• by Kelly Samardak , February 10, 2010

You know, when I was a kid, we'd have to wake up early and watch the scroll as Wilma Smith read through the school closings.  We'd be all geeked-up, sometimes craning around the stairs until the very last minute, keeping the faith that today would be a day for "The Price is Right" and "Days of Our Lives."  Most often we'd be disappointed, and the bus would roll up through the  blowing snow - a bright yellow nightmare delivering us from our cozy couch and into the math tests we hadn't studied for.  New York kids don't know what hard times are - what's this finding out about school closings the night before? Anyway.  Last week was the Lake Effect version of events; this week is like NYC snow.

With Social Media Week New York out of the way, I return you to our regularly scheduled programming.   February is acting like the calm before the March storm, illuminated by a sporadic flashes of party lights.  One beam is shooting from a the prelaunch party for Guvera, a Web site promising "the alignment of brands, artists, and consumers."  And guess who's connecting the dots? None other than Alice Cooper and The Bravery.  You read that right.  Alice Cooper.  I'm going to dig deep for a "Wayne's World" reference.

A quick visit to the Guvera beta site induced chortling, with a login screen whose title bar reads  "Register To Guvera For Free Stuff." YES! Free stuff! Within seconds of registering, I was confirmed and laughing even harder at the choices for "Favorite Holiday."  I am definitely choosing "Jungle Trekking" and "Party Town" to see if ads are served against that admission.  The About Page claims that Guvera serves free music to users without disruptive ads, harnessing "engagement advertising" (paging Joe Marchese) where the user selects which brand will pay for their tunes.  

Two OMMA shows are popping up on February 24 and 25: OMMA Metrics and Measurement and OMMA Behavioral, two of our big data and debate events.  People tend to get pretty heated about both.

SUPER AWESOME CONTEST TIME!

 On March 2, those clever Cletus' over at Buddy Media whipped up a frothy evening at Hiro Ballroom with some serious comedy.  Maybe you've heard of Seth Meyers?  Yeah, he's helping Buddy Media hammer home the mantra that "Social Media Marketing Is No Laughing Matter!"  And!  The first 10 Just An Online Minute readers to RSVP through the Buddy Media fan page and correctly place "JAOM Contest" in the "Company" field get on the list!  Please only RSVP if you're in the NYC area and are available to attend.  Fun, right?  Big thanks to Buddy Media CEO Mike Lazerow for opening the party up to Just An Online Minute readers.

March 3 I'll be covering the infamous Shorty Awards, which are always preceded by voting system rumors and drama.  Last year I was yelled at by a Brazilian film crew.  This year I'm aiming higher - maybe a shoving match with The Llama?

On March 4, Discovery Channel is celebrating their 25^th Anniversary at Alice Tully Hall in Lincoln Center with a screening of "Life" from the eco nerds that brought us "Planet Earth." I'm pretty excited because The New York Pops will be performing and the invitation has a red-faced monkey on it.  I also like that the dress code is business attire, which can be translated however you want.  Business attire for the world's oldest profession is not quite the same as that of a financial analyst.  Or is it?

As always, if your party/event wheels are burning rubber all over this town, send kelly@mediapost.com an invitation and you're covered in Just An Online Minute!

All photos from all events can be found on Flickr!