Expats

Party planner designs good times

By Todd Balazovic (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-12-18 09:19

Event planner Jaime Daza knows how to throw a good party.

The 28-year-old Colombian is designing themed parties for some of the biggest companies and clubs throughout the city.

It's his ability to transform typical into terrific that has landed him gigs at high-profile Beijing clubs such as LAN and VICS.

He has spent the last two months designing a Christmas party for Beijing's LAN club.

"This year we wanted to step out of tradition. We didn't buy any traditional ornaments or decorations, it's all going to be stars," he said.

Daza's parties are more than just funny hats and party favors. Designing a party is all about constructing a compelling environment, he said.

From the lobby to the lavatory, every inch of the party will be covered in stars, he said. Even the 40m long buffet table will have, in addition to almost every imaginable plate possible, various star-shaped foods.

For dessert - guests will be able to gorge themselves on the furniture, nibbling on the chocolate covered tables designed by Daza.

With ticket prices for the Christmas bash costing as much as 1,500 yuan per person, Daza says he made it his goal to design a party worth remembering.

"It's not just about hanging things from the ceiling - it's about getting people involved," he said.

"We need to get the people inside the idea and behind the space."

Though he has only been designing parties in China for two years, Daza says there is a big difference in designing parties in Asia versus the other places he has worked.

"I feel as though I have a chance to show people new things. There are a lot of things in Asia are still being discovered," he said. "In big cities like New York, they've seen it all."

After seven years of designing parties, Daza had thought he'd seen it all until last year. He received one of the strangest requests he's ever heard while designing a Christmas party for a private company.

During the planning phase, the host excitedly approached Daza and asked him if it was possible to incorporate two live penguins into the stage design. "I remember just looking at him and saying, 'what?'" Daza said.

But he made it happen.

He first called a zoo in Australia and then a company in London that specializes in bizarre requests. In the end, Daza arranged to have two live penguins flown from Tasmania in a specialized jet so that they could attend the party for 12 hours.

The cost of flying in the penguins was roughly 3.5 million yuan, well above the 15,000 yuan budget Daza usually works with for designing parties.

"It was definitely one of the crazier requests I've ever been given," he said.

Though parties are a big part of his life, Daza said he is not into partying much himself.

He said he enjoys the art of the process, but only occasionally sticks around after setting up.

"I'm not much of a partier myself. When I do go, I don't go to enjoy myself, I want to see people reacting to what I've done." he said.