• by Kelly Samardak , December 17, 2009

Tremor Media Holiday Party, Penthouse Suite at the Royalton Hotel, New York
December 16, 2009

Wrist tickling white gloves, tweed jackets, bowler hats and fedoras, squared ties, tulle, bright red lips, and ...well... a wig.  That's what last night wore.  Last night also served up club sandwiches, a bathtub filled with roses, a head-to-toe mirrored bathroom, and yes, the completion to any party: people who are too special to be photographed.  But don't you worry, nothing put a damper on this Draper evening -- this evening that was the Tremor Media holiday party.

Oh, what's that? You're going to the 4^th floor? Me? Hang on, I have to push that button right there, the one that says "PH".  No, not the Putt Hut, it's the penthouse.  And not just any penthouse, it's the penthouse suite at the Royalton, a hotel whose lobby immediately embraces its guests with mysterious darkness, golden candle light, and possibly air fresheners that smell like soft leather.  What a place.

The elevator dumped Gail Hilton of Thought Equity Motion and me into a hallway lined with deep-red rose petals and square vases of LED crystals.  I felt dizzy as my too-high heels sunk into the plush carpeting and each step brought the sounds of a party already rumbling closer.  The Penthouse Suite is kind of ridiculous.  It is everything your inner Don Draper wants when he envisions a flight attendant love-nest. 

Two solariums flanked a private deck that peered into office windows where yes, some poor souls were still toiling away.  The room was close enough to see the light of Times Square, but far enough away to muffle the hustle.  One solarium played host to one of two bars manned by overworked bartenders.  That's right, at one point, the Royalton staff notified Tremor Media that their bartenders were "overwhelmed." 

The bathroom, outside of which I ran into Bobby Markowitz of Earthquake Media with his very special offensive lighter, housed a half globe tub filled with gerbera daisies, ONE TOILET, and a room that was fully a shower, but people kept mistaking it for where the 2^nd toilet might be. 

Overshare time! I have party-bathroom anxiety, probably trauma-induced by college frat and apartment parties where pipes just never seemed to do what they were designed to do.  Needless to say, the discovery that this party was PACKED and only had one toilet - which was surrounded by mirrors and a door that didn't seal - was mentally scarring.  But only for a moment, as David Riley of IDG TechNetwork pointed out "this is a hotel... you could just go downstairs."  Touché, young man, touché.

Every party has that one dude who is too loud, too grabby, or too drunk -- or a combo of the three.  Diamond in the rough Paul "slubs" Sluberski was NOT that man.  Tremor should rent Paul out for weddings and bar mitzvahs because while he's already armed with a personality you can feel from four floors below, he's also armed with props.  Freaky props like whackadoodle eye glasses, fuzzy stick-on moustaches, and the big crowd pleaser: a red curly wig.  He's also armed with some killer dance moves.

There may not have been snakes and contortionists like at the Funhouse, but there was Michael Jackson, beautiful dresses, dancing, dance fighting, broken tequila tumblers, mid-size burgers (with a yummy special sauce), seemingly endless sparkling wine (hello, headache), buttery-crisp ham and cheese squares, club sandwiches, a crystal-clear view of the Chrysler Building, steak crostinis, raffles, and really fun/pretty drunk people.

Speaking of, I had the pleasure of sharing a sip or bite with Veronica Halbeck of IDG Tech Network; Dan Ruch, Senior Director, Business Development at Tremor Media; Adam Smoler, Team Lead and Account Director, Rich Media and Video, at Google; John Burd of Steel Media; Jon Poor, Ken Solano, Daniel Ortiz, and Max Sinelnikov of Horizon Media; and of course, the fabulous hosts of the evening at Tremor, including Rachel Friedman (decked out in multiple strings of pearls), Ryan van Fleet, and Montana Triplett.

I'd like to give a special howdy to Ben Chua, Associate Director, The Exchange, at Mindshare, who was my photo partner-in-crime.  He gave me some low-light shooting tips, and I think we tag-teamed the crowd into submission.  I can't wait to see his shots. From what I saw on his small playback display, they're going to be pretty special.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have 300 photos to dig through! Hopefully I'll be done by tonight's Mashable Holiday party.  If you're going, you'll know me by my pjs and icy-blue eye mask.

Lots of party photos are over on Flickr!

Send invitations to kelly@mediapost.com