Last night was Changmian's yearly beach party. At the risk of sounding like a grumpy old man, I think this was an okay one, but not the best we've had. One thing that did become clear to me is that I think we have to change how we promote these events. This one was just a bit too crazy for my comfort levels. I'd guess that at some point there were at least 200 people there, if not closer to 300.
Part of the issue to me is that though the beach is on federal land, the road leading up to it isn't. It's a private residential street. So people driving up and down it and making noise at 2am in the morning have a good chance of disturbing the people living there. I've always been a firm believer in 'Leave no Trace', which includes disturbing people who live closeby.
Also, as you get more and more people the chances for problems increase. There were more then a few kids there who quite obviously did not know how to party responsibly (though it sounds like they were at least smart enough to have a designated driver). All it takes is a cop pulling up and seeing a bunch of teenagers stumbling around and the party could be shut down.
I would be much happier to see something where we invite people and tell them their invite is good for them and a few of their friends. As I was hanging out at the top of the hill overlooking the beach I heard numerous kids walking by talking about how some friend of theirs had emailed them telling them about the party.
Okay, I'm definitely sounding a bit like a grouchy old man :). But I'd rather see us put some limits on these events. There are people who regularly attend our events and I want them to be able to have a good time. While I'm sure they did this time, the risk level made it harder to ensure that. I keep thinking of the times the had public Moontribe events. Almost every time they had one there were major problems. I don't want to see that happen with our events.
