A TRIBE CALLED MIKEN
Mike “Mikentribe” Nguyen started off in the San Jose nightlife industry as a bouncer at the infamous Bee-Hive and Ambassador nightclub venues, Tiring of the “ghetto fabulous” culture, he went to work at some local bars like The Brit and Mission Ale House for less dramatic nights. Always great with people and diffusing situations, he was well liked and when the owners of Mission Ale House opened up a 2nd venue, Smoke Tiki Lounge, Mike headed it up as their Security Manager.
After watching Smoke Tiki Lounge perform below its potential for their first 6 months, Mike approached the owners for an opportunity to create an event and help generate foot traffic and higher revenues for the venue. The owners allowed him to take on Thursday nights at Smoke Tiki Lounge and he then set off on a mission. He called on a good friend Matt Willis and along with Matt’s help, created Mikentribe Promotions.
Thursday nights at the time had an abysmal 10-15 patrons at the time. Calling on both of their network of friends, Mike and Matt were able to bring in a crowd of about 170 people at their first event, Torch’D Thursdays. Knowing full well that 170 supporters and patrons were not enough, Mike and Matt kept hard at work the next few weeks. 3 weeks later, Smoke Tiki Lounge had hit its capacity with a line out the door. Mikentribe Promotions had grown Torch’D Thursdays into a powerhouse and soon to be legendary event in a matter of 3 weeks. It was the hottest Thursday night party in town. And eventually Mike would also earn the Promotions Manager role for both Smoke Tiki Lounge and Mission Ale House. Both venues would experience there best days under Mike’s tenures as their manager.
After some time, Mike eventually would head up Mikentribe Promotions in a solo role as Matt would eventually have to leave to focus more on his family and his career. Mike would eventually leave Smoke Tiki Lounge for other business opportunities to grow the Mikentribe brand and following. He has been successful in this mission and created and thrown some very epic events throughout the years. From his Torch’D Thursdays events to his Sound Addiction parties… the names never lack creativity and the great memories never cease!
Mikentribe Promotions would go on to work in almost every nightlife venue in San Jose: Pearl Nightclub, Motif Lounge, Vault Ultra Lounge, Fahrenheit Ultra Lounge, Mosaic, Taste Ultra Lounge, The Brittannia Arms Downtown, Cuccini’s, Sabor Lounge, WET Nightclub, Agenda Lounge, Angels Ultra Lounge, Tres Gringo’s along with the 2 venues that started it all… Smoke Tiki Lounge and Mission Ale House. Other venues include B412 in Palo Alto and Avalon Nightclub in Santa Clara.
Mike has also used his position of influence to give back to the community doing numerous fundraisers and helping others raise money for just causes. One cause dear to his heart is raising awareness about the extreme shortage of ethnic donors in the National Marrow Donor Program. One of the organizations he is in, is “Project Khanh”, named after his friend the late Khanh Vo. “We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give.” -Winston Churchill
As of today, Mikentribe is one of the best and most influential promoters in The Bay, creating and heading up The San Jose Nightlife and Entertainment Committee. This committee meets with the city of San Jose and SJPD to discuss and issues that affect aspects of the nightlife community.
With “Creativity” and “Diversity” always on his mind, Mikentribe strives to provide nothing less than memorable and exhilarating events that will resonate with us through our lifetimes!