Dan

My friends and I have put on two parties now at a brilliant club in a cellar in Soho. We charged £3/£4 to get in. We made the cost of the club hire back plus a decent profit each night, which went to charities. Our last party was full by 9pm with a queue down the street.

Get friends to help. Most people love coming up with ideas for things to do a party. When they have the ideas, make them responsible for making that thing happen.

Promote the crap out of it. Use online listings, tell Time Out, make flyers. Via email, tell everyone you know at least two weeks in advance so they can put it in their diaries, then remind them a day or two before. Encourage them to forward the party invite to their friends. Invite people in your address book you wouldn’t normally ask.

Buy a little rubber stamp so people can come and go (but warn them if the club’s full, so they don’t leave then find they can’t get back in).

Have a hook for the party. We had a portrait painter at the last one, which was fantastic. And a corner where time went backwards (don’t ask).

Make a rota of volunteers to take the cash on the door. Mail round a timetable beforehand so everyone knows when they’re on duty. It can be hard to track volunteers down on the night.

Don’t book too many bands. Better to have gaps that can be filled by playing records than narky bands who bring all their equipment but only get to play one song because everything’s running late.

Have one person responsible for the money. They make sure there’s enough change on the door, and that the takings are safe at the end of the night.

Don’t get too drunk too early. (Especially if you’re in charge of the money.)

Give people a small present when they come in. We gave badges and homemade biscuits.

Don’t fret about things on the night. It’s basically just a bunch of people drinking booze and there’s only so much that can go wrong. Relax and enjoy it.

I ran the London Marathon a few weeks ago. I hadn’t done any running until late last year – I’d always thought it was completely boring, but it was one of the most satisfying things I’ve ever done.

The training is just like revising for exams – you just need to draw up a plan and make sure you stick to it. Which I never did at school, but you get the idea.

One of my best friends has just moved to Berlin with no money, plan, or house to live in – just cos she wanted to.

I want to do it too, but am too chicken.