First Birthdays.
Obviously we can’t remember our own first birthday’s (if you say you do then you’re either Stewie from Family guy or your drunk), but we certainly remember other 1st birthday parties. Having been to a few for my lovely Nephew and Nieces and now (god help us) my friends children, we know the format, crying, napping, half the adults drinking the other half drinking endless cups of tea, the one year old who couldn’t care less about the presents as the wrapping paper or the box is significantly more interesting. A first birthday party is for the parents. And if I’m honest they are lovely despite the flu or stomach bug you contract from playing with the little disease carriers (btw I’m getting a little broody in my old age) you really wouldn’t have it any other way.
So like proud parents (god does this mean that Caldo, Kate and I had a child together, remove Caldo from the equation and its normal haha), we move into the first birthday of our labour of love which is the Gin Club.
Our first solo event was the 6th of June 2014, however like a proper child it had a long gestation period, about nine months actually. We recently did a blog for Ticketweb which describes how to create a club, so I best repeat myself on the gestation period to birth of Gin Club;
Conception
“The Art of Social Drinking” is something Caldo has always harped on about, where people go to a pub and drink nice alcohol and not just get wasted on the cheap stuff, dance and try and get off with people (these nights are ok too though). Gin Club began while engaging in this Art form, two men in their late twenties, drinking artisan gin while trawling through YouTube for rap battles, Taylor Swift and Mylie Cyrus videos, then discussing the merits of both these two rather good female artists.
From these special moments slumped on a couch discussing which one would our mothers would prefer, a throw away thought in the form of Hashtag (#Ginclub) was born, which was instantaneously shared through each of our failing music and social media sites (it had been a long established fact that a photo of an album got less than 20 likes while a picture of a Gin pour or a beetroot and chocolate cake broke easily into triple figures). In that one hashtag Gin Club was born (impregnated).
Don’t tell anyone it’s not three months yet
For the next few months we maintained the exclusivity of our club, while the member’s waiting list swelled with people retweeting, sharing photos and Gin Brands evening sending us stock! But the intake was capped at two with the occasional “Gins a mine”, while our friends drank our expensive Gin and Tonic. Keeping this cap along with the promotion of Gin and all its merits only increased demand. Our Gin Club rules came into fruition too. “No Gordon’s” and “Gordon’s is acceptable if there is nothing else”.
“Your showing”
Once our solid foundations had been set, we had demand, popularity and a thirst corporate engagement the next stage was to float our club idea. In the case of Gin Club this came with getting involved with the popular Brew at the Bog festival. From this first big venture we had to draft in organised support in the third member, welcome the scientist (not the Coldplay song) Kate.
In developing this idea we had now made contact with all the Gin brands we loved and wanted to share with festival goers in Inverness. This proved popular as all the Gin was drunk in the first day.
Birth
Our Idea was simple; it wasn’t to be formal Gin Club. No noising glasses, just Gin served right so people could enjoy something a bit different to the norm and open to all Gin lovers.
Our club needed to be formative but informal so our guests left knowing more than what they did when they arrived without it being forced upon them or with them having to taste everything straight in crystal flute glass while writing notes in a language they would never use.
Fun / Nice were the words of choice, where people loved their night so much they took hundreds of photos, got to a good merry stage of drunkardness but happy their night wouldn’t be a late one.
Then after being at Gin Club they would want to go to a shop, buy a special Gin and realise what they have had in the pub for years is nothing compared to what they could be drinking.
We had the idea, we even had the date, the venue however wasn’t set, but a wee five minute conversation in Sainsbury’s solved that and it was set that we would be hosting Gin Club in a vintage tea room (with cake and the venue matched the feel of the night), then combine it with DJ’s, random props, table games, food (which get very competitive) and mountains of Fever Tree tonic.
Thinking back
I can’t believe that was a year ago! Thinking of all the meetings with Kate and Caldo in Tinderbox or at Kate’s flat drinking loads of tea and eating way too much cake.
1st Birthday Party
So as it’s been a year we are going to celebrate by throwing a birthday party at the Hidden Lane on nearly the same date (one day out) as our first ever event. To mark this we will be using the same Gins we started with;
Strathearn Heather Rose
Botanist
No.3 London
Caorunn
There will be all the usual trimmings along with lots of other special surprises. I’ve been looking for the Happy Birthday song which gets playing in Jimmy Chung’s, can’t find it anywhere.
So get your tickets for the 5th June at the Hidden Lane Tea Room.