• by Kelly Samardak , March 16, 2009

Pre Pi(e) Day, Choice Kitchen, New York
March 13, 2009

The funniest thing this past week and weekend has been the "movement" to show those wacky South By Southwestern Interactives (SXSWi) that we here in NYC can have fun without them. Attempts to prove this point have come in the form of... parties (because you know that's all those people are doing down there -- no sessions or keynotes or anything like that). WHO. CARES. Seriously? Do you really think that gathering a ton of the usual PR and media suspects in a bar mirrors the sessions, the sun, the music (hello, there is more than interactive going on), and the people hailing from around the globe in Austin? AND calling it North By Northeast isn't clever -- it's actually unoriginal, as North By Northeast is a music festival in Toronto, Canada. What, me bitter? Maybe. I'd love to be in Austin right now, eating BBQ, meeting incredibly talented and hungry digi, blogging, techie, nerdy types, avoiding lame palm-squeezing types, and on yeah, making a few sessions. I've just never been that girl who, because I wasn't able to go to Buffy's Disney World birthday, retaliates with my own version on the same day at the Potato Festival in Mantua, Ohio. You know what has nothing to do with any of this? Pre Pi(e) Day.

That's what I said, Pre Pi(e) day. You know, the day before 3.14. Lisa Lacy, food and business writer to the stars, decided the impending actual "Pi Day" was as good an excuse as any to bring you Pie Day 2 on Friday, March 13th, a day without incident. Oh and don't forget 3/14 is also Einstein's birthday -- he was a man with a coif before its time. I arrived at Choice Kitchen, a cozy and surprisingly midsize bar/lounge on 3rd Ave and the late 20s (is that the Gramercy neighborhood?) and squeezed through the happy hour crowd clogging the front bar towards the back room that was already playing host (with a private bar!) to a handful of pie and pi lovers. Lisa Lacy's guests included Matthews Knell and Caldecutt, the former of MTV, the latter of Trylon PR, and a smattering of others like Diana Schoenbrun, a children's book illustrator who has a crafts for kids book due out from Penguin in 2010, keeping to their own corners of the ring.

I lurked by the bar just as a server was placing warm spinach dip and chips and a plate of quesadilla wedges around the bar and the room. I had no idea there would be food otherwise I wouldn't have pre-loaded on fried Brussels sprouts. Ah well. I caught Dave Burdick, Editor of the Green section of the Huffington Post (and former comedian -- how did I not know this before?), mid-forkful of a creamy looking glop - could have been the to-murdalize-for "Banoffee" pie, a trip through banana caramel wonderland, or the sugar cream pie, the official state pie of Indiana. I'll bet the official pie of Ohio is cow.

I interrupted a conversation between Caldecutt and the newly arrived Andrew Graham (who prides himself on "photo bombing," which is not at all what it sounds like) to poke around about foursquare, a new mobile stalk-n-gawk tool recently demoed at the latest New York Tech Meetup (NYTM). A few people I respect on Twitter have been chirping excitedly about it, so I figured I'd check it out. Of course there's an iPhone app that I'm sure is very use- friendly and glossy -- but what about us BlackBerry users? Anyway, the short story is you join foursquare and then "check in" via sms or the mobile site (oh, there you go, un iPhone users) when you're out and about in your beta city. Being completely irresponsible the night before a presentation or financially unaware all week long in order to rack up points garners the baller a badge. What any of this means in the long run, I have no clue. What I do know is, I'm deleting myself already since I spend most weekend nights aiming for invisible -- and during the week you people already know where I am. But, hey -- it could be for you.

I did not get a piece of the grasshopper pie. Potentially Brian Papa, software developer for the NYC Dept of IT and Telecomm (DoITT), Katie Morse, Marketing Manager at Ripple6, or Charlene Jaszewski (AKA @theredheadsaid) did.

And of course, a small group was aflutter with an impending ant- SXSW-style party over the weekend. I have little to no desire to attend a party on the weekend that isn't thrown by close personal friends. Let me put it this way: Do you think Jumbly the high school janitor walks in the door on Friday night, stretches, and says to his wife, "Betsy, let's get the cat sick so I can sprinkle sawdust on its hork - and then let's wrestle in a vat of Murphy's Oil because I just can't get enough of that smell." I'm just saying.

I can't wait to get fully dug into this week with the Broadband Video Leadership Night (I have no idea), the MediaSummit end of day cocktail reception (not the day stuff), the ANDY Awards, EyeWonder March Adness (it's mad!) and dinner with my pops (you probably won't be there). See you there?

What's jumping?  Send invitations to kelly@mediapost.com!

Get a eye full of sugar cream in the Flickr set!