I mentioned last week that I went to huge NerdFest which doubled as my friend MJ's housewarming party. At some point that afternoon, I looked up and noticed that six guests, laptops open, were sitting in a circle passing CD's and DVD's back and forth while loading up their harddrives with new media of every conceivable variety, all in the great sharing spirit of the web. As one guest named Alex told me, there is nothing even remotely illegal about this. So long as no was charged admission for entry (no one was), a ticket price for participation (they were not), copying media provided by the rightful owner amongst friends is as clean as a linen napkin.
Several of us then thought this would make a good party theme. The name "Media Swap" was tossed about and stuck.
When I find time, I'm going to host the next "Media Swap." You can beat me to it if you like by following these simple guidelines.
Kevin's Thoughts on How to Host a Media Swap
1. Invite 3-6 friends over. Any less and the swap pool is too incestuous. Too many more and it becomes choatic and loud.
2. Swap participants should be midway between best friends and total strangers. You want enough diversity in the room so everyone is getting exposed to a range of music, film, links whataveyou. But you don't want the group to be so disparate that you spend the entire first hour explaining what klezmer or who Mira Nair is.
3. Everyone should bring a laptop of relatively new vintage with updated music and DVD copying software. Anyone who does not have a laptop should bring a handful of blank CDs and DVDs.
4. Everyone should bring a half-dozen pieces of media (either CDs, DVDs, interesting web sites, links or RSS feeds).
5. Everyone should bring a notebook and pen to jot down who gave them what. It's bad manners to gank someone's media and not thank them later.
6. Generally, media swaps start on their own. Someone opens a laptop, someone else get snoopy and looks over their shoulders and off we swap. If everyone's sitting around wondering what to do, get kindergarden on their asses. Make everyone stand up, say their name and do show-and-tell on what they brought. Then let them pair off and start swapping.
7. Try and get at least one piece of media from everybody. You're here to get exposed to new things and this ain't the friggin grade school cafeteria. Be cooler than thou on your own time.
8. Swaps can finish quickly or slowly depending on what everybody brought. Figure 5 swappers, with 6 pieces each, a swap will last an hour.
9. As the host, supply food and drink. This is tiring business which needs replenishment.
10. After swap protocol depends on your swappers. Some might want to throw on earphone right away and start media-gorging. Others want to wait until later. As the host, check the pulse of the room. If the crowd is ready for other amusement, suggest and provide in the form of a board game, a movie, a route to go walking. Remember, the reason they are Media Swapping in the first place is a lust for new things and a 21st century short attention span.
Bookmark Now: Writing in Unreaderly Times edited by Kevin Smokler
The Customer Is Always Wrong: The Retail Chronicles edited and compiled by Jeff Martin. Essay by me on page 45.
