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 The latest (and wettest) trend in this town can range from relaxing poolside hang-outs to blow-out bashes. And they’re all free!
Of course, street clothes won’t work and ID’s are required at the door. The festivities can be outrageous, but whether that’s good or bad is up to you.
By Jennette Van Dien; Photos by Sean Kelly and Rodney Rogers
A FREE-FOR-ALL
Although they’ve been happening for years, pool parties have been making an increasingly big splash. They’re are a huge hit, confirms Glenn Cameron, general manager and co-founder of The Network Promotions, the creator of the 2,764-member-strong Facebook page “Gainesville Pool Parties” (facebook.com/poolparty).
Glenn says the venues are hot and the price is right, and the parties are popular because they put a spin on an already hopping location.
“It’s different, and it’s free,” he says. “People like to go to the pool anyway and, when you add free things to it, they love it. It’s a very cool atmosphere.”
To come up with ideas to differentiate the various parties (for which The Network is often involved in everything from sponsoring and planning to promoting and hosting), Glenn’s team holds brainstorming sessions, often looking to Los Angeles and Las Vegas for inspiration. Alcohol tops the list of freebies offered at these poolside events, but food and other prizes accompany. The Estates recently handed out free Papa Johns pizza, T-shirts and 180, a carbonated citrus energy drink produced and distributed by Anheuser-Busch.
On a Facebook page promoting his pool parties, promoter Joey Friedman of Uber Promotions claims as many as 6,500 people attended one 2008 party. Since Joey also promotes for clubs like Grog House, XS, Gator City and :08 Seconds, he can now count all those people as potential clients.
More and more Gainesville apartment complexes have clued into the craze. Smaller and medium complexes have started hosting events, and larger complexes host parties as often as every other week during late spring and summer.
WHY THE GENEROSITY?
It’s no secret that new apartment communities have been popping up all over town. Thus, it’s only natural that each one wants to get as much publicity as possible to attract new renters, says Sydnee Newman, manager of Mentally Unstable Promotions, another local promotion company.
Let’s do the math: Nora Kilroy, director of the University of Florida’s Off Campus Life, says an estimated 39,000 students live off campus in about 220 apartment and condo communities. In the last year or so, as many as 4,000 new apartment units were built (and more are coming), despite UF president Bernie Machen’s promise to cut a total of 4,000 students from UF’s enrollment over four years. So what does that mean? The supply of apartments has eclipsed demand; in other words, the competition is stiff.
Sydnee says pool parties are a way for apartment communities to both promote themselves to new residents and show appreciation to current ones.
“In effect, it says ‘Hey we’re cool! Come live here and party with us like this all the time,’” Sydnee says. She says apartment complexes generally pay for the events, but that varies depending on who is throwing the party and where. It’s a win-win when a promotion company and complex team up to host an event; both can attract new customers and keep existing customers happy.
Sydnee notes that although promotion companies don’t make money directly from such events, they often make money as an aftereffect, as the parties help promotion companies develop a following. Like any other business owner, a promoter’s goal is to attract more business. Promoters like Sydnee and Glenn make money based on nightclub attendance at the venues they promote. The more people they attract, the more profit they make.
“If people have fun at our events, they will continue to come out and bring other friends and we continue to make money from them,” she says.
For apartments, the goal is attracting residents, and making contacts is a top priority. To get freebies like T-shirts, guests must provide information such as a valid e-mail address and phone number.
Diega Clapp, resident director at Cabana Beach, admits that although the complex’s parties are geared for residents, “We try to bring in more leases with our pool parties.”
BLOW YOU OUT OF THE WATER
The increase in pool parties has upped the ante when it comes to hosting one, and promotion companies and complexes are getting creative.
The Network hosted a Blink bikini fashion show pool party in March, for which Glenn says promoters built a runway over the water. This month, The Network is planning an Ed Hardy fashion show, featuring Greg from Real World Hollywood, at a pool party on July 29. The Network will build another runway to accompany the traditional food, kegs and gift bags.
The July 29 party is part of The Network’s pool tour of Gainesville, which will include two to three parties each month, “until [the weather] gets cold,” Glenn says. The dates will be released one to two weeks prior to each event.
“We try to innovate and throw parties that haven’t been seen in Gainesville. We don’t want them to be regular,” he says.
“It’s pretty expensive, but we can make it work. That’s why we can’t have one every week because it costs too much.”
A GOOD TIME HAD BY…
Although thousands attend any given pool party, they can be a little overwhelming for current residents searching for peace and quiet.
Lindsay Smith lives poolside in her community and she says that on the day of a party, she and her three roommates typically plan a shopping trip or similar outing to avoid the commotion.
But not all residents avoid the parties. Cassandra Bruey, who lives in the same complex as Lindsay, says she makes Jell-O shots for the pool parties her neighborhood throws.
“It’s really convenient to live right where the party is,” she says.
Mentally Unstable’s Sydnee says she thinks pool parties are here to stay because they “make sense” in a college town.
“I would say it’s more of an on-going trend rather than a fad that will soon fade out,” Sydnee says. “The key is what we can bring to people—that’s what makes them a huge success. I know I love to attend them, so by me portraying how much fun I usually have, that will bring others.”
The inaugural pool party of the season is this Saturday at The Estates from 12-4pm! Check out the Facebook Page for more information!
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