PartySmart: Information for Promoters

Contact Information:

Email: ps@PartySmart.org
Website: PartySmart.org
Promoter Contact: Scott Seifert (505) 660-9373

Our mission:

To promote health and safety within the rave and nightclub community.
*** Harm Reduction through Education ***
  1. Education:
    We help people make informed choices about drugs, by providing peer-counseling services and factual information about the effects of drugs and the risks of drug use.

  2. Harm Reduction:
    We reduce the risk of harm to those who choose to use drugs, by advising them on how to avoid unintended consequences, and by caring for those in need of comfort and help.

  3. Safe Environment:
    We advise event promoters and venue owners about their responsibility for the health, safety and security of their guests.

  4. Respect for the Scene:
    We foster respect for the rave community among its participants and society at large.

Our Services:

PartySmart provides education, harm-reduction, and other services at raves and clubs, in support of our mission. It is important to be clear about what exactly we do and what we do not do. We are a volunteer organization, and we provide our services for free. However, we need donations to pay for materials, supplies, and literature.
  1. Education:
    We use a “popular education” model where people on both sides of the table learn from each other. We provide resources from which people can learn some of the effects and the risks of various drugs that they may encounter. We do not give medical advice about drug use, because we are not doctors. For example, if someone asks whether it is OK to take ecstasy if they are on some prescription drug, we can only recommend that they ask their doctor. We do not claim to be experts on all of these drugs. When there are questions we do not know how to answer, we are honest about that and we try to learn more so that we can be more helpful the next time. We are fortunate to have access to experts in the field of psychoactive drugs, whom we may ask for sources of accurate, useful information.

    Our efforts in the area of education are not only about drugs and drug use. We provide information about STDs and about the risks of hearing damage. We provide peer counseling to encourage people to make responsible decisions about all aspects of the rave experience, and to encourage dialogue with parents and others who may have concerns. We provide referrals to health-care resources. We educate new people about raves, so that they may feel more comfortable in this unfamiliar environment. We do this also with parents, police, with health workers, and with anyone else who visits our booth. We continue these efforts in our daily lives.

  2. Harm Reduction:
    We spend most of our time and effort providing a wide range of harm-reduction services. The simplest of these, and perhaps the most important, is the food and water that we give away. Some people come to raves without having eaten enough to last through a night of dancing, so we provide them with free food. We provide candy and gum to help those whose ecstasy use causes them to grind their teeth. We provide water at our booth to those who might otherwise suffer heat exhaustion or heatstroke. We do not compete with the water concession, as we provide only small cups of water; we refer people to the water concession when they ask where to get water. We also take cups of water around the venue to give to those who look like they really need some. For many people who do not bring enough money to buy water, the water we give away is often their only source. We provide condoms and earplugs at our booth, and we take earplugs around the venue to give to those who need them, especially to those who sit or stand leaning against the speakers. Everything that we provide, we give away for free; the only exceptions are test kits and T-shirts, for which we insist on a minimum donation.

    We spend about half our time and effort looking around the venue to see if anyone is sick or passed out, having a bad trip, or needing someone to talk to about what they are experiencing. We look for new people and welcome them, so that they will enjoy the party. We try to get people to relax who might otherwise not enjoy their experience. Although typically some of our staff are trained in first aid and CPR, we do not take responsibility for medical emergencies. We refer these to security, EMT, or the promoters. We mediate in problems that people may have with security or other staff. We try to find safe rides for people who have no way to get home safely. We help in any ways that we can, and we make sure that nobody in need of help is left alone.

    When we have the promoters consent, we provide adulterant screening for ecstasy pills. This serves to identify pills that contain common adulterants such as DXM and speed, which could cause many people to have undesirable experiences or even serious medical emergencies. If we find that such pills are being sold, we make signs to alert people to their presence. If such pills are causing serious problems, we notify security or the promoters. Adulterant screening offers an opportunity to discuss with users the effects and risks of drugs, combinations of drugs, and adulterated drugs. We provide printouts of web pages containing the results of lab tests of pills, some of which may be available locally. This helps to alert people to the range of possible adulterants, beyond what we can determine with our test kits.

  3. Safe Environment:
    One person who is responsible for our booth for the night speaks to the promoters before the party to discuss expectations, including our expectations of the promoters and the promoter’s expectations of PartySmart. We make clear that while we are there to help in any way we can, we are not employed by the promoter and we are not in the line of responsibility for the event. We discuss the promoters’ plans to provide for the health, safety, and security of their guests. We discuss the availability of EMT services, chill areas, running water, restrooms, and any other concerns related to the venue. We ask that the promoters’ medical staff visit our booth and identify themselves, and we offer them the use of our medical kit. We discuss our need for donations to cover the cost of our supplies. We give the names of our staff to the promoters and their door person, so that only those people may enter without paying. After the party, the person in charge of the booth discusses with the promoters what happened during the event, and any issues that need to be resolved, and asks the promoter for a cash donation. Whenever we meet promoters whom we have not previously met, we give them an information package about organizing safe events.

  4. Respect for the Scene:
    Whenever police or other authorities enter the venue, we stop whatever we are doing and discuss with them what we do to help people make responsible decisions, and to keep people healthy and safe. We try to help the authorities to feel comfortable with whatever is happening at the event. We show respect for them and for everyone else at the event, so that hopefully everyone will be shown respect in return. We continue these efforts in our daily lives.

What Promoters can expect of PartySmart:

Promoters can expect all PartySmart staff to be respectful and non-judgmental to everyone. This applies to staff on duty (those who wear a PartySmart badge) and any other legitimate PartySmart members who choose to represent PartySmart in any way. This applies not only at a party, but at all times when they represent PartySmart. Legitimate PartySmart members do not ask for free entry unless their name is on the guest list as official booth staff. Beware of others claiming to be PartySmart booth staff and asking for free entry. PartySmart provides adulterant screening services only if authorized by the promoters. PartySmart members do not deal or assist dealers in their business. PartySmart staff (wearing the PartySmart badge) and any other members who represent PartySmart do not use or possess any illegal drugs or alcohol while at the event or while conducting PartySmart business. One PartySmart staff member takes responsibility for the booth and for any issues that need to be discussed with the promoter before, during, or after the event. All of our staff are on duty all night long; even while taking a break to dance, they are still looking around to see if anyone needs help.

What PartySmart asks of Promoters:

In order to support our education and harm-reduction efforts, we rely on cash donations to purchase the necessary supplies of information cards and pamphlets (including printer supplies and photocopying), food, water, earplugs, test kits, and materials for booth maintenance. Our expenses for materials, supplies, and literature depend on the size of the party and the availability of running water at the venue. As a rule of thumb, for a typical party of 800 people, we spend about $100; for a party of 600, we spend about $85; for a party of 400 we spend about $70; and for even a small party we spend at least $50. For a party of 1000 or more, or if running water is not available and the venue is very hot, we may need to spend another $50 for water alone. We rely primarily on donations from promoters to cover our expenses for materials, supplies, and literature. The kids sometimes give us donations, which we save to cover our expenses on those occasions when promoters lose money and are unable to donate. We have no other sources of donations, other than from the occasional sale of a test kit. Our donations and expenses are closely balanced when averaged over a six-month period.

Estimate of PartySmart Staff Needs and Expenses
Number
of
People		 Number of PartySmart Staff PartySmart
Expenses*
(estimated)
without adulterant
screening		 with adulterant
screening
100 – 300 2 3 $40 – $60
300 – 500 3 4 $60 – $80
500 – 800 4 5 $80 – $100
800 – 1200 5 6 $100 – $120
* This estimate covers materials, supplies, and literature only

We ask promoters to provide free entry, with re-entry privileges, for our staff. These staff are hard-working volunteers (please let us know of any who are not). They are not paid, nor do they receive gas money. They work hard to keep others healthy and safe, because they care about others and about the scene. We need at least two staff at our booth at all times to support our educational mission, in order that they may refer questions to the person who is best able to help, and to back each other up in case there is ever an issue about what someone said. We need at least two staff at our booth for adulterant screening, in order to back each other up and to make sure that we follow all aspects of the approved testing protocol. At parties with 500 or more people and with adulterant screening, we need a third staff person at the booth to help with answering questions and restocking supplies. We need at least one staff member checking around the venue at all times; for a party of 500 – 800, we need at least two, and for a party of 800 or more, we need at least three staff checking around the venue to help people. At parties of 1500 or more, or when the venue is very hot or has no running water, our staff work very hard all night long without any chance to take breaks, and we may need to arrange for more staff or ask that others be allowed to run errands for us such as buying more water, giving sick people rides home, etc. The number of staff we ask for is reasonable, considering that even with this number, our staff need to work hard with few breaks.