Trong Nguyen, Party Planner

Like a lot of other people, Trong Nguyen hates to see a fun party end. But as it does, the good cheer he's shared is tempered by a disturbing vision - beer bottles only half empty, cocktail glasses mostly full, unfinished goblets of wine. Such waste, he thinks.

He has a hunch why so many guests don't drain their drinks, and it has nothing to do with a disappointing vintage or concern about inebriated driving. Party goers simply don't remember whose drink is whose, so they abandon them and fetch fresh ones, which they may or may not finish or lose.

Nguyen is a scientist and an inventor who when he sees a problem he's compelled to do something about it. Thirty years ago he couldn't find a decent croissant in Sacramento, so he opened a bakery along J Street. His big and buttery croissants were an immediate hit, and he parlayed their popularity into the La Bou chain of bakeries and cafes. He's closed a few of the stores in recent years, but there's still 22 of them in the Sacramento region.

In the meantime, he's tinkered on other projects, many of which spring from both his studies in genetics, chemistry and physics and his "do-gooder" instincts. His social consciousness was forged in the turbulent 1960s, he recalls, and he still has the urge to improve the lot of others. His inventions have ranged from compact housing for the homeless to a system for easily moving a stack of chairs. "A lot of them haven't been commercially successful, but they're very useful for the people who do use them," he said the other day.

But he's upbeat about his latest inspiration. Back to the party and the puzzle of the unconsumed drinks. His solution is called PartyPal. Basically, PartyPal is a sticker that guests are to apply to their bottle of beer or glass of wine to help them keep track of it. He's aware of the competition, such as individual charms to loop around the stem of a glass, but they're overpriced, he says. As to paper discs meant to work in much the same way, they're simply ugly, he adds.

Tag first is removed from sheet

He's given a lot of thought to PartyPal. There are 52 stickers to a sheet. In number and look the tags are identical to a deck of cards - ace of diamonds, jack of spades and so forth. But a person doesn't simply peel off one of the tags and stick it on his or her glass. These are precisely engineered stickers, meant to separate so the larger portion of each goes onto beverage container and the smaller identical attachment tears off easily to go on wristwatch, sleeve, ring or skin to remind the guest that his or her drink is the five of hearts, eight of clubs, or whatever.

Why the deck-of-cards theme? The number and their varied design, making them fitting for a fairly big soiree, but Nguyen also sees a possibility for guests to develop party games based on the stickers. He has none in mind, but is hoping that people who buy and use the stickers will come up with suggestions and post them on PartyPal's website, which he still is developing.

Small portion is put on watch or skin

Nguyen has gone to great lengths to develop a kind of paper that not only peels and separates easily but will stick to surfaces ranging from the warm and dry to the cool and wet. He's convinced that party guests will jump at the opportunity to use a simple, bright and easy means to help keep them from mixing up and misidentifying drinks.

But his goal goes beyond helping confused guests and avoiding the waste of leftover beverages dumped down the drain. Nguyen grew up in Vietnam at a time when potable water was scarce and cherished. This memory has prompted him to tie the sales of the stickers to A Drink For Tomorrow, a non-profit organization working to provide clean, safe drinking water by digging wells, installing pumps, building wash stations and the like in impoverished communities, principally in Asia, Africa and Latin America. A packet of three sheets of 52 stickers each is to sell for $5, with $1 going to A Drink For Tomorrow. "They make as much money as I do. I make a dollar and they make a dollar," says Nguyen of each packet of tags. ""I'll be happy if they get a million (dollars) and I get a million (dollars)."

Larger part is put on glass

Nguyen just got his first batch of stickers, which he hopes to start selling soon through winery tasting rooms, grocery stores and the like. Locally, Corti Brothers is the first outlet to stock the tags.

Meanwhile, Nguyen hasn't turned his back on croissants and other baked goods. He's experimenting with a brioche-style croissant that is lighter, moister and not as big or sweet as his original version, and he's looking at an upscale spinoff of La Bou, but that's a story for another day.