Room Crawl How-To?

Hi Guys,
I'm not sure this is the right post category, but I guess it's a general question. Move it if you feel you need to, mods.

I've searched all over this board and haven't found a post relevant to my question, so I'll ask you.
Has anyone ever posted a how-to for hosting a room crawl room?

We've got the atmosphere and drink recipes covered, but would love to know things like:
How many glasses should we bring?
How much of each drink?
What's an appropriate donation amount to ask for?

I've been to exactly one room crawl and for some reason, the details are a bit fuzzy. :)

Any help would be appreciated. I'm an obsessive planner and would hate to commit any room crawl faux pas.

Where are you going to be doing the room crawl? Since you are in New England, I am guessing Ohana.

You have a choice with glasses. There is usually a room crawl glass that folks get when they check-in and then carry with them room-to-room. However, many folks, fearing they will get drunk and drop them, leave them in their room, and others simply don't know what they are for. In the past several rooms have provided their own glassware, usually with a custom logo as a giveaway, but this is expensive and unnecessary, so you should not feel obligated to do this. Have a few hundred plastic glasses will keep you covered and likely leave you extras.

Be smart, make one drink only. When your shift starts you'll get hit hard with folks coming in, one drink means you've made it easy on yourself.

As to tips, just put a jar out. Most people will donate. Some folks accept donations and then give the money to a charity of their choice.

There are many folks who have done rooms who can chime in too.

dcman

[ Edited by: dcman 2011-01-30 17:21 ]

Choose a drink, and make only that drink. If it is a drink that can be premixed, or at least partially pre-mixed, then that is better because mixing individual drinks when you have a line of customers can be pretty hectic. You will need lots of ice, just in case the ice machine at he hotel runs out (as used to happen a lot at the Caliente Tropics) so bring your own. Bring plastic cups for those people that don't have their own. Garnishes and embelishments for the drinks are up to you. You don't need them, but they do add to the experience. It can also be a good idea to put out some little snack food as well.

If you don't want people coming into your room and staying, then just set up your bar in the door or pull an Unga Bunga and serve the drinks right out through the window.

On 2011-01-30 17:20, dcman wrote:
Where are you going to be doing the room crawl? Since you are in New England, I am guessing Ohana.

[ Edited by: dcman 2011-01-30 17:21 ]

Yes, Ohana. We attended in 2009 and had a great time.
We couldn't go last year, since our work wouldn't let us travel in June or July, but we're thrilled to be going this year and wanted to pitch in.

Thanks for your help, guys. It gives me something to start with.

I'd still love to know how many servings are the norm for a event like Ohana, so if anyone has any advice on that, I'd really appreciate it.

I'm not the expert, but the best suggestions I got that helped me was:

~quantity of clear plastic cups
~easy serve snacks (avoid trying to cook anything)
~bring a cooler of ice
~make your drink ahead of time in a quantity to serve the event (those attending can guestimate for you)

Using a ceramic dispenser and one of the small bottles is a great way to pour drinks. YOu can usually find these in grocery stores and Amazon.com carries them. You can serve drinks yourself...just add ice to cup, pour the drink, top off with a straw and lime and you are good to go.

Hosting is a blast, you will have fun!!!

On 2011-01-30 19:22, Mrs_Somnambulist wrote:
I'd still love to know how many servings are the norm for a event like Ohana, so if anyone has any advice on that, I'd really appreciate it.

Specific to Ohana...

Your serving as many drinks as you are willing to serve during your time-slot, roughly 60 to 90 minutes. There is no requirement on what you serve or how much you serve. If/When you run out you send up the white flag, close the door to your suite, and re-join the crowd. If you have left over, well there is always an after party going somewhere.

Ohana has around 300 guests (plus a dozen or so because off-duty hotel staff join in the fun). If you wanted a maximum number of drinks that would be your top target to pour. Last year the Gumbo Limbo room poured about 150 drinks at 6 ounces each and we batched the drinks in 2 gallon pitchers so it was one part from the pitcher and then the float of the last ingredient.

Then, to your question generally....

Don't rely on the hotel ice machines. Every guest is tapping the machines and every room host will empty them. Hit the local market and get ice. Its cheap and easy and your guaranteed to have enough.

Keep the glassware simple. Plastic cups, while generally unattractive, are the best bet for both cost and safety concerns. Hotels don't like glassware near their pools, and people hanging over balconies with glassware make them nervous too.

Punches work best. I mean recipes that are already a punch. Converting a cocktail to a punch takes a bit of math and a lot of tasting because not all recipes can simply be multiplied by 100 to get to your final drink.

As to how much to pour, smaller is OK. You are generally not the only room open at whatever time your open so everyone will have had a couple before they get to you. 6 ounce cups make for a good pour generally. Big enough to enjoy, small enough you don't 'hurt' anyone after they try all twelve rooms worth of cocktails. Any smaller and your presentation will seem week, too much larger and you'll risk any number of other things with the greatest fear being spillage. Large drinks make for large messes.

Make whatever garnish your going use as far in advance as possible. Or make it so simple that you can just drop it in as you go. If you have to 'build' or skewer or otherwise futz with each drink your going to drive both you and your guests insane and that is not a good time.

And lastly, although it should be firstly, your there to have fun. Being a Room Crawl host puts you in a position to meet more of the event attendees. Its like hosting a part at home and having everyone over. You want to be a good host and server everyone, but not be a slave to the cocktail shaker and spend all your energies mixing and have no time left to spend with your guests.

Thanks Chip_and_Andy! That was really helpful!

Chip is absolutely right on target... I have helped in two room crawl rooms at Ohana and in both cases were served something like 150-200 drinks. In 2010 we ran out of stuff about five minutes before our time slot ended so that worked out pretty well.

You definitely want to have your stuff batched up in advance or have enough people to mix more as needed.

At this point I cannot say if there will be glasses provided by the event this year at Ohana, we will communicate with room crawl hosts as we know more details.

Pre batching is a must.
There is nothing worse than standing in a line waiting for someone to mix drinks for a room crawl.
Sure you get to chat and make new friends but...with an empty glass from the last room...keep the line moving.

One thing is if your using canned juices like pineapple have a few spare openers on hand.

I use igloo work style coolers for when I have more than a few people comming over a med Luau shirt fits nicely over the bigger orange one.

What everyone else said here. Having everything prepared ahead of time is key. Over the last 2 Ohana's we have learned that having your garnish ready and whatever can be pre-mixed ready will help you run smoothly. Keep in mind that there are usually a few rooms operating at any given time so you shouldn't get all 300 attendees at your door at once. See you in June.

Chip is dead on.

And just to re-emphasize his point, first and foremost, have FUN!!!

And premix all that you can! I often use a 3 gallon Bubba Keg so everything is pre-mixed and ready. Just pour, garnish, serve.

Now, don't feel that you're a production line, just pouring, serving, and then NEXT IN LINE!!! lol.

By having everything pre-done, it gives you a little time to chat, meet EVERYONE, see the wonderful threads everyone is sporting, etc. No, you don't have ALOT of time with each person, but its a little face time, and really that's what hosting is all about!

We love that our hosts are so generous and creative, and what they bring to Ohana each year continues to amaze me, and really beings the Aloha Spirit to life. It sets the tone for the entire weekend, as we all hang out together, break bread together, laugh, drink, dance, and Luau together. It truly embodies the word "Ohana".

Glad you're able to join us again!

Does anyone want to address decor? Its certainly not a necessity, but can be a fun additional treat. At the first Ohana I just hosted an impromptu pre-party Thursday night, and had no decor whatsoever in my room....

And the decor in the Ironic Tiki Room at HuKiLau was all the worst stuff we could find at Party City, and I don't think everyone got the joke, so I'm probably not the one to speak to decorating.

Again, don't feel obligated to decorate. That's the cool thing about hosting. You do what you want, mix as much as you want, and when you're done, you're done. NO pressure. Especially if the drink is premixed and ready to go. Cant stress that one enough!

Thanks for all the tips, guys!
We're definitely set on decor. We have already started ordering supplies and costumes!

Get ice right when you wake up and keep getting it until the time of your room crawl.

I'd recommend hosting your room with another 3 or 4 people (or even more).

1.) Many hands make light work. Prepping is the key, as has been stated, and it's a lot easier with several folks.
2.) Costs are more spread out.
3.) More people get to have the wonderful feeling of having co-hosted a Crawl room ("Yeah, the Norwegian Spelunking Room was mine!")
4.) The biggest benefit: your being able to slip away to quickly check out the other rooms. They're so dang cool (like yours!), you won't want to have missed them.

When everything looks great/in control and you've got the rhythm going, 1 or 2 of you slip out and check out a room or two. Come back and let the next 1 or 2 see a bit. Repeat.
I suspect this doesn't work if you're at a really big event (wonderful Tiki Oasis is so popular now, I don't think the hosts could get into other rooms and back very quickly), but at smaller events you can still do this if you're so inclined.

Decor: anything you can make at home, disassemble, and re-assemble at the event is a huge plus, if you're within driving distance. Some enterprising folks even mail their decor ahead of time.
Anybody want to talk about what you've used to hang stuff on walls (so as not to harm hotel rooms......very much)?

"Zazz captivates felt."

[ Edited by: Formikahini 2011-03-01 17:09 ]

Well, it looks like fate has other plans for us. A family issue is now going to eat up the vacation days we set aside to do Ohana.
Thanks for all your input. Hopefully this thread will help other intrepid virgin room crawl hosts.

Oh, I'm so sorry you won't be able to return this year! :(
I was already looking forward to meeting you (and tasting whatever lovely thing you were serving!).

Hope the family matter clears up soon.
Formikahini

"Zazz captivates felt."

[ Edited by: Formikahini 2011-03-05 10:34 ]

I'm so glad Mrs Somnambulist (sp?) started this thread, but sorry about your change in plans :(.

I'll be (first time) hosting a crawl room, along with a group of friends, and these tips are most valuable.

Now that the question of drinks is well covered, how about the room itself? We are excited about working on our decor..I am assuming moving furniture is ok?.. We are also wondering about hanging things on the walls- it seems like folks used fabric to good effect in past Ohanas.. How did you accomplish it without damaging anything? We were thinking of coming on Thursday and seeing if a couple of us could get adjoining rooms and maybe enable us to move some furniture out of the crawl room into the other (temporarily) to make space. I'm so glad you suggested the idea of shifts so that us hosts can slip away and see the other rooms. I had forgotten we'd be missing them- duh! any tips on decor would be fabulous..

On 2011-03-01 17:05, Formikahini wrote:

Decor: anything you can make at home, disassemble, and re-assemble at the event is a huge plus, if you're within driving distance. Some enterprising folks even mail their decor ahead of time.
Anybody want to talk about what you've used to hang stuff on walls (so as not to harm hotel rooms......very much)?

A couple of Tiki Oasis years ago, I helped host a crawl room with croe67 & skitiki. Although it got a little expensive, we used a big supply of "earthquake putty" (easy to get at party supply stores) and those hangers with the peel off backing that can be easily removed (you see them a lot at Christmas time). If you have a suite where others will actually hang out in your room, ensure your decorations aren't easily pulled off the wall, or knocked on the floor. The damage bill for repairing a hotel room can far exceed the cost of the right hanging equipment.

And... yes.... HAVE FUN!!

Glad to read this-

We're attending our very FIRST Hukilau this year and couldn't be more excited!

I read: "Room Crawl" and didn't think that could POSSIBLY mean people going all-out with killer decor and actually MAKING us DRINKS...that would be too good to be true.

Here we find out, you CAN have your Mai Tai and drink it too!

Anybody coming to Hukilau? What room should we look for? I wish we could do Ohana, too, but sadly limited-time-off-work holds sway.

One o' these days...

On 2011-04-20 15:02, Kiki_BosTiki wrote:
working on our decor..I am assuming moving furniture is ok?.. We are also wondering about hanging things on the walls- it seems like folks used fabric to good effect in past Ohanas..

Moving furniture is usually not a problem. We took apart one of the beds in our room last year and used the mattresses to make a sort of couch-looking thing out of the other bed.

Do pay attention to how something is put together if you have to take something apart, it is not always obvious the next morning how to put it back together.

And keep a plan B in mind because I have seen in some rooms things bolted to walls rendering the furniture item in question unmovable.

For attaching stuff to walls, get lots of these:

Of course, blue painters tape works too.

The basic rules apply.... do as little damage to your room as possible. Clean up after yourself. Have a plan for setup and breakdown and make sure you give yourself enough time for both and then add 30 minutes to each.

And it can't be said enough times.... have fun and don't overwork yourself, before during, or after. You are on vacation and there to have a good time. Volunteering to be a Room Host, officially or not, doesn't mean you have to skip any of the fun yourself.