• by Kelly Samardak , July 23, 2009

Buddy Media Summer Tweetup, Hill Country, New York
July 22, 2009

A little achy from the Traffiq/mediabistro Agency Spy party, I hauled my sweaty self to Hill Country for the Buddy Media Summer Tweetup last night. It's no secret that it's also not a struggle for me to motivate for meat. Don't knock it till you've tried it. Also, I haven't seen some of my Buddy Media favorites (well, really they're people I dig, regardless of affiliation) in forever, so the reunion was a big draw too. Part of the Tweetup was to celebrate a big announcement, and a big draw for some folks was probably the presence of Wine Library TV's Gary Vaynerchuk.

I arrived gently late due to hair issues. I figured it was Hill Country so I would try and look bumpkin-y (yes, this means that I will be wearing very ornate sweaters during the holidays when I'm older), but I realized pigtail braids made me look incredibly young, and I wasn't in the mood for "you look 12!" comments.

Like you care about that entire part of the story. I was also late because in the Flatiron Dorito (that little triangular space that's covered in weird sand crumblies and a map kiosk and sometimes half-naked nomads) is the cutest outdoor campaign ever. Huge daisies speckled the Dorito, as I discovered the Prius is providing solar powered... power... and free Wi-Fi! Well, isn't that just adorable? You can see the solar panels around the flowers' centers, and at night those summery little guys are softly backlit.

This is why I love new York -- there are so many creative outdoor opportunities for promotion. And this is one that was done right. It's not a clunky eye sore, it's pretty, it's happy, and it's all kinds of eco fabulous!

Bring it back, Kelly, you're writing about the Tweetup. When I arrived, there was a small line at the check-in table. I quickly scribbled my name and walked downstairs to the wooden cafeteria of the Hill Country basement. As my eyes adjusted to the din, I saw dangerous Margaritas being balanced in guests' hands (first two drinks were on Buddy Media!) and blue T-shirts dotting the crowd, identifying our gracious hosts.

I managed to miss the big announcement, but because I'm connected to the Internet all day long, I already knew what it was -- Buddy Media released a Twitter management system for brands and agencies.

Oh hey, I also learned something new -- that not only is Gary Vaynerchuk (Gary V to his lathered up fanbase) host of Wine Library TV, he's "Buddy Media Advisor." Hmm, what does that mean? I sometimes advise Abby Lauterbach, Project Manager at Buddy Media, what cheese fries to get at lunch.

As I squeezed through the happy crowd I saw Ryan Lawler of Contentinople; Nicole Matthews of Horn Group; Jenean Chapman (who won the Flip HD!); Jocelyn Borgner, budding publicist; blogger Nichelle Stephens, Matt Caldecutt of Trylon PR; Brian Papa ("developer of everything," said his pal); Lucius Kwok developer of the almost famous iPhone Tuna Pitch app; Gail Hilton of Thought Equity Motion; Miko Mercer of Launch Squad and more. I was drowning in a wave of energetic summer time heehawing fueled by thick country side dishes and slim bottles of icy cold Bud Light. I also cornered SavvyAuntie.com's founder Melanie Notkin as she pulled a chair together privately with Gary Vaynerchuk, so I could grab a quick picture before they got too deep in discussion. As I wandered away from them, I grabbed a shot of Buddy Media's CEO Mike Lazerow, and another fellow. 

The meat and Margarita fest was interrupted sporadically by Kass Lazerow, who shouted out raffle winners. Andrew Sansone, President and Founder of BigAppleChannel.com was one of the winners, and I had actually talked to him earlier about getting Pat Kiernan on board so I could give up my cruddy Time Warner Cable service. Andrew was holding the fort with Michael Pollock, who I had just met the night before.

After filling myself with chewy ribs, super moist brisket, gooey mac-n-cheese, crispy green bean casserole, and sweet potato something or other, I snapped a few more shots of people like Derek Lee, Frederic Guarino, Michael Gruen, co-author of "Twitter For Dummies" -- who was also making a fool of a pile of brisket -- and Lane Buschel, President of SeisMK. Then I made my way out the door for home, where "True Blood" and "Nurse Jackie" awaited. I felt it was appropriate to follow up a juicy meatastic event with blood sucking vampires and backwoods shapeshifters. Hmm, sounds familiar...

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