I’ll second that. Some great parties have been hosted by Johnathan Chance, AnitaVacation, and of course Ginger & Weirddave. Were it not for these good folks, I’d never have gotten to know so many Dopers.
Other than Dopers, the only people I party with are firehouse friends, because firehouse people parties are equally outstanding. 
If you host, BiblioCat, I’ll be glad to help!
Allow me to toot the horn for the hosting super-powers of Northeast Ohios’ own, Elmwood. The man threw a great dopefest last year. We had a great time.
Speaking for myself, throw me in a room full of strangers, add some good food and some moderately pleasant beverages and I’m very happy.
Apparently, I need some help in my new vocation. What exactly does chopped liver do, anyway? 
Sorry, Captain Paté, I didn’t mean to leave you out. You basted a hell of a turkey. danceswithcats says you’re a Master Baster.
Chore. A real party has dancing. Sitting around talkng and watching TV is uber boring.
Depends on who is throwing the party. Some people haven’t got a clue - they think all they need is some food and drink and people and everything will be fine.
A good party has a host/hostess who works the room and put some thought into who was invited. A mix of artists, musicians, writers - that is good. Or a group of people who are mostly single and available is good. It is when you start just throwing people together willy-nilly that it gets boring or uncomfortable - grandma usually has little to say with the punk neighbor down the hallway, and the Republican ex-Marine usually has little in common with the Gay neighbors. Putting 80% coworkers with non-coworkers also doesn’t bode well, “and then Bill ordered half joint widgets! Ha ha ha!”
Actually, Dopefests are generally much more fun - no matter who is there, you can at least talk about some threads, put faces to the Doper names, and there are usually a few people you have always wanted to meet and talk to one-on-one. Speaking of which, allow me to shamelessly plug my suggesting of a Vegas Dopefest in August (see the thread).
So I guess the answer to this question is, Perk if I know the host has their act together, but chore if it is some obligatory party that I feel would offend someone if I didn’t go.
Which thread? A quick MPSIMS scan was fruitless.
Not trying to hijack this thread, but as long as you asked, Las Vegas DopeFest, August 2007