Unless you're in NOLA, it won't do you any good, but the Avenue Pub always has a beer geek pre-NYE event the afternoon of the 31st. Basically it's a warm up to NYE festivities for those that don't want to deal with the crowds of most 'big events'. You can either head out to other events, head home, or stick around the pub afterwards. There are typically several whalez that get brought out.