• by Kelly Samardak , May 13, 2008

Date: Friday April 18, 2008
Location: Samsung Experience at Columbus Circle

I know I did not just leave the New York Festivals (NYF) Innovative Advertising awards without taking more specific notes on people like I said I would. Patience, people, I swear I'll get this down soon.

I like red. Red makes me think of social deviants playing tag in their underwear after 12 shots of tequila. So, I was thrilled to walk into the Samsung Experience at the Time Warner Center and rest my thirsty eyes on the red foggy wall that lined the ramp up to the bathroom. I'm a big fan of ramps towards restrooms. Then, when you over consume your clear cocktails sponsored by V2 Vodka, you won't fall downstairs - you might just roll a few inches. Did I mention that this was a "clear bar" (AKA no dark bevvies)? So, either the people at NYF and Samsung were concerned about dark pollutants in our bodies, or about staining the already speckled carpet.

Visually everything seemed copasetic. Sparkly lights, tech gadgets (yes, I expect tech gadgets at innovative awards shows), slick hair, and smarmy grins speckled the Samsung Experience like human dippin' dots. It was a struggle for the show producers to pull the mingling attendees away from the social lubricant, but they eventually herded everyone into their seats and got the show rolling.

It's hard enough to stay engaged and connected when a still-open bar is lurking behind you, but even more so when the translucent cheat screens for the emcee are positioned above the audience. See, the emcee was a whole flight of stairs above us and instead of placing the cheat screens lower so that it loosely appeared that she was connecting warmly with the audience, she seemed to be having a private conversation with two very tall see-through goblins. The feeling was palpably mutual among the audience and that exacerbated the feeling of being a voyeur rather than a valuable part of the event. 

After the show, the buzzing mass swayed two blocks over to Providence, where it took at least two hours to lube everyone up enough to cut a rug, or scrape hardwood in this case, but maybe that's because the food was so delicious. Tasty fresh sushi made an appearance as well as an artery-clogging, deep-fried dumpling buffet. There was some sort of noodle concoction that made me angry, but other than that, I could have feasted all night. All I can say is I hope I begin to recognize people as this beat goes on -- because, you know, it's OK to talk to the person behind the camera. Really.

Scroll through the full set of party pictures !

Want Kelly to capture your cotillion and keep this column fresh? Send swanky party invitations to kelly@mediapost.com