Imagine planning a major event in 4 days. Doing it in a city where everyone flakes. And telling your guests they can't touch their phones.
Sounds crazy. But that's exactly what Catherine Goetze (aka CatGPT) did.
It was a huge hit...and reveals a greater trend in the creator economy.
Wait, What Happened?
Over 700 people recently lined up outside a club for CatGPT's “no-phone” Y2K party.
Guests checked their phones at the door and partied like it was 2003.
It went so well that Cat's fans are asking her to do it again. And beyond just LA.
The Offline Movement
Cat's idea came from a stat that speaks volumes: only 4.1% of Americans go to a party on an average weekend.
So she tested something radical: a “no-phones-allowed” party, announced just four days before the event.
No phones. No livestreams. No distractions.
“I even saw...a girl give a guy her number by writing it on a napkin,” she said. “It literally felt like we went [through] a time machine.”
Now she’s doing it again this Friday with Offline LA before potentially taking the concept across the counry.
Our Take
For the first time in over a decade, people are spending less time online. Somewhere, Zuck is shaking in his boots.
But creators do what they do best: adapt. They're meeting their communities offline.
CatGPT’s no-phone party might look nostalgic, but it’s part of a bigger shift:
- Sam and Colby hosted multiple IRL experiences, including an escape room.
In 2025, the most powerful kind of influence isn’t getting people to scroll, but getting them to show up.