Beer Keg Capitalism

Its a Friday night, freshman year of college, and you're looking for a party. How can you find a good place to go hang out? In the times of our parents, word of mouth did, and still does, the bulk of the marketing. Someone is cool with the underclassmen and they talk to their friends, who talk to their friends, and so on. Word gets out via text and passes from dorm room to dorm room.


The parties would be simple, a few kegs in a basement, some Christmas lights or black lights strung up, and an iPod plugged into the stereo... But, a new trend has emerged.
Freshmen are demanding better, and they're being rewarded. On a campus as small as Marquette's, there really is only ever three, maybe four, decent, "public" house parties. So, competition is limited, but plays a crucial difference between breaking even and making enough to cover rent. If you have beer, music, and people, it used to be good enough. But now, you can see houses competing for business. Like any other enterprise, they use two methods; marketing, and improving their "product." Upperclassmen are now using mass-texts, Facebook marketing, and Twitter advertising. Parties are themed now, and professional-quality amateur DJs are setting up shop in the basement corner.


How did this happen?
At first, and I think rightly so, people were leery to use social media to market underage drinking. But many college students have grown up with these forms of media and have gotten both saavy and comfortable enough to use them to this end. This is HUGE.


Its a barometer of how these forms of media are integrated into our lives, and affecting our psyches. Which, judging by how much better my weekends have been getting, is positive.