demoparty thoughts
by sq/skrju






Returning from Dichalta 2011, I again caught myself thinking that I couldn’t
I can figure it out. It appears in my head every time after
The demo party ends, the results are announced, the winners are awarded and that's it
they begin to get ready, leave, collect equipment, disperse. Although this thought
simple, and can easily be formulated in two words literally, however
I still can’t explain why this happens.

This thought: “Is it all over already?..”

Almost exactly ten years ago, in 2001, I visited my first
demoparty - it was Chaos Constructions, it was then held at the Voskhod cinema,
somewhere on the outskirts of St. Petersburg; partyplace was an old cinema with a peeling
paint and hand-drawn posters, faded from the sun and time. And this
there was real magic. I still remember every moment of that party, every
mise-en-scène, everything from beginning to end: how I got out of the minibus that took me
us to Border Guard Garkavy Street; how I saw everyone, everyone who is for me
then they were already perfect idols; how I listened greedily to them, how I sat in the dark
hall in front of a huge screen and was afraid to blink, just so as not to miss everything
happening; how he sat next to Cyrus all night while he finished LifeForms;
how he guarded Flying's glasses; how I went with then Placeboin the morning "in Finnish
bay", which we, of course, did not reach; and finally, how I cried at the station,
I, a fifteen-year-old boy, tried to hide my tears - and could not, and Anbeliver then
with the same difficulty he hid an almost fatherly smile... All this seemed to last in no way
at least a month! And now, ten years have passed, over a dozen parties, we are going in a taxi
to the Nizhny Novgorod station, and I just can’t understand: is that all? is that all?
is it over? Why so fast?

The fact is that every year the parties go faster and faster. You
you arrive early, on Friday afternoon or evening, you meet friends, you check in,
maybe to a hotel, or to a daily rented apartment; you spend the evening
somewhere in a bar or just on the street, or in general - you immediately go to the party place and
you spend the night right there; doesn't matter. It is important that you arrive early. Or even in general -
on Thursday. And nothing has gotten worse since those times - on the contrary, you are no longer
boy, you no longer walk around with your mouth open, you no longer call everyone “you” - and
It’s true, you won’t call your best friends “you.” And that's all
it got better. But it’s as if you don’t have time to catch that very moment that, like
it seemed then to stretch on endlessly. You try greedily to get drunk, you drink a whole
a barrel of ice water - and suddenly you realize that the barrel is over, but you are still thirsty
torments you. It seems like I just arrived, and already I have to leave. Before the weekend
enough.Now there is definitely not enough. And something needs to be done about it.

Why does this happen? After all, the days have not become shorter. And what will you do about it?..

The answer did not take long to arrive. I thought it might take months and
years - but a few days of digesting impressions, a few
photographs from the party, several old Spekov newspapers and magazines, and a couple
memories. The secret turned out to be very simple. It consists of the following:

No one will make a party for you except yourself.

No one will make a party for you except yourself.

No one will make a party for you except yourself - read this phrase again,
understand it well, and remember it forever, if in the future you plan
attend at least one demo party in your life. Nobody ever. Won't do for
you are the perfect party. The one you want. Only yourself.

Everything was on the surface.

Let's think a little.

The most massive and, according to many, the best demo parties in the history of the Spectrum -
Enlight 97 and Chaos Constructions 2000 - completely from an organizational point of view
failed. Too many people came, there was too much work (although
Now the word “too” is a little strange to hear - was it really like that?)
But nevertheless, if you ask any of those people who were there: “What
Is the democracy party in your life the best?" - he will answer you that it is this one,
failed. Why sohappened? It's simple: people wanted to party. They were thirsty. All.
Each of these thousand. He arrived not knowing what awaited him; I didn’t come ready;
came knowing that this was probably the most important event in his life. And so it goes
happened. He arrived - and walked around with his mouth open, looking at everyone, rubbing his eyes, and not
I believed that all this was happening for real. He made his own inner
party...

Ten years will pass and he will come in his own jeep to a demo party, nothing,
of course, without exhibiting - he will simply come to relax idly, without communicating with anyone,
sit and look at everything from the outside. And he will leave disappointed. Why? Yes
because he was driving, thinking that a party would be prepared for him, not realizing that everyone
he makes a party for himself...

It is possible that this is just one of the versions. It may even be that in
is fundamentally incorrect, and the question remains open. But I encourage you to do one thing. Just
remember your very first party. Remember what you thought. What were you doing? What
you had impressions. And you yourself will understand everything.

And when will you go next year to Dihalt 2012, or to the CC 2011, which is already
that's it - don't wait for someone to prepare a party for you. Don't expect to be there
waiting. Do not expect that from the first seconds you will plunge into trash, frenzy and
sodomy. Just go and have fun. Do it so that you have
ok. Make your friends feel good. Samido everything to
so that this demo party becomes ideal and takes exactly as much time as
necessary.

It's simple. And much easier than it seems.


P.S. Considerable time has passed since this article was written, but I still can’t
the thought left me that I had not said the most important thing; what I started for
write this article: how, in fact, to make the party memorable, so that
it didn’t seem as if it passed quickly so that it would be etched in memory forever in the most
a good memory. We needed a very simple method, a technique, some kind of life hack,
if you want. In general, I started writing this article to find the answer. I walked
around the bush, I wrote it, but I still couldn’t find a life hack. And after some time
time, literally, I saw him in a dream, and, without even really waking up, I sat down to write
this postscript.

Here's this life hack. It's insanely simple and effective. And at first glance
paradoxical. But now I'm absolutely sure - this is exactly what I've been looking for for a long time
time. So.

If you want the party to be remembered as good, you need as many
spend time with visiting friends and people close to you - OUTSIDE THE PARTY.

Arrive early, leave late, walk around the city, sit in bars,
communicate with each other as much as possible - do it all outside the party, before and after.
And any party will remain good in your memories. Party must be a skeleton
a rod around whichyour entire communication revolves. But she is not “meat”; she doesn't
the main thing is not an end in itself. You come - not for the party as such. you are coming
for the sake of the people.

That's all for sure now.