04/28/2026
From the desk of Big Tuna, Grand Poobah of Mai Tai Mayhem:
Aloha Mayhemland!
I think I have MAYBE finally recovered from the chaos that is Mai Tai Mayhem! I wanted to reach out and share some thoughts I’ve had while replaying the weekend in my head…
First of all, again, I would like to give a ginormous THANK YOU to every single one of you who was any part of this year’s event. This goes to all of you who helped with planning and logistics, volunteering, hosting room crawls, speaking, vending, attending, or participating in any way shape or form. I’ve always believed that the thing that makes or breaks any party or event is the people in attendance, everything else is secondary to the company you keep and you guys are seriously the best, Mayhem wouldn’t be any of the amazing fun it is without you! If you are reading this and have yet to join us, consider this your invitation, or warning, however you choose to look at it.
BEFORE I GO ANY FURTHER!!!
I would be remiss to not give a MASSIVE THANK YOU to the uber talented Rocket Betty herself, Margo Scott! Margo has been one of my favorite people ever since I met her all those Ohana’s ago. When I contacted her about making me a ceremonial headdress à la Fred Flintsone’s Loyal Order of Water Buffaloes, not only did she NOT tell me I was ridiculous, which I 100% am, but she was IMMEDIATELY on board. And, not only did she agree to help me, she knocked it out of the park with what she came up with for my Ho’ohanohano Supper Club outfit. I, like the dope I am, completely blanked on thanking her during dinner on Saturday and it’s been eating at me since! So Margo, you’re the best and all my love and thanks go to you!
Ok, back to our normally scheduled nonsense!
I’ve been reviewing the surveys that have been submitted on google and I appreciate all of the comments, praise, and suggestions on how to move forward with the event. I’m not blowing smoke, I truly appreciate the feedback. It is very easy to get tunnel vision with something like this and lose sight of factors we may not have considered. Polytiki and I definitely have a specific vibe we are going for, so there are some things that we would be hard pressed to change. That being said, I will submit that perhaps my appetite for mayhem might need reeled in…just a tad. In the future, I will try to make sure the dome isn’t giving Warped Tour vibes until 3 a.m., I make no promises, but I will try!
While I’m making amends, I’d like to make a side note about the pizza… I am truly sorry for that whole debacle for those of you who were left without getting any. We’re trying to figure it out for the future about how to make sure everyone gets fed. You can thank Polytiki for the fact that it wasn’t a bigger mess as she basically had me double the order from what I had originally planned the order to be! I wouldn’t have blamed you guys at all for running me out of town with tiki torches in hand, thankfully, y’all are cool like that and I’m still around to prove it. For what it’s worth, doing food on Friday is kind of tricky and something we are aware is an issue, trust me, we’ll figure it out.
Also, from the feedback I’ve heard, it seems like you are fans of the interactive sessions that might involve some crafting type activities. Well, good news for you, I had already had multiple people approach me about doing just that and I’m looking at what kind of offerings we can bring you for next year. On that note, I couldn’t have been more thrilled with how Don and Bertiki’s respective sessions turned out! I’m pumped we added them to the Mayhem Ohana along with all of our other speakers who provided amazing lectures this year and in the past! In 2026 we were kind of testing the waters to see how interactive people would want to get and we heard you loud and clear, so be ready for everything we’re planning for 2027!
For those of you who don’t know me super well, trust me when I say, I’ve been very thoughtful in writing this. I want you to know that we aren’t willing to just rest on our laurels and say things are “good enough” when issues arise. If we can do it better, we are going to try, and that I will promise you year in, year out. Everyone involved in putting this whole shindig on truly care about throwing the best party we can for everyone who attends and want it to succeed. To say Mai Tai Mayhem is a labor of love would be putting it lightly, it was sparked from and continues to be driven by our love of this little corner of the world we exist in and the people who make up this amazing subculture. So to reiterate, keep the feed back coming! Also, if you are feeling adventurous and want to host a crawl or have an idea, no matter how ridiculous or far fetched you think it may seem, hit me up at [email protected], if its a good fit for Mayhem, we’ll try and see if we can make it work. Remember, this whole event was basically our outlandish idea that Polytiki finally said, let’s stop talking about it and do it, and here we are!
One last thing, I have been sitting on the photos the lovely Sara Maresco took over the course of the weekend and will be posting them this week so you can relive some of your favorite memories from this year’s event, keep your eyes peeled!
I hope you all had a blast like I did and are eagerly awaiting March of 2027!
