• by Kelly Samardak , December 11, 2009

PRNewser Holiday Party, Libation, New York
Decemeber 10, 2009

Wah wah wahhhh, I was so tired yesterday. It wasn't from party coverage either, but I'm sure that played a small role in the insomnia that rendered me zombie-like all day. In fact, I was so lethargic I wanted to cry at the thought of making not one, but two parties last night. "Hmm," I pondered, "Maybe I'll just skip the PRNewser Holiday Party, take a nap, and then hit the Mr. Youth party." As the day wore on it became clear that if I went home and got cozy, there was NO WAY I would make it back out. Thus, I picked myself up, zipped myself into my down winter coat, and headed out into the first really cold NYC night, slapping myself in the face all the way to Libation to raise a holiday glass to PRNewser.

As I approached Libation yawning, I had already decided I would get a ton of photos, inhale the complimentary apps, and then go straight home, skipping the Mr. Youth Sideshow (you can see I'm glad I didn't), but when I entered and saw Matt Caldecutt of Trylon SMR, Tatianna Ridley of mediabistro, PRNewser Jason "it's not Chewpick" Chupick and the sign boasting $2 glasses of champagne and $3 Bud Light drafts, a surge of party-time energy exploded through my feet and out my eyeholes. Friendly faces do that to a person.

Caldecutt, PR gentleman, graciously purchased my cheap champagne flute for me while I stashed my coat. As I hid my bag under my puffy coat near some trustworthy-looking characters, I could see that Libation was already filling up with purveyors of fine pitches. While listening to Caldecutt and Yuna Park of Attention PR party circuit joust (up for grabs was Squarespace and Obliterati), I plopped a meatball into my mouth. I should know better than to trust balls of beef that have been left alone on a bar. Yoiks, I immediately belched the most acrid puff of air that could have held its own against the commute to Newark Airport. Thankfully, no one passed out.

After Jason Chupick told me I need to cut my word count, he pointed out David Cirilli of Giant Noise as someone interesting I should talk to. So I did. And he was. He seems to be excited about the shake-ups and shakedowns in both the music and media industries. You've heard it before and you'll hear again (right now!) but this is a scary and exciting time for both businesses, and we're so close to seeing real change and the results of background tinkerings. I can taste it!

After David, I met Justine Navala of SHIFT Communications, who was with another SHIFTer. They were talking with Horn Group's Nate "for the love of god stop making 'new Joe Ciarallo' jokes!" Hermes. Nate is an Oregon native, which means he mirrors a lot of what makes Midwest people awesome. Just so you know.

I snuck up to the balcony for some eagle-eye crowd shots. When I returned to the lower level, I ran into Morris+King's Lane Buschel. He was all warmed-up and the most talkative I have EVER found him due to the Morris+King holiday party from earlier in the day. You read right, earlier in the day. They must have sent Lane on as their last man standing. While we discussed hot news topics like MTV's genius new reality program "The Jersey Shore," Andrew Graham, ninja of photobombs, appeared. He's freelancing his face off and getting work left and right, which is always good to hear.

I turned away from Andrew and ran right into Frani Lieberman, newish M. Booth communications recruit, along with woodland-creature-loving Alyssa Galella, also of M Booth. I decided that they should both come with me to the Mr. Youth party since my dude ditched out on me for something 100% less awesome than a Carnival. Because Frani had friend plans, it was Alyssa I squirreled off with - and you can find that write-up in the previous Minute.

Before I left, I met Kristin Davie, Assistant Account Exec at Medical Dynamics; David Barton, Account Exec at Edelman; Eli Kazin, Senior Media Analyst at Competitrack; Lisa Zlotnick, Senior Director at Medialink; Sherry Goldman, President of Goldman Communications Group; Paige Beaudoin, Client Service Manager at MLBAM; Laurie Graff, Publicist at Graff Media, Inc. and Rob Manfredo.

You may have noticed I wasn't chronologically loyal to my party coverage. I did that on purpose. See, the Mr. Youth Sideshow Holiday was like your early afternoon upper, and now I'm mellowing you out easy with the warm and fuzzy PRNewser Holiday party so you can ease into your Friday night like a Saharan frog eases into his mudhole.

Experience the holiday spirit on Flickr!

Send those invitations to kelly@mediapost.com!