Dannia Hakki is a DC-based PR guru and co-owner of the entertainment, hospitality, design and fashion PR agency Moki Media. I first met lobbyist and hospitality entrepreneur, Vinoda Basnayake, in 2009. I had just moved back to my hometown of Washington, D.C. after cutting my teeth in NYC at a high profile boutique lifestyle PR agency. I had some great experience as a publicist in NYC, but at just 25 years old, I had just taken an entrepreneurial leap to start my own PR agency, MoKi Media. DC was a new market for me, and I needed clients. I remember walking into Vinoda’s downtown rooftop lounge, Eden, and feeling like I was back in NYC. I had experience with nightlife accounts. I knew what to do, and how to do it. I needed to meet the owner of this place and introduce myself. The connection was instant. He went to Gonzaga High School. I went to Georgetown Day School & The Field School. He went to Georgetown. I went to George Washington University. He was a political lobbyist by day – with a JD/MBA from Wharton Business School – and nightlife entrepreneur by night. I was definitely going to be his publicist.

If we are going to be chatting like this, I find it imperative that I let you in on a little secret of mine. It’s not something that I’m proud of. It happened so fast; it’s truly been a whirlwind. I ask that you not judge me for it. You …

A few Fridays ago, I decided to have a low-key evening and see a movie. It had been ages since I’d seen a movie on a Friday night, but I didn’t realize just how many ages it had been until I got there. I bought my ticket for the R-rated flick and proceeded to walk toward the nacho stand (and whatever else they might sell there) when I overheard something dismaying. The cashier at the ticket booth asked someone for their ID to see the same movie that I was seeing. He didn’t ask me for my ID! Do I not look like I am still in high school? I was just in high school. But then I looked around and noticed that the joint was lousy with teenagers. Through the dense fog of Abercrombie and Fitch cologne I reached clarity. I had not just been in High School. And don’t get me wrong, that is A-OK with me. I don’t miss being that scrawny kid with the gap-toothed smile. But it did get me thinking. Where do I fall in what I like to think of as a spectrum of maturity; and more importantly, how does that affect my nightlife?

If you’re like me, you wait until the last minute to make New Year’s Eve plans. But not this year! 2012 is going to be THE year, and although almost every venue in DC will have a NYE party, I have several ideas for your NYE party fun! Ring in …