Second big #whyilovephilly Party is done! Whew. When scheduling the party, I didn’t realize I would also be opening Waterfront Winterfest the week before, so for about 6 weeks, I’ve been running on complete manic energy (with only one freak out). But now it’s done, and I have to say, I’m a bit sad. I think I like party planning.
Recap of the Party:
This year, I teamed up with Drink Philly, the Arden Theatre Company and Philebrity. We sold out (700 tickets!) on the Wednesday before the party, and then had a mild panic attack about the size of the space. Luckily, the Arden allowed us to use the second floor of their beautiful Hamilton Family Arts Center. The building turned out to be perfect for the event, with little and big rooms scattered throughout. Note for next year — more art and projections needed for the space.
Despite the rain and cold, at least 400 people came out to celebrate. Later in the evening we were even able to open up the party to those coming in off the street. Note for next year: Open up the back room for sitting areas. Make it even bigger! Also, coat check.
Just got turned away from the #whyilovephilly party. Per reg required this year. #sadbutproud
— David Gloss (@davidgloss) December 6, 2013
This year, we got a ton of food donated by Little Baby’s Ice Cream, Bierstube Continental, Cavanaugh’s Rittenhouse and Headhouse, High Street on Market, Victoria Freehouse, and Joe’s Steaks. If you enjoyed their food at the party, go give them some love.
cheesesteak sliders from Joe’s, soft pretzel flavored ice cream, & some really strong drink. #whyilovephilly pic.twitter.com/EvDEjYNuTc
— Laura Brzyski (@Laura_Brzyski) December 7, 2013
Tonight was nice, that #whyilovephilly event was great. Tons of food & beer. — J. Hawkins (@juicepective) December 7, 2013
We made our own #whyilovephilly ice cream with Martin Brown, co-owner of Little Baby’s
Soft pretzel, butterscotch krimpets, and the chews. #whyilovephilly ice cream. #phillytastic… http://t.co/j21PGz6YED — Phillyism (@Phillyism) December 7, 2013
Philly tastes magical! @LittleBabysIC #whyilovephilly
— Kara Lindstrom (@karaml) December 7, 2013
We drank a lot, all because of our nice sponsors: Victory Brewing Co, Round Guys Brewing, Philadelphia Distilling Co., Triumph Brewing Co., and Philadelphia Brewing Co. The $5 donation for 4 food/drink tickets turned out to be a pretty sweet deal, especially after seeing the drinks that the guys from Philly Distilling were pouring. We actually had booze left over, and I scored myself a nice bottle of Bluecoat. Note for next year: Flat donation, open drinks and food.
We had some great entertainment including Tom Moon, Shawn Ryan, Brian Langan and Bruno Joseph
Annnnd they had live jazz! #whyilovephilly #latergram #vsco #vscocam @ Arden Theatre Hamilton Family… http://t.co/bfZssnBdOL
— Katharine Friedgen (@KFriedgen) December 7, 2013
Matt was on hand drawing portraits
Got my portrait done courtesy of Matt, 8 yrs old. Thank you! xo #whyilovephilly pic.twitter.com/ap5ORe43sM — KingMe Social Media (@EyeBeTrina) December 7, 2013
We ran an Instagram contest using the hashtag #whyilovephilly_13, an idea I developed with the help of Philly Instagrammer Rachel Hara (@rachelhara). We had over 1300 submissions within 2 weeks, which meant that I spent 4 hours one night sorting through Philly photos to find my favorite 8. Yes, this was completely subjective. We turned those into Philly Love Note postcards and little prints to give out in the goodie bags. Congrats to the winners: @rachelhara @RadioWar @aengle215 @cbeatz852 @dmz75 @FedExRich @so_jane @thejuicepective. Also, a big thanks to Franklin Fountain, Quirk Books, United by Blue and Menagerie Coffee for donating prizes for the winners. Note for next year: Get original photo files, 72dpi just doesn’t cut it.
We had people hand write Philly love notes. Ok, so this part didn’t really work. I was hoping that people would use the blank postcards to write love letters, which I would then address and mail out (like last year). I wasn’t very explicit with these instructions, so only maybe 4 were turned in. Note for next year: Have manned love note writing stations.
We had a great Philly photographer join us to take photos (thanks Matt Stanley). You can see the results here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/
We raised over $3000 for the Arden Theatre’s programming (that’s 10x last year)!
We had a ton of fun, until the lights went out, which I swear was not intentional — damn PECO. Luckily the party went dark at 9:05PM, right when we were supposed to be ending. Note for next year: Can you even double check with PECO to make sure there will be no intermittent power outages?
Had such a great time at the #whyilovephilly party last night. Met great people who rocked it out so hard that we blew the power!
— Daniel Ueda (@DanUeda) December 7, 2013
Guys, we had so much fun at the #whyilovephilly party last night that we shut the lights out! Thanks @phillylovenotes for the event.
— the REALEST (@theREALJAYEMCEE) December 7, 2013
@marciprester @DrinkPhilly So HOT we all blew out the Power :0 #whyilovephilly
— Lawrence (@lawclerk114) December 7, 2013
The power goes out at all the best parties. #whyilovephilly
— E# (@elliottsharp) December 7, 2013
We had an incredible group of sponsors who make the night possible: PHL/CVB, Visit Philadelphia, City Paper, the Marc Hammarberg Group, the Philadelphia Parking Authority, Uber, Newsworks,
And of course, we had an amazing group of people who stopped by, hung out, got their portraits drawn, got drunk, ate delicious food, posed for pictures, and generally showed why our city is so great.
