Pirate "Rum Party"?

Captain Jack · April 13, 2009, 01:36:25 PM

Hi all! I'm new to these here forums, but I'll be attending my first Fanime this year. I'm really looking forward to it as I hear it is a great convention.

Some of you may know me from SoCal conventions. I run pretty much all of the Rum Party's at conventions such as Anime-LA, Autumn Dream (p.k.a. Ani-Magic) and MikomiCon. This year we are also running a Rum Party for the first time at LosCon, and in the past we have had unofficial Rum Party's at Anime Expo and Sakura Con up in Seattle (though that one was SUPER tiny).

Rum Party's have been pretty popular in SoCal because they're all-age friendly. Our pirate crew serves up free "Rum" (which is just fresh iced tea) as well as other nonalcoholic drinks at no charge to anybody at the convention. We also run a number of pirate-themed gambling games that people can win gold coins at. The gold coins are used to win people in our Pirate/Wench auction or to enter contests.

Mostly, Rum Party's are geared towards people who enjoy a piratey atmosphere, but everybody is invited and there is no requirement to be in pirate or wench costume to enjoy the fun.

Now, my question is this: Is there any interest for a Rum Party at Fanime? I know a lot of SoCalers come up to Fanime, but I'm sure there are plenty of people who haven't heard of us before. I would like to expand our horizons, either as an official event at Fanime or as a cosplay gathering. We haven't run a Rum Party at a big con since 2007, but we're eager to do it again and always love to meet new people in the process.

If anybody has questions, please let me know here and I'll be happy to answer them. Hope to see you all at Fanime '09!

- Captain Jack
- Rum Party's Pirate Lord of SoCal

redwolf_95037 · April 13, 2009, 03:57:03 PM

If we have a rum party @ fanime, that would be SSSSSOOOOOO awesome, the only thing you might have to worry about is if the Con-Op's would say no to the idea, But I say that this is a great idea... I'll Support it!

Rette · April 13, 2009, 05:15:43 PM

I remember one at AX, my friend and I were dressed as the Royal Navy and tried to arrest everyone. It didn't work, but the iced tea was good. XD

They have a lot of random policies about serving food/drinks without permits and such, and that's probably where this will get shut down.

But if you can get around that, it's a lovely idea.

Captain Jack · April 13, 2009, 08:35:23 PM

Hm, well we can do a Rum Party without serving up the free drinks, but that is kind of our oldest tradition. We actually had trouble serving the free drinks at the Long Beach convention center in 2007, but that's been the only time so far. I understand that each place is different.

Does anybody have suggestions as to where something like this should go down? Since I have never been to the convention center myself, it's hard to know which locations are big enough, warm enough at night, etc.

LordKefka · April 13, 2009, 08:44:53 PM

No real rum? Bah, humbug.

G.I.R · April 13, 2009, 08:50:58 PM

The new brotherhood?

Captain Jack · April 13, 2009, 09:35:07 PM

Quote from: LordKefka on April 13, 2009, 08:44:53 PM
No real rum? Bah, humbug.

Yeah, I know. We would actually like to do a 21+ Rum Party someday. The problem is finding a place that will allow it. I'm also pretty sure that certain permits/licenses are required. Who knows? Maybe it'll happen. Just not likely at Fanime. ;)

Quote from: G.I.R on April 13, 2009, 08:50:58 PM
The new brotherhood?

What?

EDIT: G.I.R., I've now had a few minutes to read the thread you linked to regarding the "Brotherhood". I honestly hope you aren't drawing similarities between a Rum Party and "The Brotherhood". I'm not really sure how you would. A Rum Party is basically a pirate cosplay gathering where those of us who run it serve free drinks and operate game tables and have a mock pirate/wench auction. There's actually no profit in it whatsoever and we don't look to buy land or grant scholarships. Hope that clears it up for you, bud.

AnimeEmperor · April 14, 2009, 08:17:59 PM

hmmm I may have to bring my pirate costume to fanime then...

Captain Jack · April 21, 2009, 12:58:20 PM

So, does anybody here have a suggestion as to where at the con would be a suitable place for this kind of event?

G.I.R · April 21, 2009, 01:10:19 PM

Quote from: AnimeEmperor on April 14, 2009, 08:17:59 PM

(because it's the 4Kids version!) ;D

Runewitt · April 21, 2009, 01:42:29 PM

Quote from: Captain Jack on April 21, 2009, 12:58:20 PM
So, does anybody here have a suggestion as to where at the con would be a suitable place for this kind of event?

talk to staff, but i'd suggest asking about doing something either in the gaming room, or depending on the time, one of the smaller panel or video rooms.

aarondirebear · April 24, 2009, 01:00:36 AM

I be up fer it matey, hit me up on me email with a time and place. I can even bring rum.

[email protected]

ewu · April 24, 2009, 01:12:50 AM

to be safe, I would not have it on convention grounds, even if there is no alcohol. if there is alcohol, then DEFINITELY not have it anywhere NEAR con. We have strict rules about food and drink, and even stricter rules about alcohol.

Jerry · April 24, 2009, 09:33:07 AM

Quote from: ewu on April 24, 2009, 01:12:50 AM
to be safe, I would not have it on convention grounds, even if there is no alcohol. if there is alcohol, then DEFINITELY not have it anywhere NEAR con. We have strict rules about food and drink, and even stricter rules about alcohol.

Quoted for emphasis.

As cool or intriguing the idea of a " Rum Party "

Fanime in NO WAY would condone a party that promotes public drunkenness or binge drinking, remember folk you are not anime chracters that drink like fish with no ill effects in the real world.

Liquid · April 24, 2009, 11:32:30 AM

Quote from: Jerry on April 24, 2009, 09:33:07 AM
Quote from: ewu on April 24, 2009, 01:12:50 AM
to be safe, I would not have it on convention grounds, even if there is no alcohol. if there is alcohol, then DEFINITELY not have it anywhere NEAR con. We have strict rules about food and drink, and even stricter rules about alcohol.

Quoted for emphasis.

As cool or intriguing the idea of a " Rum Party "

Fanime in NO WAY would condone a party that promotes public drunkenness or binge drinking, remember folk you are not anime chracters that drink like fish with no ill effects in the real world.

lol, you guys should actually try reading this thread before replying. He never had plans to bring or allow the use of alcohol at Fanime.

ewu · April 24, 2009, 11:44:41 AM

Quote from: aarondirebear on April 24, 2009, 01:00:36 AM
I be up fer it matey, hit me up on me email with a time and place. I can even bring rum.

aaron did tho:)

Steve.Young · April 24, 2009, 11:48:18 AM

You may be able to get away with this at a hotel. You would have to talk to them and you would not say you are with Fanime, just a group of people looking for a location to have your rum party (without the alcohol).

-Steve

MikoChika · April 24, 2009, 11:50:10 AM

This sounds like an awesome idea. i think it would be great fun. I agree with Steve .If you are unable to get a place on con grounds, or they just say no. i suggest perhaps going to one of the hotels across the street from the con where some of the con-goers are staying at anyways? that way its tecnically off the con grounds, yet close enough for people to consider it (unofficially) apart of the con activities. maybe?

Knightfire · April 25, 2009, 06:24:06 PM

I like where this is going

Captain Jack · April 27, 2009, 01:14:52 PM

Thanks for the input, guys. It may very well be that I'll simply attend the con this year and talk to the right people about where and when would be the best place to do this without trampling on any convention rules. In the past, when we've been unofficial (such as at Anime Expo) we planned to adhere to the noise curfews and traffic rules. The only thing the con-staff said when they came by was that we couldn't serve drinks of any kind due to a contract that the center had with one or the other big soda companies. And that only happened the year AX was at Long Beach. The guys at Anaheim didn't care one way or the other.

So we'll see. I'm glad to see there's at least some interest in the Rum Party. Most of us are in SoCal, but I think in a year or so we could proably do something really cool that won't ruffle anybody's feathers.