BYT Empire

Brightest Young Things


photos by Dakota Fine, Mike Danko and Ben Droz, polaroids by Erik Loften video by Chris Keener
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Thanks to everyone who came out, we had a great time and worked our asses off on this party.  It was everything we dreamed of; multiple rooms with all our favorite DJs, robots, 3 moonbounces, balloon creatures, great food, break dancers, a sparkle motion dancefloor, crazy costumes, psychedelic lights everywhere, and laser tag.  And what 2000 person event in a unique venue isn't without a few hiccups, like long bar lines early in the night and broken elevators.  We thought having no cash option at all would speed things up, but I guess you people are bigger alcoholics than we thought.  Although judging from the amount of paraphernalia I cleaned up off the garage floor in the morning, it didn't seem like you had any problems having a good time.  Again, thanks for supporting us and happy new year!

NYE2010 for Smirnoff Vodka from chris keener on Vimeo.

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Some shots from Ben Droz...

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God loves a cheerful giver.

COMMENTS (69)

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2 years ago Caleb said

How did I not notice NASA/sunglasses guy at the party? H-O-T. Wish I had waited 20 minutes to creepily flirt with him. Blue guy's still my favorite (probably not worth $50 though).

2 years ago Nate said

Preciously awesome. This was such a fun party. We had a great time (what we can remember of it). Thanks BYT!

2 years ago The Blue Guy said

^^ I dare say the man who posted my missed connection has just outed himself??

2 years ago xmon said

This was a horrible event. The lines were incredibly long for will-call since the ticket people were taking their sweet time, slowly doling out wrist bands and checking id's. Also, completely oversold the event! Why would anyone think that 1,800 people would comfortably fit into that hotel? and to have one bar on the main floor, staffed by 2 bartenders?! What were these people thinking? We left after waiting in the will-call line for 40 minutes and then waiting in line for 30 minutes to get one drink. Last time I go to an BYT event. Should've known not to trust a bunch of stupid hipsters to know how to run an event...

2 years ago Cale said

Just to clarify, there were 3 bars/5 bartenders on the main floor plus 2 bars/4 bartenders in the garage.

2 years ago Michael said

xmon - official complaints lodged here: http://www.brightestyoungthings.com/misc-awesome/breaking-nye-ticket-info/

Keep in mind that the HOTEL is responsible for staffing, not BYT. Also remember that there are a handful of complaints v. 1800 people who attended.

You should have gone to the LNS event at the Building Museum. I heard that was a rager.

2 years ago Angela said

Xmon sounds so hot!! Everyone loves a little bitch. This event was so fun. Yes, more bartenders next time. My BF and I had a blast.

2 years ago Charly C said

Drink lines weren't BYT's fault... I had an amazing time playing this event, many thanks for having me. Fingers crossed to do it again sometime.

2 years ago andrew bucket said

i had no trouble getting drinks. just ask my date....face-disappointed

2 years ago Ryan said

I don't get it. If you had such a piss poor time and hate BYT so much why are you still going to their website and monitoring their picture pages? Get a life. I'd like to see you throw a better party then the shit show that was BYT NYE. If you can't make the best of the situation you're in, then that's your problem. That party was out of control fun!

2 years ago Marisol said

Amazing photos. Looks like the New Year started off right!

2 years ago Bradley said

I wasn't Bucket's date but I will verify that he had plenty of drinks.

Interesting to note that there aren't really pictures from later in the night. Those are left to our hazy memories.

2 years ago Vivian said

This WAS SO MUCH FUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2 years ago just sayin said

What kinds of cool government/PR/lobbying jobs do all these cool hipsters have?

2 years ago Pat said

What?

2 years ago Stephanie said

I can't believe that there were two guys (gay guys? Dunno...they had nice bodies) dressed as Avatars. That would have made my night except that I forgot to take a picture with the two of them. =(

2 years ago Begla said

Waking up with 4-days-of-drugs low self-esteem this morning and looking at photos of me in that outfit is not helping the situation, lol.

I still can't believe there were two women wearing the same shirt as me.

Photos look great. Had an awesome time. The thing I liked the most was the eclectic mix of people. Later hours next time! YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!

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2 years ago Ryan said

Wow, these look truly amazing. BYT rules supreme.

2 years ago tiera said

seconded- great time. maybe one more moon bounce in the future, though the one on the main floor looked a little stressed by the end of the night. great party, byt!

2 years ago Darrell said

I think I'm in love with half of the women in these pictures.

2 years ago jimshowe said

Holy dark patches of memory, Batman!

The parts I remember were the stuff of legends. The parts I don't, must have been better.

Despite lines at bars, I still managed drink enough to look like I was walking around the party after huffing ether. Thank you to the BYT staff. F*ck the haters.

2 years ago Pat Longsnacks said

Haters are amateurs. Bring a flask and show up early. This thing was a masterpiece. The talking robot was worth every penny!

U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A!

2 years ago Logan said

I had a great time too. Thanks so much for putting in all the work into crafting a crackin' party. Hope you guys fared better fiscally this time around.

2 years ago Lucy said

Wow, those two astronauts on winter break from the National Tallahassee Space Exploratorium Academy Center are pretty awesome. Thank god I didn't try to f*ck with em in Lazer tag. My friend got a packet of dehydrated space curry (spicy) crammed down his throat and several lazer bullets to the head execution style. PLUR!

2 years ago John said

I'm sad that I was out of town for this. The reports that I have got back are AMAZING.

2 years ago Zelda said

This party was horrible! There weren't enough bar tenders, and when you finally got a drink you had to guard it to be sure some under age punk didn't steal it! A BIG thumbs done!

2 years ago Bucket's date Jess said

We just rolled right up. Drinks were a snap.

Great event, the garage killed it.

2 years ago just sayin' said

just sounds like you BYT organizers need to coordinate better with the management of the place to ensure there will be enough bartenders on staff and if not then help them get more..I'm sure there are plenty of people on here who would have volunteered for a one-off to make some nice extra cash!!It sucks going to a dope-ass party like this and have to be waiting a long time for a drink when you should be enjoying the party.

2 years ago Cale said

It's a union thing. Will be better next time, trust us.

2 years ago chad said

looks like a pretty successful party. well done.

how was the laser tag? can we organize more laser tag events?

there is a laser tag arena down the street from my neighborhood.

laser tag!

2 years ago Cale said

I did not get a chance to actually have any fun at the party cause I was running around like crazy dealing with issues and doing lighting and effects and what not, but the couple times I checked there was a line and it looked like people were loving it. We also had this great moon bounce game thing where you raced against someone else attached to a bungee chord. We figured it would be dead all night without us forcing people to try it, but again, there was a line. Was really proud of the participation of this crowd.

2 years ago petty cash said

That's the last time i'm letting lucy leave the house in a NASA suite without me around to get inside it

2 years ago Nash said

I think this party ruined me for all others. Awesome.

2 years ago Cale said

I didn't realize the hotel had a NASA suite, I totally would have booked that one. Does it come with complimentary space ice cream on your pillow?

2 years ago Torrey said

To add on to the pile....

1 - NYE is amateur night. If you really expect to go out to a sold out event with open bars and *don't* bring your own booze you are one of said amateurs.

2 - It was a bit over crowded. I don't say that in a hating way but clearly the hotel was overrun at various times of night. I had a room and it took 30 minutes to get an elevator. (Learned the stair trick too late.) Bars and bathrooms were the same way until 12:30 ish by my recollection.

3 - It would have been a tad less crazy if the "second set of rooms", aka the garage was warmer. I'm not complaining that it was cold - It was a garage - but I bet Cale and co expected more people down there when doing the math.

4 - It wasn't the Late Night Shots mess. http://dcist.com/2010/01/arent_you_glad_you_didnt_go_to_the.php so be glad you didn't end up at that shit storm.

2 years ago sh4m.w0w said

You can thank the hipster-raver alliance from Summer 2009!

2 years ago empath said

I really have to wonder if the whiners have ever been to a party before. Where are these magical NYE open bar massives that are not complete clusterfucks at midnight?

2 years ago JAK said

I want me a BYT Avatar sandwhich!

2 years ago onesycomom said

Laser tag was awesome

2 years ago Steve's Wisdom Teeth said

I should have waited one more week...

2 years ago KatieSouthie said

BEST. NYE. EVER.

2 years ago KatieSouthie said

BEST.
NYE.
EVER.

2 years ago jane harman said

the nye party to be at was at the harman center. they did not run out of alcohol and people got so f'd up, they had to shut it down.

2 years ago k. said

this is going to sound weird, but i kind of liked the grumpy folks; it was like living on a sitcom episode. this one chick, in particular, seemed to spend her entire new year's eve stomping up and down the 7th floor hallway in a tizzy, talking to herself about the miserable time she was forcing herself to have. i know it's not polite to laugh at the [willful] misery of others, but it was so hilarious! to this chick - thank you! your woeful night was not for naught.

2 years ago looking said

Who was that cute Guy who was wearing the white/cream furry sweater and matching hat? Holla!

2 years ago looking said

Sorry it was more like a Beanie and he came by himself

2 years ago Andrew said

I was so drunk at this party that I have no idea if I had a good time or a bad time. Thanks BYT!!

2 years ago Leslie said

The moonbounce was so fun. I didn't expect that, but we got some great snapshots of my friends and I on it.

2 years ago bri said

k.
Before you laugh at the "willful" misery, you might want acknowledge that people's circumstances may be different than yours. Was your purse stolen? Were you, therefore, missing important meds and your wallet and phone? Fuckface.

2 years ago Michael said

bri - well if your purse (and meds and wallet and phone) were stolen, then there's nothing you could have done about it - so stomping around in a tizzy did absolutely nothing for the situation.

Should have resolved to salvage the rest of the night, unless, of course, they were Anti-stomping around in a tizzy Meds.

2 years ago bri said

Yeah, mocking mental illness is really classy.

2 years ago Cale said

logic ≠ mocking

2 years ago Jeff said

bri. you didn't state that the meds were for mental illness. for all we knew it was your preparation H or your Valtrex or your Viagra.

stop being an asshole.

2 years ago Lover said

Damn, sexy women in these pics.

2 years ago Simon said

Here is my snapshot of my music in the garage from Midnight - 1am.



I had an AWESOME time. Everyone was going nuts, for better or worse! You all rule!face-grin

2 years ago Ed said

God, these pictures are beautiful!

2 years ago JW said

I had a great time..best theme ever. My only complaint was the bartending staff. At one point, a girl in front of me asked for rum on the rocks. The bartender had no idea what that meant, asking her several times until the girl finally explained: Rum on Ice cubes. From my interaction with the same bartender seemed completely incompetent. BYT-hire bartenders next time! and more of them!

2 years ago mixer elixir said

you know i'm always down to bartend for you guys. however, maybe, he/she was probably just partying as hard as the rest of you. no hard feelings ya'll, it was NYE!!!

2 years ago Randolpher said

Oh, Legba. You should have totally tucked the tie INTO the sparkly tank-top.

2 years ago Kelly said

What??? I'm just now waking up from this party. =)

2 years ago Me said

I stopped hitting up NYE parties years ago because they seldom meet expectations and are way over priced. From what I'm hearing I made a mistake this year by missing out on this party. BYT is now on my list of party superstars!

2 years ago John said

I love those polaroids.

2 years ago beautifulgets said

that's whose mentor...

2 years ago Peter said

Actually jeff was quite a gentle and dedicated lover, tho I was disappointed that he didn't make up the 5 questions game on his ownface-disappointed

2 years ago beautifulgets said

Peter -
imagine a cube...

2 years ago Stephanie said

I'm just now looking at these photos. Awesome pics and awesome party!

2 years ago Patty said

I decided at the last minute with no ticket to drive two and a half hours to go to this party and I'm so glad I did!!! I loved it. Where would I find the actual DJ line up for down in the garage. The music was so good I had a hard time stopping dancing to play on all the toys!!

2 years ago Angie said

This was the best BYT party yet.

2 years ago Rachel G. said

I.Am.Still.Recovering. This was fun. I'm staying home for a month.

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