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Ninja party is canceled this year
I wanted to nip this in the bud so I don't spend all day on Friday explaining it to everyone.
We've been forced by the Riviera to shut down the Ninja party this year, as their demands are simply too great to be met for what is supposed to be a non-corporate-sponsored private party. (This would have been the 10th anniversary too. Sniff.) All said and done, it sounds like they're looking for about $15,000, and in-context that number is so ludicrous that I don't even know where to begin.
I'd like to fill you all in on how it went down last year, so you can get an idea of what we're dealing with.
Last year, a few hours before the party, we were informed that it was being canceled by the hotel. We had an emergency meeting with myself, Charel from DEFCON, and Grifter, where we agreed to pay the hotel $2500 for -permission- to bring alcohol into the party. A corkage fee, if you will. This was paid as cash in a paper bag in a back hallway to some guy.
Once the party started, another $1200 in cash found its way into the hands of "other" bartenders (that were not working the party) but showed up to "assist" the legit bartenders, mostly by supplying them with a couple (and I mean less than six total) small bottles of plastic-bottle, "well" tequila or rum. These bottles were obviously stolen from the hotel by the bartender(s) in question, and they demanded $1200 cash for them, which we had to pay.
The kicker - at the end of the night, partygoers had donated (in the party donation jugs that we always have out) over $3,000 in cash. The hotel took it. All of it. Their justification was that it could be considered gratuity for the bartenders, however, it was obvious that this was not the case. They just took the cash.
All in, the hotel fleeced us for $6700, which was literally money out of our pockets into theirs. We still had to pay for ALL of the alcohol, sound systems, and other related costs for the party (of which there are many.) That $6700 was literally just hotel overhead. For a party.
This year, they want more than double what they got last year. Charel from DEFCON negotiated with the hotel on our behalf, and we offered $2500 again, which we think is a reasonable fee for corkage for a five hour party. The hotel declined. They apparently want to run a cash bar (like you find everywhere else at the hotel) or a prepaid bar at near cash-bar rates, which is outrageously expensive. Neither option would work. Besides that we always run a 100% open bar, a cash bar would just bring the whole thing to a grinding halt. You can't serve 750+ people from two slow-moving cash bars. These guys take 1-2 minutes to make a drink and sell it. That's 30 to 60 drinks an hour. Do the math.
So that said, there will be no party Saturday night. Considering that over 750 people attended the party last year, and it went on for 7 hours, I think it's unfortunate that this year people will probably end up going their separate ways and not seeing each other all at the same time, which was always the best part about the event. Everybody being in one place at the same time.
Not only that, we'd designed a lot of really kick ass industrial art this year, some awesome stuff built on a custom milling machine constructed from scratch by some of the Ninja crew, and now none of that stuff is going to see the light of day, which is very unfortunate. The art was to be displayed in the room during the day for all to see.
I really think that the event had become a part of the DEFCON culture for a lot of people. I get approached by all sorts of people (feds, often) asking for badges even after the party is over just so they can hang them on their cubicle walls. Then there's the notorious story where the big group of FBI agents showed up two years ago and flashed their badges, and TW (who was carding for age verification) famously said "I see FBI, but I need to see D.O.B.". The feds said "Are you serious?", to which TW replied in the affirmative. They reluctantly showed their driver's licenses before going in. Ah, memories.
If we were taking over a bar, I would understand the numbers they're coming back with. If this was a standalone, corporate event, I would understand the numbers. But this is a private party underneath an existing event (DEFCON) that is paying the hotel large sums of money already, and we're willing to pay corkage for our event. It's very unfortunate that in this context, we're being shut down.
Anyway. To those of you who were planning on attending, we're sorry there won't be an event this year. Thanks for all the support in previous years. :)
Oh, and we're contacting the MiniBosses and canceling their appearance, and letting them know they should book the Black and White ball now if someone from B&W wants to hook that up.
We've been forced by the Riviera to shut down the Ninja party this year, as their demands are simply too great to be met for what is supposed to be a non-corporate-sponsored private party. (This would have been the 10th anniversary too. Sniff.) All said and done, it sounds like they're looking for about $15,000, and in-context that number is so ludicrous that I don't even know where to begin.
I'd like to fill you all in on how it went down last year, so you can get an idea of what we're dealing with.
Last year, a few hours before the party, we were informed that it was being canceled by the hotel. We had an emergency meeting with myself, Charel from DEFCON, and Grifter, where we agreed to pay the hotel $2500 for -permission- to bring alcohol into the party. A corkage fee, if you will. This was paid as cash in a paper bag in a back hallway to some guy.
Once the party started, another $1200 in cash found its way into the hands of "other" bartenders (that were not working the party) but showed up to "assist" the legit bartenders, mostly by supplying them with a couple (and I mean less than six total) small bottles of plastic-bottle, "well" tequila or rum. These bottles were obviously stolen from the hotel by the bartender(s) in question, and they demanded $1200 cash for them, which we had to pay.
The kicker - at the end of the night, partygoers had donated (in the party donation jugs that we always have out) over $3,000 in cash. The hotel took it. All of it. Their justification was that it could be considered gratuity for the bartenders, however, it was obvious that this was not the case. They just took the cash.
All in, the hotel fleeced us for $6700, which was literally money out of our pockets into theirs. We still had to pay for ALL of the alcohol, sound systems, and other related costs for the party (of which there are many.) That $6700 was literally just hotel overhead. For a party.
This year, they want more than double what they got last year. Charel from DEFCON negotiated with the hotel on our behalf, and we offered $2500 again, which we think is a reasonable fee for corkage for a five hour party. The hotel declined. They apparently want to run a cash bar (like you find everywhere else at the hotel) or a prepaid bar at near cash-bar rates, which is outrageously expensive. Neither option would work. Besides that we always run a 100% open bar, a cash bar would just bring the whole thing to a grinding halt. You can't serve 750+ people from two slow-moving cash bars. These guys take 1-2 minutes to make a drink and sell it. That's 30 to 60 drinks an hour. Do the math.
So that said, there will be no party Saturday night. Considering that over 750 people attended the party last year, and it went on for 7 hours, I think it's unfortunate that this year people will probably end up going their separate ways and not seeing each other all at the same time, which was always the best part about the event. Everybody being in one place at the same time.
Not only that, we'd designed a lot of really kick ass industrial art this year, some awesome stuff built on a custom milling machine constructed from scratch by some of the Ninja crew, and now none of that stuff is going to see the light of day, which is very unfortunate. The art was to be displayed in the room during the day for all to see.
I really think that the event had become a part of the DEFCON culture for a lot of people. I get approached by all sorts of people (feds, often) asking for badges even after the party is over just so they can hang them on their cubicle walls. Then there's the notorious story where the big group of FBI agents showed up two years ago and flashed their badges, and TW (who was carding for age verification) famously said "I see FBI, but I need to see D.O.B.". The feds said "Are you serious?", to which TW replied in the affirmative. They reluctantly showed their driver's licenses before going in. Ah, memories.
If we were taking over a bar, I would understand the numbers they're coming back with. If this was a standalone, corporate event, I would understand the numbers. But this is a private party underneath an existing event (DEFCON) that is paying the hotel large sums of money already, and we're willing to pay corkage for our event. It's very unfortunate that in this context, we're being shut down.
Anyway. To those of you who were planning on attending, we're sorry there won't be an event this year. Thanks for all the support in previous years. :)
Oh, and we're contacting the MiniBosses and canceling their appearance, and letting them know they should book the Black and White ball now if someone from B&W wants to hook that up.
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