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Engineering the modern bachelor party
By Brian D. Rossman
Last week, I attended one of those rites of passage known throughout the land as the Bachelor Party. These rituals occur every week of every year throughout the country. What made this particular event unique was that it was a bachelor party Silicon Valley Style.
As a man who has lived across the country and befriended different social groups, I have had the occasion to be a guest at a number of these harmonious gatherings of men. From the groom's humiliation to an overabundance of alcohol, bachelor parties are not noted for their distinctiveness or their class.
I can only conclude that they share many more similarities than they do differences. It makes sense, when you recall that according to wedding traditions, the bachelor originated in ancient Greece--Sparta to be exact--where the bachelor's friends threw him a party the night before he was to be wed.
So what, pray tell, makes a bachelor party in our region different from in the rest of the country? The easy answer is the local environment that contributes to the same characteristics that make Silicon Valley unique.
First you need engineers. In this case, the groom was a software engineer from one of the local "giant" high-tech companies (hint: rhymes with Crisco). Next, most of the groomsmen and attendees were also engineers emanating from the assorted technology monoliths whose billboards flood our highways.
You also need to throw some outrageous real estate into the mix. No problem in this case, as the party was held at the home of a serial entrepreneur who had created and sold two startups by the time this columnist finished graduate school. His temple to testosterone was a single man's Nirvana. Hidden in the foothills, his residence resembled a golf and tennis resort more than a traditional mansion.
Arriving at the party, guests were greeted by conversations about ticker symbols and vesting schedules. Beyond the usual array of chips and dips were fresh sushi and sashimi. A telephone and a beeper going off in tandem caused a commotion amongst the guests like the start of the Bay to Breakers. The host confirmed that the "entertainment agency" (strippers) had confirmed his email reservation and would be arriving within minutes.
After we were given a tour of the host's 10-car garage, the talent show arrived; two women and a bouncer. During the course of the evening, we learned that the bouncer was actually a business student at the local university. He came out to California to join a startup (not long ago it would have been to try his luck in Hollywood).
Finally, the entertainers arrived and the show began. Instantly, everyone gathered in the living room to view the performance. The engineers were riveted to their seats. One blurted out that this was the first time he'd left work in three days. When asked how that was possible, he explained that he sleeps in a hammock for three hours at a time when he gets fatigued. His company's beta product was to be released in the next week, but he had to "see this for himself."
Two of the entrepreneurs present were so engrossed in their conversation they left the living room containing the scantily clad performers to discuss the possibility of a strategic alliance between their respective companies. By the time the show was over, they had memorialized the agreement on paper towels and were transferring it to a palm-type device. All in a day's work.
With the dancers' performance concluded, the bouncer completed the fee transaction. Nothing out of the ordinary until, upon closer examination, the bouncer was processing the transaction by credit card with a portable electronic device. Apparently, confidentiality and a higher surcharge are no match for convenience for most of the agency's customers.
Afterward, the two female performers mingled with the guests. They were quite attuned to the pulse of the Valley; they sought stock tips and job leads. Both dancers said they had held various public relations and marketing jobs with now-defunct companies. They liked the risk/reward ratio of working in the Valley--apparently, their dancing careers offer similarly irregular opportunities.
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Sunnyvale, California Since 1994
