New Year’s Nation: Ball Drop 2.0

“What are you doing New Year’s Eve?” You’ll probably be asked this question a hundred times by your friends over the next week. However, for many, New Year’s never lives up to the hype, and partygoers' complaints are usually universal: Went to the same club I go to on a regular Friday night, paid ten times the price for admission, had ten times the amount of people there, waited ten times longer for a drink. Enter New Year’s Nation. This unique company hosts New Year’s Eve parties in ten cities, and what makes the events so different is the connectivity -- all cities will be linked live via the Internet. Plus, there’s no waiting outside behind a velvet rope to get in, and no chance of being empty-handed when the clock strikes midnight. NYN has a specific ratio of bartenders to guests, so everyone will get their drink on. And for your listening pleasure, NYN just announced DJ AM and Travis Barker will be DJing this year at their LA party -- their first time playing together since the plane crash.

The man behind all the noisemakers and confetti is NYN founder and CEO Jann Yogman. After hosting successful New Year’s Eve parties exclusively in the Big Apple for a decade, Jann decided to bring his special brand of party across the country. On the docket this year are: New York, Philly, Atlanta, Dallas, Minneapolis, Denver, Vegas, Seattle, Portland, and Los Angeles. The NYN motto: 10 cities, 4 time zones, 1 outrageous party. I spoke with Jann about what it’s like to throw ten simultaneous parties, what his New Year’s Resolution is, his plans to go global, and more. New Year’s Nation Baden-Baden anyone?

How did New Year’s Nation come about?
I hosted New Year’s Eve events in New York City for 10 years before launching New Year’s Nation. I always knew I would expand to other cities, but I wanted to make sure I did it the right way. This needed to be more than just a bunch of parties happening across the country. I kicked the idea around for a few years, and then it hit me. Why not create one simultaneous event and connect partygoers in multiple cities with a live broadcast? I grabbed newyearsnation.com immediately and launched the concept in September 2006. I haven’t slept since.

Out of all the New Year’s parties DJ AM and Travis Barker had to choose from, they decided to play at NYN. How did you pull that off?
It probably had something to do with my winning smile ... and the fact that New Year’s Nation was able to offer them a unique opportunity. On New Year’s Eve, we will stream AM and Travis’ set live on newyearsnation.com. And we’ll pump digital-quality sound into every NYN venue, so 15,000 guests across the country can dance to their music simultaneously. These guys have such a tremendous fan base, and the New Year’s Nation platform will give them the opportunity to reach just about anyone on the planet.

What are the five key ingredients to a successful party?
1. Maintain a comfortable capacity. New Year’s Eve is a long night, and no one wants to be crammed in anywhere.
2. Get people in the door quickly. You can’t make people wait in line when they’ve already paid for an all-inclusive ticket.
3. Guest-to-bartender ratio. Easy access to drinks is critical. The shorter the wait, the happier the crowd, the better the party.
4. Offer great food. A lot of parties promise it, but ultimately don’t deliver. A great menu goes a long way.
5. Entertainment. The energy of the party depends on it. (Note: whenever possible, hire Travis Barker and DJ AM.)

Tell me about NYN’s partnership with ESPN.
ESPN is going to show some of New Year’s Nation’s footage on national television during their live New Year’s Eve broadcast. ESPN’s show Red Bull: New Year No Limits will revolve around two stunts in Las Vegas. We’re going to show the stunts in our venues and capture before-and-after reaction shots, which will appear on air. ESPN wants to show the spectacle of what’s happening around the country on New Year’s. We’ll provide them with coverage of the best 10 parties in the nation and get tremendous exposure in the process.

How did you choose your ten cities?
A giant map of the country, a blindfold, and 10 darts. I got lucky and hit major cities. New Year’s Nation caters to an upscale young professional crowd. I looked for cities that favored that demographic and narrowed the field to about 20. From there, it was just about finding venues and the right people to run NYN in their city.

So, if I’m at your New York party and see a hot girl on-screen at your Denver party, can NYN set us up?
If we know who she is, New Year’s Nation will send her an e-mail on your behalf. Then it’s out of our hands. If she’s interested, we’ll send her your contact information. The rest is up to her. And you. Truthfully, I think you guys will be very happy together.

I find it interesting that your company works all year for one night—New Year’s Eve.
Most people want to know what I do the other 364 days a year. The truth is that work for the next New Year’s Eve begins on January 2. I have such a high standard for the type of event that we host, and it really does take all year to do this right. So many people have had miserable experiences on New Year’s. The NYN Experience is different.

Do you have plans to go global?
Absolutely. We have an aggressive expansion plan in place and intend to move quickly. We’ll grow from 10 to 20 cities this year and include Vancouver, Toronto, and London on the New Year’s Nation map for New Year’s Eve 2010. Our goal is to eventually create a 24-hour party around the planet.

What is your New Year’s resolution?
Timely question. We just launched New Year’s Nation’s “What’s My Resolution?” sweepstakes. People can go to myresolution.newyearsnation.com, upload a short video about their resolution, and have a chance win a week-long trip to New York City and Puerto Rico. Personally, my resolution is to get more sleep. I’m sure I can be more creative here, but I’m too tired to come up with anything else. Hence ... the resolution. A few days in Puerto Rico would do me well right now. I have to read our terms and conditions to see if I’m eligible to win my own sweepstakes.

Do you actually have fun at your own parties?
New Year’s Eve is a work night for me, and I have to keep my eyes on 10 cities simultaneously. The true reward is watching thousands of people across the country having an amazing time and knowing that I helped make that happen.

Out of all 10 cities, which one will you be at this year?
This may actually be the first year I’m not in New York. We have so much riding on our LA event, so I’d like to be out there. In a perfect world, I’d start the night at our Vegas party and hop over to LA in time for Travis and AM’s set.

What was your best New Year’s Eve? And what was your worst?
There were a lot of great ones, but New Year’s Eve 2004 stands out. My party was down at Battery Park and we had a front row seat to the fireworks over the Statue of Liberty. It was 47 degrees, which was really mild for New York. Everyone went outside at midnight. And the worst? 1998. The girl I was dating left with another guy.