• by Kelly Samardak , May 6, 2009

Cinco De Mayo with Wall Streeters And IDG TechNetwork, New York
May 5, 2009

So how's everybody feeling today? Tequila burps? Burrito GURD? Maybe you're one of those people who thinks Cinco De Mayo is more of a daytime liquid lunch situation. Either way, today, even though I drank margaritas responsibly (aka, with my face), I'm enjoying that gentle burn that only tequila and sour mix can douse your innards with.

Last night I went to two parties that couldn't have been more different from each other. The first was at Porterhouse in the Time Warner Center (where the Time 100 was also being held -- yeah, that red carpet wasn't for you Wall Street types) and the second was with IDG TechNetwork where I felt like I had crashed an academic frat party and was warmly accepted by the small crowd regardless. Put on your sombreros and grab an empanada -- it's time to celebrate something!

The rain was nice enough to have lessened to a gentle spittle as I neared the massive security detail outside of the Time Warner Center. Trenchcoat guy pretending to talk into his iPod, I know you were so secret service. I slipped past the paparazzi and up to the fourth floor to discover Porterhouse, a dark and cozy, if not a little chi chi, host of the 2009 Brand Manager Awards and research program, conceived and executed by King Fish Media - recognizing investment company branch managers. These managers are featured in On Wall Street magazine. Sounds exciting, I know.

Don't worry about me, though - I was only there long enough to snap a pic of the always fabulous Gretel Going of Channel V Media, Gordon Plutsky, Director of Marketing and Research, King Fish Media, Cam Brown, tall Founder/CEO of King Fish Media, and Kate Fleming, Partner, Channel V Media; grab some tuna tartare, and do the "oh I know you on Twitter" thing for two seconds before what I predicted came true: Wall Street types don't want to be photographed. That means an early exit for me and an early entrance to the next shindig held in the same courtyard as the BrightRoll party of days gone by. On the way down the elevator I had a conversation with a stranger about how children should not be allowed to push the buttons. Instant friends. 

I rendezvoused with my +1, the illustrious Gail Hilton, Director of Sales and Marketing at the monkey house. I kid, I kid, she's at Qwikker. We stood outside the building and home of IDG TechNetwork and pushed the "let me in" button while guests stared at us. A man in a sombrero buzzed us in and immediately directed us to the margarita machine in the back garden. The only thing blocking me from the machine was the ridiculous spread covering the entire wood/half sliced tree table - empanadas, corn tortillas (that must have needed meat of some sort to put inside, but none to be seen), taquitos, guacamole, chips, the whole shebang made my mouth water like a buffalo.

Veronica Halbeck, Director, Tech Network Development, welcomed us and said that the rain seemed to have put a tap on their guests, explaining the semi-empty rooms, but you know what I say to that? More for me. And by more I mean food AND conversations. It's so much easier to get to know the people at these companies when I can stop for more than five minutes to TALK. The feeling in this crowd was that these people actually ENJOY being around each other. Maybe that means they're all still very new, the glow hasn't worn off, or maybe they're happy because they have a Fresh Direct vending machine upstairs.

In addition to the frozen margarita machine, coronas were flowing, and eventually tequila shots reared their ugly heads. I left soon after the shots came out because I didn't want to witness any "tequila makes her clothes come off" situations, because I'd HAVE to take a picture and no one needs to get in any trouble. Fully clothed guests included Bernie Davis, Associate Director, Online Content Distribution, Business Development at CondéNet, who made a quick exit after my arrival. I'm sure the activities were unrelated. I'm so used to seeing Bernie with his sidekick Gregory Galant of Sawhorse Media - I wonder if they broke up? Hanging with Bernie was the sombrero topped, poncho clad CEO of IDG TechNet, Pete Longo.

I spent the majority of my night maturely sipping margaritas and overindulging on guacamole with Anne Hwang and Lynn Firth, both of BBDO, where we covered everything from strange tequila-induced behavior to fun college urban myths (recently from my Ohio University-attending sister: "they spray the salad bar with preservatives that have diuretics in them"). Keith Linden, Ted Marron, Scott Harris, all of IDG TechNet were also celebrating the 5th day of May along with Cara Dorgan of Ogilvy, Mike Evans of IDG TechNet, and Ilana Joseph of Ogilvy.  It could have been the tequila, but this group seemed to really like each other -- the CEO was never without a huge grin, and everyone was at ease and comfortable. Maybe they didn't realize what I was taking pictures for. 

I'd like to give a speical shout out to The Margarita Man, who should definitely come to the MediaPost offices once in a while!

Send invitations to kelly@mediapost.com

Check back as I update the Cinco De Mayo flickr set!