Synopsis: Whether it's in a house, club, or cruise, Joshua always had a burning passion for throwing and hosting parties since his teenage days.Today, he is spearheading large festivals and NFT events worth up to half a million dollars.
By Hannah Yap and Ernest Cheng
Flashing disco lights, alcohol, sweaty bodies, and the reverberating bass of loud music - these are just some ingredients of a typical house party that 27-year-old Joshua Yap Ze Neng is all too familiar with.
To many, hosting house parties may solely seem like nights of chaotic and meaningless fun, with little to gain other than temporary euphoria.
However, this was not exactly the case for self-proclaimed “party animal” Joshua, who channelled his burning passion for planning and hosting parties into a springboard that propelled him toward great success.
INTO THE LIFESTYLE
It all started when Joshua was still serving his National Service and he stumbled upon a comedy film titled Project X, which depicts how a wild house party quickly escalated out of control. Inspired by it, he decided to throw his very first house party at a chalet in Changi on his 18th birthday, which gave Joshua his first glimpse into the world of house parties.
Armed with a huge house, plenty of alcohol, a deejay console, and laser lights, Joshua enjoyed the party so much that such occasions became a regular theme in his life. He started throwing parties every few weeks just for the fun of it, which marked the beginning of his hobby.
Caption: Despite only expecting around 100 people, over 400 people showed up at Joshua’s first house party on his birthday.
As Joshua grew older and had a little more money, he and his friends picked out a condominium in Clementi that was about to go en bloc. With little to no residents around, they moved in a deejay console, smoke machines, and a fridge filled with alcohol, and that became the venue for weekly Friday night parties.
More often than not, Joshua’s parties proved to be a magnet for noise complaints. However, the police showing up at the doorstep did not dampen the mood of his parties, instead it made things more thrilling.
“I was literally the definition of a party animal. I got addicted to the fame and adrenaline of throwing parties, which made me realise how much I enjoyed them,” described Joshua enthusiastically.
Caption: Joshua refers to himself as the “supreme epitome of an extrovert”, citing how he really loved hosting people and seeing them having a good time.
“I’m always the host - the person who breaks the ice at the party and helps the introverts to become extroverts, which is really important when it comes to a great party,” he said.
According to him, the ambience of a party and the selection of alcohol are important elements of a fun night. Music plays an extremely pivotal role too, as the bpm of the music directly influences how people engage and interact with one another. “Ultimately, what makes a party a great party always comes down to one’s intentions, which I like to call the soul of the event,” added Joshua.
PROFESSIONAL STEP-UP
As Joshua’s reputation for throwing amazing parties continued to grow, he was approached to host an event for a client - cognac house Martell in 2016. The brand had just launched its latest product called Martell Non Chill Filter and they wanted to mark it with a massive party named Light Up NCF.
Caption: Joshua was brought on board as a consultant by Martell to plan and guide them on how to throw a party, which turned out incredibly successful.
Although the plan was only to have 1500 people show up at the party, word went out and over 3000 people showed up, causing the queue to snake around the entire venue. A 3-metre-tall Martell bottle was constructed in the party studio and everyone who came had an incredible time. “Light Up NCF was one of the most humbling experiences as at 20 years of age, I figured out that I could throw really good parties and many people trust me to do so,” said Joshua.
Leveraging on this success, Joshua partnered with one of his friends to kick off Clout Collective - a digital marketing and events agency geared towards the nightlife and entertainment industry. The agency went on to play a crucial role in supporting the growth of the largest clubs and music festivals in Singapore such as Ultra.
Undoubtedly, one of Joshua’s biggest feats would be Ready, Set, Sail in 2017, which saw him throw an entire party on a cruise. “Initially, when I told my friends about my plan to put 200 people on a cruise, they thought I was out of my mind as there was no way I could book one at age 21,” he chucked.
However, that was exactly what Joshua managed to do as he eventually managed to set sail on a cruise that lasted 2 days, with over 200 people on board.
Caption: Almost everybody on the Ready,Set,Sail cruise knew each other, which helped to build a close-knit community experience onboard.
“When you take people out of their comfort zone and put them in the middle of international waters, the experience was just phenomenal. For just those two days, nothing else mattered other than the music and the company,” laughed Joshua.
Not everything was smooth sailing though, as his team had to navigate around some tricky factors, especially when it came to international laws that strictly forbid deeds such as littering in the ocean. Additionally, they also had to turn to off-shore alcohol suppliers as distributors were not as readily available as compared to on land.
“When you're on a cruise, there are rosters and schedules that you have to adhere to, such as when the boat docks for refuelling or to bring food. Thus, there were many of these small details that we cannot afford to overlook for this event to run well,” explained Joshua.
Joshua describes planning bigger and professional events as “a completely different ballgame” as compared to casual parties. He also points to how they demand a higher level of precision and thorough planning, as well as having fixed protocols, objectives, and formats.
Now, there are many more variables and moving parts that he has to take into account, such as whether the sponsors are happy or whether branding and marketing have been done right.
Caption: As the hobby slowly turned into an event-centric business, the stakes inevitably became higher for Joshua due to the amount of money that was at risk.
When Joshua was still throwing house parties as a hobby, there were often no repercussions or consequences if the party wasn't profitable. Back then, the costs incurred for house parties were not as high, but he could easily lose up to four-digit sums if an event goes wrong today.
Despite the risks involved, Joshua's parties or events would more often leave a sense of satisfaction and “end-of-party-warmth” in his heart due to how successful they were. “As you see people walking out of the experience having had one of the most memorable nights of their lives, you know weeks of planning had just paid off and you had done a great job,” described Joshua.
CHANGE IN SCOPE
When the COVID-19 pandemic struck in 2020 and events died down, Joshua was quick to spot the potential in blockchain and the web3 industry. This led him to join San Francisco-based company VeraSpace as their head of events.
During his time there, Joshua realised that although plenty of blockchain and NFT companies were holding events monthly, many of such were poorly run due to their lack of experience in this field. He quickly took advantage of this market gap by serving as a guide to these companies when it came to planning events, which eventually morphed into his current area of specialisation.`
“All the experience and memories of throwing parties since I was 18 has given me this arsenal of event ideas, as well as that attention to detail that most people frequently overlook,” said Joshua.
In July 2022, he took the leap of faith to set up his own company CrowdServe - a blockchain ticketing solution and web3 events agency that empowers web2 ticketing platforms to generate NFT tickets. In addition, its event division also supports web3 companies in curating state-of-the-art experiences to achieve their marketing or branding objectives.
Joshua followed that up by spearheading the planning and execution of NFTASIA’s launch party in September - an initiative aimed at sparking the next wave of web3 breakthroughs and bringing Asia together through art, technology, and culture.
Caption: Held at nightclub Zouk Singapore, NFTASIA’s launch party was the first chapter of a series of web3-focused events held across Asian cities.
Although his team only started marketing the event four days before the actual day, it still turned out to be a booming success as over 2,000 people showed up, almost causing a riot. The event also attracted high-profile celebrities like Japanese footballer Keisuke Honda and co-founder of Twitch Kevin Lin, along with different NFT communities like Doodles Chinese and Korea’s Zipcy.
Joshua described NFTASIA’s launch party as one of the “most successful” events he ever oversaw, citing the massive turnout and all the amazing communities they were able to bring together.
EVER-PRESENT SUPPORT
Growing up in a religious family, Joshua’s love for wild parties and events did not initially bode well with his parents, as they viewed it as not a “ very Christian-like thing to do.”
“Frequently partying initially placed a strain on my relationship with my parents, as they would often complain about my behaviour and how late I got home,” said Joshua. Not only did he forgo plenty of family time, but Joshua’s grades also suffered as a result. As a university student back then, Joshua missed plenty of classes as he frequently overslept the next day after a night of partying. This did not sit well with his parents at all, who tried to dissuade him from doing so.
However, as time went by and his hobby transitioned into curating events instead of just parties, his family became more accepting and supportive of his venture.
“My family is one of my strongest pillars of support, as they were there through the times when I failed and almost wanted to give up. They provided me with the moral support and belief that I needed most during those tough times,” described a grateful Joshua.
BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS
Having been to and hosted countless parties, Joshua can put himself in the shoes of both the organiser and the consumer when it comes to the events and ticketing industry. This comes in handy as he is able to come up with technology that caters to their varying needs.
Not only that, Joshua’s talent in hosting parties allowed him to communicate well and build rapport among clients and investors. Besides his charisma, Joshua’s selfless nature has helped him build many relationships and connections with different people, which have proved to be very valuable to his business.
Caption: As the “go-to party guy” among his network of friends, many of them have approached Joshua to do business or events with him.
“As I am running my business, all these relationships that I built from partying become valuable because people are so willing to help, invest or connect me with someone,” described Joshua.
Due to Joshua’s reputation for hosting successful events, some of the friends that he made years ago have even reached out to him to host events for banks and big crypto companies. “In essence, that 8 to 10 years of throwing parties have circled back to incredible value and I’m humbled that the people I met over the past few years have come back to support me from a social cathedral standpoint,” he added.
DIFFERENT PRIORITIES
With Joshua being more involved in running his business, throwing house parties slowly became more of an afterthought. To run his business well, a strong emphasis has to be placed on various elements including its very own tech division, investors, operations, finance, and marketing.
Caption: With more and more commitments packing Joshua’s schedules, he finds himself with lesser time to plan and throw wild parties.
Joshua aspires to grow his company CrowdServe into a billion-dollar company in the next six years. He also wants to own, produce and promote multiple intellectual properties (IPs), as well as host more large-scale events.
Even after many years and the ever-changing scope of his events, that still does not take away the same satisfaction that Joshua derives from a successful one.
“If an event did well now as compared to one done well ten years ago, I’ll still feel the same warmth in my heart just like how I felt all those years ago.”
Even after all these years, Joshua still looks back on his house party days with fond memories and acknowledges how frequently planning parties had laid the foundations for his eventual business venture.
“I wish I could throw more parties now, but I’m a little older now so I don't have as much energy to throw crazy parties anymore,” reminisced Joshua.
“Hopefully in the future, I can look back at how far I had come from my first house party for 300 people to now organising an event or music festival for 30,000. That would be incredibly heart-warming.”
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