Don’t advertise free booze – this will only attract free loaders who are just there to crash the party for the free booze. I went to many events where some people had no idea what party or event it was, just that they heard there was free alcohol.

Don’t have it at a club. There’s loud music and you can’t hear each other talking without screaming. Hardly an ideal location to have a decent conversation.

Other things we could do:
Have people register and RSVP – maybe through Facebook or something so we know who they are. At least we can weed them out or set our expectations correctly when I know who’s showing up.

Have the attendees focus on getting a task done for the event. I really liked the idea of BarCompany. To see something come out of a weekend and the sweat of a bunch of people who have never met over a shared vision is very inspiring.