less people, the same rules still apply.  And you still have to deal with a number of different agencies in the city and county to get the necessary permits, approvals and instructions: such as the Office of Special Events, Police, ABC (Alcoholic Beverage Control), Vice (police again), Risk Management, Fire, County Health, and Storm Water.

Ok, after realizing the scope of the process and having seen the 100 page guide the city puts out to help you with just the permit process (and it's not all-inclusive mind you), I'm tempted to say "Please don't try this at home," but I won't.  It's all manageable, but it will take time and patience.  I plan to write more on our street fair adventures, but here are some bits of advice from our experience so far. 

1. Start early.  Ideally, you'd start the permit process at least 4 months before your event.  There are a lot of things to get your arms around, and much of the process is iterative while you're learning what you can and can't do.  You may have to change course, and if you start early you can change course before you start marketing or executing something a certain way.  It's all manageable if you have enough time.
2. Review the city's Special Event Guide.  While it doesn't cover every eventually (yes, even in 100 pages), it's still very informative. 
3. Put together a good committee. It is a lot of work to plan a street fair, and getting everything in order for the permits could be a full-time job for a few weeks.  Form a committee a divide up the work.  For example, here's how you could divide up the permit work:
• One person on point overseeing everything
• Site map, fire lanes, occupancy and building requirements (for structures, electrical, etc.)
• Security, barricades, signage and traffic control
• Trash, recycling, port-a-potties, and storm water requirements
• Beer garden or alcohol space (if you have one) to work with Alcoholic Beverage Control and Vice, any training required for servers (yes, training is required if you're not hiring servers)
4. Make sure you're tracking your costs carefully.  Many of the city requirements will put additional cost burdens on your event.  It's important to keep track of these as they can add up to a few thousand dollars.  You don't want to end up surprised that you're over budget on your event because you didn't factor them in.  
5. Be flexible. Don't get locked in on your plans until you've understood all of requirements.  Some may force you to change... you may have to move things to allow for a fire lane, need additional security, or need health department permit for participating food vendors.
6. Form relationships.  The people on the other side of this process (i.e., the city people) may seem like bureaucrats whose job it is to make your life harder, but they are just normal people doing a job.  They will try to weed out people who aren't serious about planning a proper event, but if you are polite, ask good questions, and show that you want to do things the right way.  There's a forum that the Special Events department puts on where you can go meet these folks in person, which I highly recommend. You'll find out that they really want to help as you work your way through the process. 

It'll seem intimidating at first, but if you invest the time the first year, you might put on a killer event - and they say it gets easier every year.  Good luck!

Mission Trails Visitor Center

We did an event this past weekend at the Mission Trails Visitor Center.  The event was a fundraiser, and they served barbecue.  As a family we've been to Mission Trails countless times and the visitors' center several times, but I'd never been to event there before.   Apparently it's only recently that they've started encouraging people to have events there.  It doesn't take much encouraging when you see the place.

The great deck overlooking the park provides a beautiful, natural backdrop that would enhance many events.  You could fit 150+ at round tables on the deck, plus interesting nooks and crannies inside and outside the visitors' center make great places to explore, get away from crowds, or put bars, auction tables or additional seating.  The event last weekend made great use of the space: a bar was set up on the gift shop counter, the caterers set up in classrooms to stay tucked out of the way, and patio heaters allowed the guests to hang out outside while staying warm. 

Talk to Jay at Mission Trails if you're interested in putting on an event there.

Great for Halloween: Bloody Martinis

Paula and I like to come up with a fun cocktail for our parties. It's nice to have one cocktail ready for guests when they come in, but of course, we’ll also serve beer, wine and make-your-own cocktails. Many of our friends like Vodka – which is great for mixing because it doesn’t have an overpowering flavor like some liquors – so we can use it knowing that the cocktail won’t go to waste. More often than not, the cocktail is a conversation starter as well, “Mmm, this is good, what’s in it?”

There are many recipes floating around the internet for “Bloody Martinis” but Paula came up with one that I particularly like. Why? Because the thick, real-looking, deep red “blood” drips down the inside of the martini glass, looking yummy, festive and creepy all at once, daring you to take a drink.

Corn Syrup "Blood"
Find a smallish plate with a lip that has a flat bottom. Your martini glasses need to fit completely onto the flat bottom. Pour a layer of corn syrup onto the plate, covering the bottom (approx. 2T). Add red food coloring until you have a blood red color. After you've made your martini mix (such as the one below), turn the martini glass upside-down on the plate. Twirl the glass completely and slowly 3 times in the "blood." Turn right-side up and serve immediately with a cocktail napkin. The cocktail napkin helps prevent bloody fingers as the blood will eventually drip down to the bottom of the glass.

There are many great martini recipes, and the "bloody martini" effect works well with clear, red, or pink martinis. Here is one simple recipe we enjoy.

Blood Orange Martini Recipe
1 part citron (citrus) vodka
1 part cranberry juice
splash of sparkling blood orange juice

Mix the vodka and cranberry juice in a shaker filled with ice. Shake. Pour in martini glass and add splash of the sparkling blood orange juice.

Add Movie Magic to Your Next Party

Movies are a great conversation starter at any party, especially Classics that most people have seen at one point or another. Showing a movie in the background - with the sound turned off - is a great backdrop for many parties. The movie adds a visual element for people to look at and a "club-like" feel. Set up your TV or projection screen in an area where you want people to congregate. With the volume off, you can still play music and allow people to converse easily. Pick a movie with great scenes that people will know and make them appropriate to the party.

With holidays coming up, there are many great holiday films that will make a great backdrop... kitschy Halloween horror movies for Halloween parties, classic holiday movies for parties between Thanksgiving and the end of the year, etc. If you have the know-how, putting together a series clips from classic movies adds an extra layer of entertainment - people can guess the movies or talk about their other favorite scenes. Another idea is to find some funny clips or videos on You-Tube. For family parties, old family movies make a great back-drop as well. Have fun with it!

Many people now have big flat-screen TV hanging from their walls in their home, but if need a movie screen for that perfect space, we rent both projectors and screens.

Coffee Percolators - How Much Coffee?

We frequently get asked how much coffee should be used in a coffee percolator, like those we rent through Party Production Rentals. Here are some simple tips on using a coffee percolator.

Use “Regular/Electric Perk” ground coffee or "Coffee Ground for All Coffeemakers" for best results. DO NOT USE DRIP OR FINELY GROUND COFFEE as flooding of the basket can occur. There are some coffees that state they can be used for both drip and perk coffee makers, however through our testing it was found that this is ground too fine and can cause flooding of the percolator style coffee makers.

As a guideline, I generally recommend 1 heaping tablespoon per cup of coffee you make. This will give you a nice, rich cup of coffee. If you prefer weaker coffee, use a little less. I also found the chart below, which simplifies measurement of grounds. Use standard measuring cups ( as used to measure flour, sugar, etc.) to measure the coffee. The amounts of coffee below will brew mild to medium strength coffee which most people prefer. The amount of coffee can be adjusted to suit personal preference. As a guide, there are about 5 cups of coffee to a pound (16 ounces).

• 12 - 18 Cups Coffee = 1 - 1 1/4 Cups Grounds
• 20 - 25 Cups Coffee = 1 1/4 - 1 1/2 Cups Grounds
• 28 - 36 Cups Coffee = 1 1/2 - 2 Cups Grounds
• 40 - 45 Cups Coffee = 2 - 2 1/2 Cups Grounds
• 50 - 60 Cups Coffee = 3 - 4 Cups Grounds
• 70 - 80 Cups Coffee = 4 1/2 - 5 Cups Grounds
• 90 - 100 Cups Coffee = 5 1/2 - 6 1/4 Cups Grounds

For a more detailed article on using a percolator, click here.

Champagne Fountain Recipes

Fountain in action at a party 

Okay, I'm doing some maintenance to our business Web site, www.partyproductionrentals.com, and I'm moving all of the existing tips to our blog. There were just a few, but some good ideas nonetheless. One popular item we carry is a champagne fountain. It's a festive item that adds flair to many events. With Halloween coming up, there are all kinds of creepy punches (red especially!) that would be fun in a champagne fountain.

Here are 4 recipes you might enjoy. I haven't tried them myself as they were left over from the old owner, but he seemed to have good taste. :) Be sure to use pulp-free fruit juices as the pulp can clog the champagne fountain motor. You can adjust the quantities as needed.

Champagne Punch
2 fifths Champagne
1/2 gallon Sauterne
8 ounces of Brandy
1 quart Seven-up

Rainbow Punch
3 quarts pulp-free Pineapple Juice
3 quarts Raspberry Juice
3 quarts pulp-free Lime Juice
3 quarts pulp-free Loganberry Juice
3 quarts Grape Juice

Old Fashioned Rum Punch
1 quart Light Rum
1 quart Peach Brandy
1 quart pulp-free Lemon or Lime Juice
10 ounces of Bitters
8 quarts Club Soda (or more)

Mock Champagne
1 gallon Muscatel
1 gallon Ginger Ale
or
Combine pulp-free Grapefruit Juice with
Ginger Ale in equal amounts.

Conclusion... for now

Update on what to do with the blog... Paula and I decided that this would be a great place to share our love of throwing parties and planning events with others. (For more on us, see the "About Us" link.) For party and event news, ideas, tips, pictures and more, come back soon. Please. We'll also be starting a quarterly newsletter for our business, and we plan to tie the newsletter articles to the blog.

New Owners - a Business and a Blog

Back in May of 2010, my wife and I purchased a party rental company called Party Production Rentals. This blog was started by the previous owner. It got lost in the shuffle of the purchase, and he just turned the reigns of the blog over to me this week. So I'm the proud owner of new blog.

Now I just need to figure out what to do with it.

In the past, it appears that in the past, the few posts were largely promotional. I'd like to do something a little more creative with it. I doubt anyone will take offense, given the last post was nearly a year ago and there were no comments.

If anyone is out there, stay tuned...