11 years of Osmosis!

Hard to believe it's been 11 years, but Osmosis is the anticipated event on the calendar. The Gleaner and Mad Circle now whet your appetite for the big event on July 3. The principals of Mad Circle, Deane Shepherd, Philip Palmer and Jermaine Brown are a real team and joined up to answer our emails as we sought to find out more about Osmosis: The Metropolis.

Osmosis is known for its catchy and innovative themes. How do the team members come up with them?

"In the offseason we travel and we alsodo a lot of research as to what is happening in entertainment globally via the Internet, reality shows, MTV etc. From this we then sit as a team and brainstorm ideas based on the information gathered." The team members then run their ideas by some of the loyal patrons to get their views and ensure that themes are relevant.

"The last step is then to sit with our graphic artist and see which one of the themes/ideas would be powerful to bring to life graphically." This year's theme is 'The Metropolis'.

"The theme is used to reinforce Osmosis' position as the trend capital of the party scene in all areas - food, bar, dress code, set-up. Osmosis sets the standard. Therefore, this theme ties back to the definition of Metropolis which is a city which is the heartbeat or image centre of any major country." The Gleaner was informed that the majority of the set-up and excellent look and feel will be conducted by Main Events. However, the Mad Circle team is keeping the decor close to its chest but did say, "persons will be walking through the city into Osmosis." The Caymanas area has hosted the last two events and the crew is taking it back there again, albeit with a slight twist.

"That will be part of the attraction for this staging, as the venue is in a slightly different location from the last one. People love that last venue, and we have found one close by that we believe is even better. It's another aspect that our patrons look forward to." The new locations and how they are set up are two of the reasons that keep the patrons coming back.

"Patrons love the fact that they are guaranteed value for their money and thenever know what we are coming with. There is an element of mystery to how we put our elements together. " Speaking of value for money, in frugal times, partygoers will look closer at the pocket and Mad Circle keeps that in mind.

"We are always concerned about our patrons' spending power, which is why we have maintained the same prices for over a year (the last four stagings). We also continue to be creative and innovative in our marketing to build our brand and continue to make people want to come out to Osmosis." And come out they do, without fail.

"Patrons love the fact that they are guaranteed value for their money and theynever know what we are coming with ... . There is an element of mystery to how we put our elements together."