Did someone take my name in vain?
Yep, announce it several months early and work to keep that thread alive. Make sure you have enough food and drink for a LOT of people.
Make sure you stock up for when things lag (as they inevitably will). Me? The people who’ve come to my parties know I can break out games like ‘Operation’ or ‘Perfection’ at opportune times.
If you’re having entertainment in remember to leave space where people can get AWAY from it if it’s not to their tastes.
I dunno, sometimes the coziness of someone’s home makes for a better environment than a bar. Though I am sure it depends on the crowd. I’ve had all kinds of creepy Dopers, even strangers, over to my creepy house. LOL
Consider though if no one knows each other and for some reason only one person shows up (actually had this happen, as well as only me showing up!) - if you’re at a restaurant you can each have a quick drink/appetizer or something and go find something else to do for the day. If you’re the one person to show at someone’s house…awkward! Plus the host gets stuck with a buttload of food/drinks. I’ve only been to a Dopefest at one person’s house and it felt somehow "high-school"ish. Grown-ups go out to be social, because they can. Just my twisted opinion, of which I have several, heh.
See, I think it would be less frightening at someone’s house. Out of the public eye and all. Maybe I’m just weird that way.
Y’see, this is why I call mine ‘parties’ and not Dopefests. If I invite Dopers to a party they’re comfortable coming to my place.
I wanted to toss in that I plan parties/dinners/outings often as part of my job (to entertain visiting clients, people from our overseas offices, company dinners, and odd tradeshow group and the many, many parties my boss throws for various reasons). So if you did decide to relocate your dopefest to the bay area, I could be of help and would be happy to do so. I personally think it’s hard to have a bad time in San Fransisco, no matter how few people show up. (You don’t know a bad dinner party until three of your guests are shouting at each other in more than one foreign language)
Hey, I would be fine with going to the Bay Area but, alas, my car is of the non-running variety.
Well I just hosted my first Dopefest this past Saturday, and I managed to get 7 Dopers! It was my Bon Voyage Bryan BBQ (aka farewell to Edward the Head), and I only gave about 2 weeks notice, so I guess I did OK. It was a blast! I hope to have another one sometime. Maybe I could do another cookout - my backyard worked out really well for it - maybe towards the middle-to-end of summer?
Actually I was going to offer myself up for Dope-a-Ween this year since Jonathan Chance has abandoned us. Well actually I was thinking of hosting it at my parents’ house, they have all the amenities: bar, pool table, dart board, stereo, and the place is definetly drunk-proof, it has hosted many many wild parties. So keep that in mind, MADs!
Also I have to give props to AnitaVacation for hosting two awesome Dopefests in the recent past. I hope we can have a housewarming party for you when you move into your new place!
And me having to abandon it here because of that darn thinksnow and his Hall-o-Dope.
DARN YOU THINKSNOW!!!
I’m having a mini dopefest at my house with a thread with a crappy title and everything. I thought having it here would be easier on people especially since I’ve said bring the family 
Also all the previous dopefests in our area ended up either in a restaurant or at a pool hall - not everyone’s idea of a good time.
I’ve had the one thread open for a month or so. The one with a better thread title dropped like a stone 
While it has been open for all that time the bulk of the replies saying ‘yes I will come’ have arrived only in the last few days.
I’ll let you know monday how successful it was
You need someone enthusiastic and charming (me), and someone who knows all the cool spots in the city that you’ll never read about in a tourist guide (detop).
Seriously, though, it helps to throw the idea out about two to two and a half months ahead of time, so that out-of-towners can consider coming, and can then plan accordingly. Suggestions for activities will no doubt follow. After a certain point, you can set a date based on how many out-of-towners can make it on a given weekend. Then, about a month ahead of time, start an official planning thread. Finally, the week before, post an itinerary and check-in thread.
Hopefully those who live in town will have space for others to crash. The Pad of Evil® has hosted many A-list board members. 
Anyway, that’s how we’ve done it for the Montreal 'fests of the past couple years, and they’ve always been well-attended and a lot of fun.
So, don’t forget:
Coming August 2004:
Doperéal 3D!