Well given how wide the range in effectiveness I’ve seen at parties here in SF over the past two weeks (Web 2.0 Expo and Ad:Tech) apparently some people do.

But as I noted, my advice is to match the event you throw with your business goals, culture, and context. For many businesses small, private (not open invite), events with key people are far more effective as business tools than large, open bar bashes. But both do have their roles.

Business is complex but at the end of the day it is at all levels personal. Yes, you build your business via traditional meetings, pitches etc but here in the valley (and for that matter everywhere) you also make introductions and meet people in a range of situations. Just last night as I was leaving a party I mostly treated as a social occasion, I ended the evening meeting a direct, immediate potential client, someone I’ll likely work with later this quarter.

I hope many of my bits of advice can also help people not piss money away – there are many ways to have effective events which do not, in fact, cost a lot (often less than the cost of a more “traditional” steak business dinner)