“That’s the point,” Ivan commented. “I want to be like a shopping mall for parties. That’s why I’m not really pushing me so much. It’s all about the brand.”

“Yeah, but you don’t want your brand confusing folks, either,” Thomas argued. “Because you can’t be all things to all people.”

Ivan said, “Well, right now I’m focusing more on black people. But who’s to say where you can go with it? San Diego is that kind of town. I even want to do some military parties.

“But you brought me to the table on this, Thomas,” he reminded him. “What kind of party did you expect me to throw at a local bar?”

Thomas answered, “Not one where you need a roomful of security and metal detectors, that’s for sure.”

Ivan said, “Now, whose stereotype is that?”

“Well, that’s what you’re gonna get if you push it that way,” Thomas argued. “You keep trying to invite everybody and see what happens.”

Ivan looked back at Henry. “What do you think, Henry?”

Henry shrugged. “Well, I wouldn’t go to that party, that’s not my crowd. But if you’re gonna throw a party in that area, then you need to make sure that it appeals to the people who live there.”

Ivan looked back at Thomas and concluded, “That’s all I’m saying.”

Thomas didn’t have any more to say about it. “All right. We’ll see,” he grumbled.

WITH A CAPACITY of nearly three hundred at Raymond’s Hot Spot Lounge, Ivan hoped to make two thousand at the door and another five hundred from the bar, more than double what he had made at Carol’s. Then he would ask Raymond for three to five hundred dollars for an advertisement banner on his website.

In preparation for his second event, Ivan spent additional money for liability insurance to protect his company from any nonsense that might occur at the locations. Then he promised to pay Red Face Lion out of the door and bar take, and also Ida, who agreed to show up and help collect the cover charge. Security was supplied by the lounge.

On the marketing end, Ivan had street teams pass out his flyers, specifically in the south and southeast San Diego regions, as opposed to all over the city like the first flyer. He expected Raymond’s to be a more localized event. He put his website on full blast to promote it. The word continued to spread about the website. And after the first month, Jeff and Paul were ecstatic about the new traffic.

“Dude, we’re getting nearly six thousand unique hits per day,” Jeff stated over the speakerphone. “It took us nearly two years to get half of that.”

Ivan could hear Paul agreeing excitedly in the background. “Yeah!”