BY KRISTA HENRY, Staff Reporter
(From left) Leighton Davis, Jodi Myrie and Gareth Walker, founders of High Society. - CONTRIBUTED
"IT'S NOT JUST a party, it's a lifestyle" said entrepreneur and co-founder of High Society Gareth Walker.
High Society is one of the top promoters known for their sizzling summer parties. What is not well-known is that the co-founders of High Society all have successful businesses in their own right without planning parties.
Gareth Walker comments, "We all have our own business in construction, marketing and such. We're all entrepreneurs". Entrepreneurs who love to party as Walker states "High Society is who we are, we work hard and we play hard, we like partying."
Walker describes how this party-making organisation got started. He says, "Well High Society started about five years ago with myself, Leighton Davis and Jodi Myrie. We used to throw parties from when we were teenagers. We decided that Jamaica needed premium partying. So we started our first party as an invitation-only free party with premium food, liqueur and music. We wined and dined them. We were the first people to break into the market that very way. Wining and dining people for free."
Walker continues, "We are known for venues. We had our second party at the Terra Nova. We were the first ones to break into Terra Nova grounds and keep an event of that nature. From then we have grown from the first invitation-only party of about 600 people to our next event of 900 people up. We have reached the heights of 2,000-2,500 people; we even have to be turning people back from our events."
High Society has not grown being just like the rest, Walker claims that they strive to put themselves above the competition. He states "What differentiates us from others is our service attitude. We are working for them, not the other way around. Any negative I see in my parties I make every effort to fix. We decided about a year ago that we have to raise the bar. Everyone offers drink and food, but we have come up with a theme."
He continues, "A theme in every way that the patrons can participate in. Our theme is the venue. If we say Vegas, then the place feels like Vegas. Now for summer we are saying Wild Wild West, and we can assure that we are going way back. We are asking patrons to come dressed in western clothes."
However, High Society has gone beyond the realms of parties alone and has branched out into all avenues of entertainment. Walker elaborates, "We have launched our magazine last summer. The magazine is about fashion, entertainment, reviews and more. We intend to launch a clothing line, wherever the brand takes us we intend to go. We host a number of parties but Special Delivery is our main event."
Despite misconceptions that may arise from their mighty name, Walker advises to not be deceived. He states, "Don't be intimidated by the name, the event is not geared towards 'high society' people, everyone is welcome." According to Walker, high society alludes more to the quality of the party experience.
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