• by Kelly Samardak , February 6, 2009

The CollegeHumor Show Premiere Party, IAC, New York
February 5, 2009

Ah, college. Some of my favorite memories are when I lived in a house called Lazy Daze with 13 other girls and only two bathrooms. Wait, did I say favorite? I meant "the memories that years of therapy have comfortably blurred." My real favorite memories are when Burger King had their 99-cent chicken sandwich special and my dear friend Sarah and I would scurry uptown feverishly to get that flap of meat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Without a doubt my most productive or innovative moments were lost in a sea of Papa Johns, "Bang" the beer guy (dealer to the underagers) deliveries, and "Melrose Place." Not so with the guys that started CollegeHumor -- a site intended to share photos, videos, and other tomfoolery between Josh Abramson and Ricky Van Veen, but that evolved into the go-to Web quagmire for a belly-bisecting chortle fest. They're taking their beer goggles to the tube with MTV's The CollegeHumor Show - which says to me that TV fame is the new Internet fame.

Last night was my first event out after a totally dead week. I don't know if you noticed, but Monday's recap was a good week old (which does not reflect on the event, it just got shuffled under - and thank goodness I had it!) I wasn't super-geeked about heading to the IAC building, having semi-sworn it off after the New York Tech Meetup, but this was a party and not just any party, a party that no doubt would sound the hipster, scenester, digerati, writerati horn and skinny ties, thick glasses, and ankle boots would rise up and unite in a wave of accidental haircuts. Also, remember back when everyone was saying that traditional media like TV was dead? That the Internet was the new TV? Looks like someone forgot to tell MTV, since they snatched the goofball squad of Amir Blumenfeld, Dan Gurewitch, Jake Hurwitz, Jeff Rubin, Patrick Cassels, Ricky Van Veen, Sam Reich, Streeter Seidell, and lone cute girl Sarah Schneider off the Net to plop them into your living room.

I invited Matt Van Hoven, AgencySpy, as my cheap date. I assured him there would be food and an open bar. I not-so-secretly hoped that Rob Dyrdek from Rob&Big would be there to show some Sunday lineup solidarity. I'm still cranky that Rob&Big aren't coming back.

I entered the IAC, checked my coat, and descended upon party - which was pleasantly unclogged at the 7:45p.m mark. What a difference a DJ booth makes. Turntable maestros from Apes and Androids spun some really old school stuff that made Natasha Lewin, Managing Editor of High Times bop around with her squirrely fun +1, Scott Nath from NBC. It was an arm flailing mob scene when the Top 40 jams starting kicking.

Love the group from Universal McCann, who I accosted at the outskirts of the party. Bill Wollert, Media Planner, Bridget Sheehan, another Media Planner, Anthony Detry, Sherlock Springer from Draft Direct, Lindsey Langwell from Beyond, and Mike Tridente also from Beyond (not Bed, Bath) were making a skinny-tie tally, which no doubt was off the charts.

You couldn't miss the red-hooded-sweat-shirted (remember that Adam Sandler song?), red-rimmed-glasses-framed Artie Kenney of Grace, who was supporting/representing Red Bull. And holy buzz, Red Bull was being served everywhere I turned, including Red Bull Cola, which scares the sleep right out of me. Tad Low of Spin The Bottle, an advertising-supported entertainment network, was keeping the westernmost bar warm with the lovely Stephanie Pasicov, a special effects make-up artist who has worked on a few of the College Humor web shorts. She described her delicate knit top as a sexy doily.

Skulking about was the camera-shy founder of Gawker Media, Nick Denton. He shooed me away while his conversation pal suggested I "take pictures of the younger people" instead, while mimicking a pat to my head. Yeah.

Quite the opposite, a camera-ready Richard Blakeley, video editor at Gawker, and person who I've met multiple times, yet introduces himself like it's the first time every time (I'm just that memorable!) asked to be photographed with mediabistro's PRNewser editor Joe Ciarallo, who brought along a nurse pal as his +1. Good choice, considering people could have passed out from a diet of Red Bull, vodka, and potato chips. Julia Allison, Time Out New York columnist, was spotted gesturing wildly and dragging an unwilling Caroline McCarthy, writer of CNET's "The Social," into an open space for some jitter-bugging. 

As Britney Spears' "Womanizer" glazed the eyes of the estrogen-carrying guests channeling their inner Britneys and wiggling at their dates as if the song was about them, I knew it was time for me to exit and find some sustenance. No matter how sparkly and fun and a trip through the annals of anthropology a party is, a bowl of potato chips does NOT a buffet/party food tray make. When I observed certain people slipping out to enjoy some herbal refreshment, I knew an afterparty was to be had over pizza, cheesesteaks, or gravy cheese fries.

BIG tall thanks to David & Morgan from Apes and Androids for letting a shorty like me perch on their DJ booth to get shots of the seizing crowd. Even at that raised height, I still only reached chin level. Le sigh.

Keep it coming! Invite Just An Online Minute to your skinny tie party!

Holy Ramen Noodles there are a lot of pictures!