Not to toot our own horn or anything, but we think we've got this party thing pretty nailed by now. We've figured out just what makes one worthwhile, whether it's a playlist to die over, a guest list to envy, or key cocktails to lubricate the social setting. That's not to say though, that we're opposed to doing some research on how to make the next event even better.
And for this, who better to ask than our FOKs, who range from DJs to editors to social media and party experts. We asked a few key members of the Kanon family to fill us in on what they consider party essentials. Turn up their recommended music picks and let the good times roll, because now you're in the know too.
Connie Wang, Global editor for Refinery29
Party games: a do or a don’t?
A huge don't. I find that extreme, drunken, competitive concentration always leads to hysteria on my part, and that's not a good look.
Best party theme you'd most like to attend or throw yourself?
Literary villians was a good one. The costumes ranged from Moby Dick to Lolita.
What would be in your ideal goody bag?
A vitamin water, a DVD of some cheesy sitcom, and an Extra-Strength Advil
CONTINUE READING KANON FOKS ON THEIR ULTIMATE PARTY ESSENTIALS.
FOK Steven Rojas' Top Party Tips
Steven Rojas
We know a thing or two about throwing a great party, but we tend to focus our attention on what’s mixing behind the bar rather than who’s mingling beyond it – can you blame us? PR lad turned social media and party planning guru Steven Rojas, however, has his hands dipped in it all, from the beginning planning stages of a kickass party to the final tweet dispersed across the twitterverse at night’s end. As Social Media Director for all of GrandLife (aka The Soho Grand and Tribeca Grand hotels), Rojas basically tweets as a second language. And Facebooks. And YouTubes. And let’s not forget his ability to charm the pants off hotel guests. Who says social media can’t go offline from time to time?
Before the onslaught of holiday parties hits, we went to one of Manhattan’s best sources, FOK (Friend of Kanon) Steven Rojas, to give us some tips for throwing our best holiday party yet. Get planning, people. Steven’s tips, below.
1. Know the City
The venue, DJs, hosts, and sponsors all need to be tailored together for a cohesive event synonymous with the atmosphere of the city.
2. Connections… Connections… Connections
If PR taught me anything, it’s all about connecting with people and (I hate this word, but) networking. Talent is so much easier booked when it’s a friend - connections with venues, sponsors, and brands help event production effortlessly move from an idea to reality.
3. The Right Door Person
A party is made or broken by the crowd, so I always make sure that the person with the list knows the who’s who of the top names and faces in the business. The door person is basically a social architect; they need to be able to construct the perfect foundation for the event.
4. Always Have a Budget
As my friend Vanessa Escamilla has told me, party planning can get expensive, and knowing your budget is necessary. Whether throwing an over-the-top lavish event in Paris or hosting an intimate dinner, sticking to your budget is always a must. Explains why she always has such great parties!
5. Secure a Reputable Venue
Venues can be tricky, but the space is a huge part of the party. Reputable venues like Milk Studios or Le Baron are amazing because they already have great production teams, and securing these venues is the largest part of the event. Without a secure location there can be no party.
Check out a few of the photos from the events GrandLife threw at Art Basel above!
FÖK: Steven Rojas
The social media guru behind GrandLife (aka the Soho Grand and Tribeca Grand hotels), Steven Rojas, makes his living tweeting, Facebooking and ensuring hotel guests and visitors have the best time of their lives.... more
The Rapture Performs "House of Jealous Lovers"
Everyone agrees that cake is pretty damn tasty… but there’s nothing like icing. For us, The Rapture was the icing on our proverbial cake this past weekend. For most people, who’ve seen the band play in sweaty clubs or huge arenas, seeing them go off on our amazing pool deck whilst jumping into a crystal clear pool was an experience that will pretty much define the summer of 2010.
But like all highs there’s a come down, so we didn’t let our friends go home empty handed. After stuffing themselves with tacos and Kanon cocktails our guests went home with gift bags courtesy of Burt’s Bees… perfect for treating those newly minted suntans. We don’t ever wanna come down.
Video directed by Alexander Klein.
Drinking with The Rapture
“House of Jealous Lovers” is a classic song. One that will immediately be associated with downtown New York in the early 21st century, right along with The Strokes or LCD Soundsystem. There was no jealousy (we think) at the Kanon house this past weekend. Thus, The Rapture’s rendition of their classic was more laced with irony than a literal interpretation.
Not much jealousy when there’s great music, food, Kanon cocktails, and a rad diving board. That’s pretty simple. In a good way. Also simple in a good way, Stefanie Marco’s Kanon summer cocktail that you can make in less time than one good Rapture song… as she demonstrates here, and as the boys in the band attest to. Also, looks of really good looking people.
A New York Summer by Trendland
Our friends at Trendland stopped by The Kanon Summer House to chill poolside, sip cocktails, and shoot the summer style. Here is what Ani had to say:
As NY Fashion Week quickly approaches and schools are back in session, we are faced with the sad but true fact that summer is coming to another sweet end. So with that in mind we are prepared to give these last few weekends everything we got! Last weekend we bid a sweet farewell to one our most cherished NY weekend summer getaways : The Hamptoms.
The weekend was ... well you should have been there, its the only way you could understand, why summer in NY is just the best. We got to the beach in south hampton just before noon, with 2 cars and 10 of our friends, greased up and soaked the rays for a few hours. around 3:00 we decided to head over the Kanon vodka house to continue poolside with cocktails and see the Rapture perform, only to realize that our friend with the second car had taken off to go surf in Montauk without telling anyone. So here we were 9 people and one sorry ass rental, at least 25 minutes from where we needed to be. FUN TIMES! ill spare you those details though. So as it may have been our last summer pool party I got nostalgic and had to take the opportunity to shoot some Hamptons summer style and find out from everyone what their take on "A New York Summer" was. Here is what we got!
FOK Guest Blogger: Alex Welsh
The Kanon summer house in the Hamptons has, unsurprisingly, been visited by some of the best fashion photographers in New York City and the world. That’s why it was so awesome that FOK (Friend of Kanon) Alex Welsh, who spends his days and nights shooting some serious documentary work (for the likes of The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal), came by to add his very unique vision to our guest blogger series. Originally from San Francisco and now settled in Brooklyn, Alex is fresh off documenting life in Mexico City and some of the more forgotten neighborhoods of his native city. We were glad to save him a seat poolside for the weekend.
FOK Guest Blogger: Joachim Johnson
Joachim Johnson. Photo by Harry Beee.
Summer is coming to an end. Sad, yes. We could have very well packed up our bags, gotten our coats out of storage and waited for the long, cold winter. But no, that’s not how Kanon rolls….or something like that. Instead we teamed up with downtown darlings GrandLife NYC and all the crazy characters that follow them around the world. Then we went ahead and got The Rapture to play a rare, private show, poolside. It was a pretty great way to celebrate the end of an amazing summer.
Each weekend out in the Hamptons has been pretty, oh let’s go with magical, yet, when we got the good news that The Rapture would be playing just for us, magic became an understatement. We needed a whole new dictionary of superlatives and hyperboles.
Who better to document and guest blog this than one of our favorite music photographers and FOK (Friend of Kanon) Joachim Johnson. Joachim began shooting as a teenager for labels like Universal Latino and Motown and has since worked with music and fashion mags like Nylon, People, Billboard, and the UK Sunday Times. Good music deserves good photography. We’re fans of symbiotic relationships.
FÖK: Joachim Johnson
Joachim Johnson is a renowned music photographer who started shooting artists for major labels when he was just a teenager. His work can be found in major publications including Nylon, People, and Billboard magazines.
FOK Guest Blogger: Jenn Camp of Le Fashion
Jenn Camp of Le Fashion
You know how you get home from work and plan on doing, oh, an hour or so of personal business? It might be walking your dog, paying bills, or meditating – it’s something other than your 9 to 5. Also, you know how you pretty much never do that? Well, Jenn Camp doesn’t know that feeling. Jenn’s the editor of five blogs, yes FIVE blogs, including Le Fashion, Le Love, Olsens Anonymous, and Le Smoking just to name a couple. Enough to take up a whole day, right? Wrong. Jenn’s also going to grad school at Columbia. And guess what our friend Jenn agreed to do with her weekend? Blog for us. She rules.
But we have to say this weekend’s party, co-hosted by Grand Life and featuring a live performance by The Rapture, wasn’t exactly a tough day at the office. Read this and get to yoga.
FÖK: Jenn Camp
Jenn Camp is a full-time grad student and even fuller-time blog maven. She’s the founder of five blogs, including Le Fashion, Le Smoking and Olsens Anonymous, but in addition to it all, she still... more
FOK Guest Blogger: Sophie Elgort
Sophie Elgort with David Tsu
We’ve been pretty lucky this summer. An amazing cast of characters from music, film, fashion, art, and photography has all made their way out to the Kanon summer house in the Hamptons. This past weekend was no exception. It’s just icing on the cake that these fine folks are also guest blogging for us. Hell, we’d be happy just hanging out with them.
That’s certainly the case with photographer and FOK (Friend of Kanon) Sophie Elgort. She counts many fashion mags and clients in her body of work and we’re honored she brought her camera out with her to capture her time with The Rapture and with the rapture of people that made the good times roll this Saturday. Keep an eye out for a beautiful blonde snapping away this fashion week--that’s Sophie.
FOK Guest Blogger: Faran Krentcil
Faran Krentcil & Rayna Cummings (Photo by Grand Life)
This weekend, we threw the party to top all parties—a private performance by The Rapture at our Southampton house co-hosted by GrandLife. FOK (Friend of Kanon) Faran Krentcil came out to party with us, throw down some Kanon cocktails, and get to know the band. She writes about the day below:
From Faran: There’s a quiet genius about Saved by the Bell: Hawaii. It’s amazing because aside from the tropical color scheme, it’s the exact same thing as Saved by the Bell: Bayside High. Kelly Kapowski walks around, oblivious to her cleavage. Lisa Turtle poses casually, knowing she’s the only one cool enough to survive daytime TV. Zac Morris and AC Slater have a pissing contest; Screech makes you crave Xanax – the only difference is a little more sunshine and a lot more beach.
The GrandLife NYC party at the Kanon House this weekend was basically the same idea. You keep the nightlife cliques (Tommy Saleh, Steven Rojas, and their various downtown “we can’t wear those jeans because they’re not shredded” BFFs), the soundtrack (The Rapture), and the bar staple (Kanon vodka, mixed with… um… everything). You add an in-ground pool, a wooden porch, and an acre of forest. You mix well. And then, to borrow another TV phrase, you watch what happens.
Here’s what did: The Rapture played a full set because they said the crowd was so great (good idea). A girl in a full leg cast tried to swim in the pool (bad idea). A dance party broke out on the front lawn (good idea). Some people who will remain nameless (cough, Sam Waldman, cough) made out under the bushes (still waiting on a verdict for that one).
The party was such a blast, we wish it could have lasted longer, which means Saved by the Bell had one big advantage over the Kanon and GrandLife Team: Zac Morris could have said “Time Out,” stopped the clock, and let us dance for another few hours before the sun went down. But we have something over the Bayside High kids, too – unlike their daytime-only antics, we get to find out what happens after 10 pm…
GrandLife and Kanon Vodka Present The Rapture!
There's almost nothing we love more than a good party (except for hosting that good party), and we really think we've outdone ourselves with this one. We've teamed up with our friends at GrandLife to present a live performance by The Rapture taking place at our very own home away from home, our Southampton summer house. It's the perfect celebration to end the summer right--AND we're giving you guys a chance to win two invitations to come along with us. Just follow us on Twitter HERE and GrandLife on Twitter HERE and be on the lookout for how to win.
See you out there.
