Not shaken, not stirred
Cocktail parties could be forced to change the way they're run
Departmental Cocktail Parties being held on campus may have to change their format from now on. This emerges after the Chemistry Cocktail Party, which is due to be held near the end of this academic year, has been forced to have a format change due to licensing laws and incidents at previous parties from other Departments on campus.
The party was originally planned to be held in the Chemistry Café, as it was last year, with students from ChemSoc making the drinks and giving them out. Before, a ticket would get the attendee as much alcohol as they wanted, until it ran out.
However, due to licensing laws, it could not exist in its current format. Imperial College London and Imperial College Union hold licences to serve alcohol. Any alcohol served on campus must be served in according to the licence or there is a risk of losing it. The Chemistry Cocktail Party had to change the format and is now being moved to Metric, with staff at Metric serving the drinks instead. There will also be a cap on the number of cocktails that attendees can have as each student may be given four tokens and no more. This is due to licensing as irresponsible drinking can not be promoted.
The Chemistry Cocktail Party, like many other departmental events, is organised and run by students. It is usually one of the highlights of the year for chemists. It has been held in various locations around College in the past, from the Physics common room in Blackett to the Chemistry café. Alcohol is served by students on the ChemSoc Committee and/or volunteers with various different cocktails being devised (mostly based on chemistry related jokes). The alcohol is usually readily available and most attendees take full advantage; the event often ends up providing a lot of memories and lapses in memories for those who attend. At the end of the party many students would move onto the Union. It has been running in a similar fashion for a few years. In previous years there have been varying degrees of incidents at the party, although all of these incidents have been resolved later.
