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Join DJfix and Raves at
the best party in Miami...
LAID '06 Miami party
WMC/M3 Party Listings
Two cool contests...
Win a trip to 2 to Miami
This prize pack includes airline tickets for two to Miami (including
travel to and from the airport), accommodation for two nights, two
VIP passes to the Ultra Music Festival, two passes to the Winter
Music Conference and $200 in spending money!
Made
Down Deep Contest.
Winner will receive a pair of complimentary admission passes to
the entire series of 8 Made Down Deep parties including Danny Tenaglia,
Richie Hawtin, Danny Howells, Lee Burridge, James Holden, Gabriel
& Dresden and many more DJs at intimate boite B.E.D. Miami and
kitschy Pawn Shop. $500 value! Entry Deadline March 14th.
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Intro by Jennifer Warner. Guide
by Claire Maxwell.
The Miami music conference... how do you do it?
Personally, I'm a planner. Gotta have my Excel spreadsheet, filled
with appointments and parties scheduled down to the minute, copied
into my laptop and pda... and online backup just in case. On the
opposite end of the preparation scale is Claire Maxwell. She's just
as much a veteran of the Miami March madness as I am, going longer
than seems possible for her 24 years. We were reminiscing about
our first Miami's... she celebrated her 18th birthday by letting
her friends talk her into just keep going one night while driving
on I-95! "We were supposed to go to my cousins in the city... instead
24 hours later we were sleeping on the beach!" She adds about six
smiley faces as she tells me this on IM. "It was awesome. We couldn't
find a hotel, but we just kept meeting up with random people who'd
let us shower in their room..."
At this point in the story I decided the best thing to do with
Claire's unique ability to fly by the seat of her sequined hotpants,
was have her write up a Miami Conference survival guide. You may
have read a few of those before, but, let's see if you don't learn
something very different from...
Claire's Music Conference Survival Guide
CASH. SUNSCREEN. BACKUP PLAN. There. Even if you don't read any
further, you've got the three essentials to surviving Miami!!
First of all, if you are under 21, you have to be extra flexible.
Most venues are 21+ most of the time. Your best bet is to try the
hotel parties, and of course Ultra
Festival or anything in a non-club venue, like a store or mansion.
I went for 3 years before I was 21 and still had an amazing time,
cause I had a backup plan every time I went out the door. Now I
know Jen doesn't thing I plan, but I do, its just a lot more flexible...
and I think its a lot more fun like that! I'd love to know what
you think of my Survival Guide - you can tell me (and everyone else
reading this page) by posting a Comment at the bottom. So here goes!
1. RELIABLE TRAVEL COMPANIONS. Select your 3
most reliable friends to go with you. I cannot emphasize the reliable
part of that sentence enough!! You know, friends that aren't going
to be puking on the street corner at 1am and need to get taken back
to the room, or loose their wallet/ID and sulk the rest of the trip
cause they can't get in anywhere. Ones that can and will stay up
all night for at least 5 nights in a row and when you hand them
a Redbull on that 6th morning, look over at you and say, "this has
been the best week of my life!" So why three? You are going to loose
at least one somewhere during the week. One might flake at the last
minute. And you need at least one to make sure you both make it
back!
2. BOOK EARLY & CONFIRM. If you are reading
this and it is already March, you're going to have to pray to the
online travel website gods and hope you can find a decent flight
and hotel. Use a reputable website!!! Or better yet, use a website
to find the cheapest rooms/flights you want and then CALL (yes on
the phone) and book directly. Saves you the website booking fee.
Then get a FAXED confirmation. Especially from the hotel. (You can
get a free efax number if you need it). An email won't cut it when
your flight via Albuquerque/Dallas/ Charlotte gets delayed and you
are standing at the check in at 2am with a blurry inkjet printout
of an email from someone the clerk's never heard of. Tripadvisor.com
is invaluable for checking out actual people's reviews of hotels
before you book too. Oh and CALL a few days before you leave to
confirm on the phone and get the person's name you talk to, and
ask for the managers name too. Put all this info in your phone under
Miami Hotel. You may not be able to find the scrap of paper you
wrote it on, but you will have your phone! Speaking of phones...
3. UP YOUR CELL PHONE PLAN. You are going to
be text messaging like crazy, and trying to call, and dropping calls,
and screaming into your phone over loud music and having to call
people back... so max out your plan for the month of March. Most
cell phone carriers will let you up your plan for one month, and
then switch it back. Just remember to switch it back before April!
Oh and add on that "lost/damaged phone" insurance for this month
too. Trust me. I can also recommend a friend's technique of buying
a "Miami phone" - one of those disposable cell phones just for Miami,
she leaves her $400 pda phone at home. So she doesn't loose it -
Jen, did you read that??? :)
4. PARTY PLANNING. Critical before I had an I.D...
um, before I turned 21. Conference is actually an amazing time to
be under 21, because there are so many events that are 18 and over,
and even a few really major all-ages ones like Ultra (though at
$75 you might think hard about that one... though it is all day).
Party planning is easy with the online lists (see links at left).
I used to like the M3list better, but you can't print the whole
thing at once this year. Bummer. The M3 Summit itself has some pretty
cool events, at $99 you can just buy that and cruise their events
which would be a good option if you really hate what I describe
in number 5.
5. RSVP WITH BACKUPS. This is going to happen:
you've rsvp'ed, get a confirmation email, but when you get there
and they say you are not on the list. Not only are you not on, you
can't even pay to get in.... or its something insane like $40 per
person. And have no idea where else to go. This happens a lot if
you are a guy, or even a girl with more than one guy. Or if the
doorman got yelled at by the person before you. Or whatever! Don't
stress the why's and the unjustice of it all, save your energy for
the dancefloor 'cause you are not changing that pissed off Miami
doorguy's attitude! Have a backup plan - and a 15 minute rule. Never
wait more than 15 minutes to get in, and that's the outside limit.
If you aren't in after 10... use your Backup!!. Have 3 or 4 parties
at least for every afternoon AND every night. That way if a party
sucks, you can just go to the next one. Or if you end up somewhere
amazing, you can just forget about the others. It's Miami... which
leads to my most important tip, see #10.
6. THINGS TO BRING. Aside from the obvious (clothes,
bikini, sunglasses, etc) don't forget to bring: your most comfortable
shoes, I recommend flip flops, they are the only thing
on day five that won't kill your blistered feet! Taxis are great
when you can find one but you are going to be doing a LOT of walking...
and dancing! Sunscreen at least 30 spf from day
1... I don't care if you never ever burn, I have been with friends
who were half black and they burnt for the first time in their lives.
Eye shades for sleeping even if your roommate opens up the blinds.
Keychain size Mace. Photocopy of your ID so even if you loose your
wallet you can get on the plane to come home. EAR PLUGS
<-- most important! Bring a bunch of them, cause you'll loose them,
though you can always buy another pack of the cheap ones at Walgreens
as long as they haven't run out. CASH. Clubs will
overcharge you and/or add a gratuity of 15% automatically a lot
of the time if you use a credit card, but not if you pay cash. Also
essential if you happen to luck upon a taxi at 4am after walking
10 blocks too!
7. BUSINESS CARDS. Even personal "business" cards,
in case you meet someone fun! You can find decent ones online that
don't have any ads on the back for like $10, just google "business
cards". I know it might be tempting to make up fake business cards
to flash if you are having door difficulties, but trust me, these
doormen know what a Sony Music or Paramount Pictures card really
looks like. Do you?
8. STAY HYDRATED. Not just during the day. And
if you are drinking... you have NO idea how drunk you get when you
are dehydrated, until you are in Miami. Remember: one bottle of
water for every alcohol drink. This is so lame you can't forget
it: "1 for 1 or you'll be no fun"... say it now! Because of the
humidity, you won't notice how much you are perspiring (or maybe
you will) and then BAM one drink and you are vomit drunk! No one
wants to be vomit drunk or be around a vomit drunk, trust me.
9. SLEEP. Yes, sleep is optional, especially
with enough Redbull. But honestly, you are going to miss some of
the best music and parties if you don't get at least a few hours
of sleep each night... or day. Mornings are a great time to sleep,
there's not much going on till noon anyway. Nap any time you can,
as studies have shown that any sleep is better than none.
10. HAVE FUN! Even if you are going for "business"...
come on, does anyone really go for business? The most important
"business" you can do is networking, which means having fun or at
least acting like you are having fun, meeting and talking to new
people while hearing new incredible music in a dark club or next
to the glistening pool out in the warm Miami sunshine. See ya there!!!
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