so promoter unity isnt going to really help - nor will it ever happen at least in the scale that you are talking about. Have you ever heard the expression, "too many chefs in the kitchen"? And the reason it wouldn't help monitarily is because really Idk if all the crews put their 'bank rolls' together we would have enough to do something on the scale you are talking to.
I mean to draw 20k you need a space that can hold 20k legally... so you're talking alstate, mcormick, (i think the harvey only holds about 5k now... though it used to be 10 when they had the photon). Spaces like that cost a ridiculous amount of money.
I mean realistically you would need at the very least, and I mean the very least, a half of a million dollars to throw soemthing of that scale... mabye if you got hooked up and you didn't go to entirely crazy with the lineup or production you could get away with 250k but then you're flirting with a turnout disaster... granted the whole point of spending that much is going for a sure thing.
The only problem is in any business, there is no such thing as a sure thing.
Now a lot of that money is also covering advertisement and marketing which for something this large, a LOT of money would have to be spent. Q101 / b96 / dance factory etc radio advertisements. Not to mention myspace / going banner ads and sponsorship.
I mean for doing a party like this you cannot even treat it like a rave and you cannot treat it like an 'underground' what so ever. You have to essentially "sell out" to america to appeal to the masses.
We'll be attempting something 1/10 the size of what we are talking about here in the fall and will still be a massive by today's standards in this part of the world.
The best thing we could do from a party kid stand point to bring numbers to the scene is to ALWAYS bring new people with to parties. Always give people mix cds to listen to in their ride. Always be pushing the scene to your non-raver friends. ALWAYS. It is our duty as party kids to do so if we want to grow the scene and EDM awareness.
The best thing we can all do from the promoter stand point is to have some sort of quality control. The biggest thing prevents newbies from EVER coming back to another party is having a bad taste in their mouth because the party wasnt what it was cracked up to be, nor worth $25... Decorate, theme the events, use good sound, start the party on time, use venues with good accustics... create an experience for the people. Make it something they will remember, each and every event you throw.
Also, it might actually help if a little more house / hiphop was booked at everyone's parties because hey... this is chicago after all, lets stop kidding our selves.