Among the many (first world) problems of going to massive food and drink festivals is actually remembering what you ate and drank the next morning. Well, remember nevermore! This year the Manhattan Cocktail Classic has finally solved this age old problem, with electronic tracking bracelets for all 3,500 guests who attend the opening night party at the NYPL. It’s still unclear whether the bracelets are programmed to explode if a guest continues drinking after last call.
Since it started three years ago, the massive boozeathon that is The Classic has kicked off with a far-more-fun-than-it-deserves-to-be Gala at the New York Public Library (we like to call it a black tie prom for drunks). The Gala sold out in moments this year—sigh—but just because the event had collected its cash, doesn’t mean they weren’t going to try and keep innovating. A press release tells us:
While the event will deliver all the usual mayhem and mischief Gala devotees have come to expect, this year the Classic is layering on a cutting-edge digital component to the Gala experience: providing all 3500+ guests with NFC (Near Field Communication) enabled bracelets with which users will be able to track their drinks, upload photos, check in on Facebook, and more – all with a simple tap of the wrist. Then, on Monday morning, all NFC users will receive a customized email containing detailed recipes for each drink they sampled.
Oh, and that is so not all. You’ll also be able to “tap-to-Like selected guests outfits.” How exciting! First they start tracking what you drink with “optional” wristbands at one party. Next your phone will start automatically checking you into places on Foursquare and tracking everything you consume on Foodspotting. Eventually the machines will simply plug us all into energy-harvesting towers with our minds jacked into some sort of digital “matrix” where we won’t even know if the steak we just Liked on Facebook was real or not.