If you've attended a party thrown by the mysterious group known simply as the Society, you're obviously in the know.

This rakishly named group hosts invite-only parties several times a year at such chic nightspots as Solera and the former Infinity Lounge. Secrecy is a Society watchword. Those on the invite list don't get the party location until 48 hours beforehand. The Society threw its most recent party on Saturday at the Lounge, and it lived up to the hype.

The idea behind the Society is an old-style social club -- if a social club were made up of really hot people drinking, carousing and listening to chest-thumping club music. The crowd ranges in age from mid 20s to late 30s. The people are diverse and always well-dressed. Many have outgrown the wild and crazy club scene and are looking for something more intimate and exclusive. Travis Granger, 37, one of the Society's creators, wanted to give people who gave up on the club scene a reason to come out again. "We wanted to try to make people feel like they're a part of something," Granger said.

In the weeks leading up to the latest party, Granger and his partners barraged Facebook and Twitter with messages touting the mysterious event. By Thursday, 455 people had RSVP'd on the Society's Facebook page. Those people -- and a couple hundred more who had responded via e-mail -- received a message stating the place (the Lounge), the time (10 p.m.), the fee ($8) and the attire ("fashionably responsible"). The Society called the party "LAX to MSP," an allusion to Lady Sha, the Iranian-born, L.A.-based DJ they were flying in for the event.

The party ended up being the Society's most successful yet, with almost 400 people packing into the Lounge. Maybe it was a little too packed. Granger said he typically wants to max out at about 200 guests in order to keep the party truly "exclusive."

He's aimed the parties at young professionals and familiar faces in the Twin Cities music and arts scene. Marriage therapist Harry Ford called the party "kinda hot." I also bumped into Twin Cities rap star Muja Messiah. "The Society parties are popping!" he yelled.

How do you get into one of these parties? First, you could dig around on Facebook. Or just check out the Society's website (www.thesocietyevents.net), which features a great cool-finding blog.

Earlier this month one of the Twin Cities' best trivia nights made a serious play for pub-quiz domination. The two guys behind the 331 Club's Sunday night trivia renamed themselves the Trivia Mafia and have suddenly taken over pub quizzes at 17 metro bars. Sean McPherson (of hip-hop band Heiruspecs) and Chuck Terhark (of Metro magazine and the Como Avenue Jug Band) now command trivia nights at almost every Green Mill in the Twin Cities, plus one Old Chicago and a couple of Champps. Terhark said the duo will personally run trivia at several of these bars and have hired additional "mafiosos" to handle the rest. For more info and a full schedule, go to www.triviamafia.com.

The Art Institute of Chicago just raised its admission fee to $18 from $12. That hefty jump underscores what a deal the Minneapolis Institute of Arts is. Though it faces the same issues cited in Chicago -- falling revenue and declining donations -- the MIA remains free, aside from a few special exhibitions. And Minnesotans are flocking in. Attendance was up 9 percent in January and February compared to the same period last year -- that's 87,054 people during our most dismal months. Kristen Prestegaard, the MIA's marketing guru, credited the jump to special freebies like "Rock the Cradle," a January shindig with public radio's the Current that drew 12,000, and a family day in February that pulled in 6,000. "Where else can you take a family of four for free these days?" said spokesperson Anne Marie Wagener.

The New Standards attracted lots of celebrities to its Los Angeles gig last weekend, including Oscar nominee John C. Reilly, but it wasn't rock 'n' roll connections that got pianist/singer Chan Poling into the "Heroes" wrap party. It was his son, Chandler Poling, who helps build sets for the NBC drama. He brought his dad to Sunday's soiree, where the elder Poling got to chat with series creator Tim Kring and stars Ali Larter and Zachary Quinto. But the biggest star in his eyes was his son: "He was so proud to show his dad the work he's done and the people he works with," said Poling as he headed to the L.A. airport after taking a meeting to discuss scores for various film projects. He also pitched an idea for an animated musical to DreamWorks executives. Don't think Poling has gone completely Hollywood. The former Suburbs leader will premiere a new musical, "Venus" -- a collaboration with choreographer Myron Johnson -- at the Ritz Theatre in May.