Wanna party? Get on the (Swiss) List

SWISS LIST? WHAT’S THAT?

The Swiss List was started by accident.

During founder Cicero “Swiss” Beemon’s freshman year at IU, friends would share parties and events within their group via text message. One evening, a friend texted Swiss asking him what he knew of happening that week.

Swiss sent him a text back that compiled all of the information he’d gotten from his other contacts, with parties and events sorted by location, rating (based upon peoples’ expectations of the event), time and cost.

“Apparently, he sent it to his friends, and they sent it to their friends,” Swiss said. “It kept getting forwarded.”

At an event later that weekend, he met a group of strangers who showed him how they’d ended up there: They’d been forwarded his original text.

The next weekend, on October 1, 2010, Swiss sent out the first official “Swiss List” to all of his contacts. From the phone of one freshman, IU’s most popular party resource was born.

Now, Swiss and coworker and fellow IU student Nathan Berning send out approximately 9,000 party list texts per week to a group of more than 1,600 IU students, which Berning said is growing quickly.

“The real number of people we reach is probably over 1600,” Swiss said. “Because people will get the text and then send it to a few of their friends.”

GET ON THE LIST

Swiss said they already have multiple event listings for every day of Little 500. We’re not just talking keggers — the list also includes house shows, theme parties and smaller get-togethers.

To sign up, go to theswisslist.com and type in your .edu email. Swiss and Berning will then email you asking for a full name, phone number and carrier, major/minor and year in school. If you check out, you get on the list.

“We view every person before we put them into the system, and we’ve refused some people that try to get around it,” Swiss said. “No randoms, no high school students.”

GET YOUR PARTY ON THE LIST

Not every party gets on the list.

“Parties and events have to be ‘Swiss List Approved,’” as Swiss put it, or “SLA.”
Swiss and Berning personally approve every party on the list, which usually means the two work from 8 p.m. until at least 11 p.m. on weekends to vet last-minute parties.

“We’ll always start by calling them or going there and talking to them and making sure they’re not providing alcohol,” Berning said. “The second thing we do is make sure it’s happening in an area that’s accessible by students safely.”

From there, they talk landlords or landowners to make sure they’re aware of an event happening on their property. They’ve made arrangements with landlords in the past to set rules or certain maximum sizes for parties in an effort to keep all events safe and police-free.

If a party makes it to the list, it’s sorted for subscribers by location and type/theme, so that potential attendees will have an idea of what, exactly, they’re getting themselves into.

For a better chance of getting your party on the list, contact Swiss and Berning a few days in advance. Email them at csbeemon@theswisslist.com or call at 260-431-8355.

TIPS FROM THE LIST

Berning said the best parties are always in student-populated neighborhoods close to campus, and Swiss said there are certain rules to follow when partying at the home of someone you don’t know.

“First, talk to someone close to the door and make sure you’re at the right place, and that it’s an open party,” he said. “Then, make sure you pay whatever admission they might be charging, and if there are rules, respect the rules. That’s the most important thing — treat the house with respect, because they’re opening the house to you.”

Berning thinks that one of the perks of the list is the ability to plan your evenings and get to and from places safely. Although the list doesn’t condone alcohol use, Berning knows that people out there are “drinking and doing stupid stuff,” as he put it. “What’s nice about the list is that you know exactly where you’re going, and you can tell your friends. It helps you plan for getting there and back safely, and it helps groups of friends keep tabs on each other.”

Berning and Swiss advise going out with at least three people. They also have a business number (260-431-8355) that all students, on the list or off, can call to get personal, round-the-clock help with directions, bus times or cab services.

In case of a medical emergency, call 911. Remember — the recently passed Lifeline Law means you won’t get in trouble for helping a friend in danger, even if you’ve been illegally drinking.

FUTURE OF THE LIST

Although they’re currently known as party moguls, Swiss and Berning consider the List their launch pad for a bigger business.

The Swiss List is now officially an LLC, with seed funding and a budding website. They hope to expand the List into “an event-based social network,” which will include all events on campus and around Bloomington.

The official site should launch fall 2013 and will give users a feed of all events — parties, study groups, whatever — sorted by type, time, location and more. They hope to create a gigantic database for socialization at IU.

“We want to bridge the gap between on and offline interaction,” Berning said. “We want every experience that happens in real life to be mirrored in a virtual calendar of events. We’re trying to bring people out of their shells, get people together.”

WHERE TO FIND A PARTY

If you plan on being that random person scrounging for parties this weekend, Swiss and Berning are here to help. Here are a few locations where they say there are prime for party scouting.

Intersections:

Seventh and Union streets
12th and Grant/Lincoln streets
10th  Street and College Avenue

Apartment complexes:

Smallwood  (455 N. College Avenue)
Campus Corner (1150 S. Clarizz Blvd.)
The Stratum (3131 E. Goodnight Way)
Varsity Villas (2015 N. Dunn St.)