• by Kelly Samardak , August 18, 2010

The Apartment Party, Williamsburg, Brooklyn
August 17, 2010

If Sterling Cooper Duckman (or whatever the name of the agency is now, I stopped watching "Mad Men" out of pure boredom) put five recent grads in a paid-for apartment for six months, it would no doubt be a revolving door of the infamous "tackle and check the panties" game.  MRM chose five of the best advergrads from the best adverschools to live together, work together, and compete for one "real" position in their six-month program "The Apartment."  Rumors of dual lives, rampant marital infidelity, and irrigation of the pants can not be confirmed.

A trip to Brooklyn, Williamsburg to be exact, is never without incident.  I dragged Jenean "I don't enjoy hipsters" Chapman of Buddy Media with me to the party celebrating "The Apartment," and on the way we spotted a couple peering into a gated parking lot.  As we got closer I heard the unmistakable mrawring of a randy feline.  There they were, every cat in the neighborhood, lounging and rolling around in all their feral glory in this one parking lot.  As I peered through the fencing, one cat looked at me and mewled.  And then the stench hit me.  A hot gust of stinky, horny, cat stench.  We skittered off.  Into the path of a car, driven by a self proclaimed "Black King" that wanted Jenean to give him some time.  Time was up.

We made it to S. 1^st Street in one piece, without cat scratch fever.  The building was also gated, with not one but three buzzers for entry.  When I buzzed up, a weird "Helloooooooorr?" greeted me.  I dipped into negativity, wondering if I had been bamboozled into an actual frat style apartment party.  I let it go and climbed the hot stairs up to the apartment.

The door to 4B was ajar so I pushed through, encountering a stoic raven-coiffed woman standing in the kitchen and we engaed in a "who can be quiet the longest" battle.  So I spoke first, asking if we were at the right party. "No, you've walked into a complete stranger's apartment," snarked Jackie Dodd, one of the dwellers.  Too sweaty and freaked-out from sexytime catpark to engage in a cleverness battle, I showed myself up to the roof where a tiny smattering of people gathered.

The roof peered across the whole of Billyburg and into the windows of surrounding buildings.  I was very impressed with one apartment across the way, whose balcony hosted a full-size paisley (or flowered) couch.   It was on The Apartment roof that I found Daniel Benor sipping on his beer with a broken neck. The beer, not Daniel. He introduced me to "Blogmaster" Chase Domergue, copywriter.  "He's hilarious," gushed Daniel about Chase's contributions to theapartment.posterous.com, the blog dedicated to their "Real World" meets "Mad Men" (minus the sexual harassment and dullness) experiment.

Amy Driscoll of Weber (not pronounced Weeber, but it should be) Shandwick was there making sure everyone was straight on the fact that the fabulous five are freelancers, not interns.  Legality and all of that. Corey Mitchell, who heads up the MRM New York Office, was hanging with Amy Driscoll and he gave me the lowdown on the project, which was inspired by ChiatDay's Youngblood Program. With the apartment, electricity, and cable paid for and laundry in the building, "They only have to think about the work," said Mitchell. I wonder if I can convince The Big Boss that if he pays for my rent, cable, and laundry, my performance will skyrocket.

After getting the skinny on the project, conversation lurched to DUMBO and its digital life and inhabitants, which led to debate on arrogance as a brand (it was agreed that it works, but eventually caps you off), which then led to Brooklyn vs. Manhattan talk (the Aussies like Brooklyn better, according to Mitchell), which then inspired Jenean's usual hipster heckling.  Breaking up furry-face debate was Jeanie the spanikopita dealer, who also kept wine glasses full.

I stepped away to take pictures of the handful of guests, including their peppy DJ, who was wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with the words "Suck My Sound."  Near the DJ was The Apartment inhabitant and Art Director Samantha.  She was with Adam Tzanis, who is interning at NBC Nightly News.  Adam is a gentleman in training.  Super-polite, speaking highly of Brian Williams, and he respectfully referred to Ann Curry as "Miss Curry," which melted my Manhattan-hardened heart.  What nice kid.

The DJ pulled out a reflective tube that exploded multicolored glitter onto the squealing guests, and that was my cue to leave. Let the youngsters have their undocumented fun, know what I mean?

In case you're wondering whether MRM is thinking of moving The Apartment to The Jersey Shore, the answer is... not yet.  The dude behind "Deadliest Catch" approached them about turning it into a reality show, but Mitchell declined, opting to retain the quality of the program --"we want the best talent," as opposed to the best on-air talent.  For now.

Photos are up on Flickr.

Send invitations to kelly@mediapost.com