Your Week In Media/Marketing/Advertising Parties, New York
July 13 - July 16, 2010
The week following July 4th was a real tease. The party scene
took a big sweaty break, a break that I feared would continue through July, rendering this column narcoleptic. Then, one after the other, event invitations rolled in, stuffing this week full of
everything from a team-building session to make you curse whoever at your company thought a lock-in at Chuck-E-Cheese's would bond the marketing and art departments, to a flight that
never gets off the ground. Intrigued? Sweet!
Today I have three different lists working, one which contains the item "nail that !#$@#%$@#^ who stole my identity at the Memphis
Airport" (yay for safety).
Tuesday July
13: Undertone Networks is banking on music being a unifying force by gathering their peoples at the Roosevelt Hotel under the guidance of Song Division to help bridge any team divisions.
Each team from Undertone is assigned a musician, the teams create original songs, the bands perform the songs (do the Undertoners as well? We shall see!), and the winning team's song becomes the
"unofficial" song of Undertone Networks. I can see how this would strike fear into even the most social networker, especially among coworkers, but this activity beats marshmallow races and
cuddle circles. After the battle of the bands, the whole crew is heading to Tonic for networking/self-medicating.
Wednesday July 14: I love parties for country branding. No, not overalls and tractor pulls -- though that would be a blast --
I'm talking about tourism. I like to see how much effort, star power, food power, and money go into selling countries as brands. This time, it's Chile. "Discover, Decant & Enjoy
Chili!" the invitation warmly hoots, promising a "first class flight through Chile." The event is being held at Puro Chile, a store dedicated to selling Chilean wares. It sounds
amazing, actually, and if you're a Chilephile, stick around, I promise to get all the juicy details for you!
Thursday July 15: is going to be one of those unexpected surprise nights. For one, the first party is at the Water Taxi Beach
at South Street Seaport. 212, New York's Interactive Advertising Club, is throwing their big summer beach party on the hopefully cooled-by-6 p.m. sandy shore, with one of the best views of the
Brooklyn Bridge. A PR type told me they're expecting 800 to 1,000 people, which in real talk is about 500-600, but both number scales scare me. Paper Tongues will be performing, and every girl
will no doubt wish they had remembered different footwear. I'll bet you can still get in!
I'll be cutting out of the Seaport early (so if you want to be immortalized in Just An Online Minute in all of your interactive advertising glory, you
better show up early!) to celebrate 40 Years of Nerf! Nerf, people! Would you say no? Didn't think so! They're offering mingling opportunities with the marketing
and design teams, which is great. I celebrate the sadist that conceived the Super Soaker and I've ducked under many a lobbed nerf product. Also, the fact that they're having a Nerf
"retrospective" is making me giggle like a tipsy chimp.
Friday I'll be all "where the heck did the week go" and wondering where the next week will take me. You?
If you just can't wait until tomorrow to get your
party fix - you can catch up on your reading!
And of course, there are pictures galore to sift through while your boss takes a nap in the conference room!