K
Joined: Mar 27, 2002
Posts: 1506
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K
Uncle John,
The Hukilau and the Florida Ohana Laua at the Hawaiian Inn both started because a few of us got talking on TC about meeting at Trader Vics, Atlanta and later the Hawaiian Inn, Daytona on a particular date. In both situations, members on this board wanted to join in, the first events happened and they took off from there. This was especially true at the Atlanta Hukilau because Swanky (Tim) and Tiki Kaliki (Christy) planned all sorts of extra activities and really opened peoples' eyes to how enjoyable these events could be.
In fact, the idea to hold the Hukilau at the Mai-Kai happened because a bunch of people from Florida enjoyed the first Hukilau in Atlanta so much, we wanted to have our own party at the Mai-Kai. Tim and Christy were excited about the idea too and opted to move their party south. The rest is history.
In my mind the best thing to do is fix a date about four months in advance, come up with a reasonably priced hotel where people can stay, and start posting info. on the restaurant/bar so people have a feel for what they are going to be visiting.
The little party we do at the Hawaiian Inn is meant to be intimate. Everyone makes their own reservations and there is no fee other than the normal prices for the show, food, beverages, etc. We don't have vendors either. All of this makes it really easy for me. I just tell the manager of the restaurant when we will be there and approxiamtely how many peole are coming. In four years of doing this, we usually have about 30 people for the party which is a nice number that lets everybody get to know each other, plus we can all squeeze into a suite for afterhours partying. We don't promote this event outside of TC and Tiki News; although we generally have a few visitors from out-of-state which adds alot of flavor to the gathering. We also hold it in January so as not to conflict with other events. and to take advantage of Florida's climate.
As for the Hukilau, that's a huge scale event requiring tons of work. All I can say about that is mahalo God for people like Tim, Christy, Bre-elle, Tristan and now James (TikiBars).
Overall, I would say don't be afraid to plan your event, just don't overcommit to the restaurant and figure the number of people who say they will come will be different than the number who actually show up. Whether this is a larger or smaller number is impossible to say.
The TCers in the DC area and in New York have also done parties at restaurants so they can probably add their advice to this.
Good luck!
KG
[ Edited by: Kailuageoff on 2005-03-07 05:41 ]
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