• by Kelly Samardak , June 5, 2008

Revision3 and Digg present a Live Diggnation and Digg Meetup, Studio B, Brooklyn, New York
June 4, 2008

I smelled something as I rounded the corner of Nassau and Banker, heading towards Studio B for the Live Diggnation and Digg meetup. I couldn't put my nose on it, but it tickled something familiar. A memory fog descended, flashing back to my IBM days, when I used to plan the annual Kickoff meetings and pre-parties. That's it! It's the pungent odor of uber-nerds colliding with social situations! My lips crafted an exhausted but good-feeling smile as I dodged through the drizzle and Studio B came into view.

Up the block and around the corner, a throng of what I gathered to be the 16- to 25-year-old nerdling market segment buzzed and thrummed while the boomp boomp thud of indiscernible DJ-powered music slipped through the door with each new entrant. I sneakily scurried inside with my drink tickets (it's good ta be da press). I forgot how pitch black it is in Studio B. I stood at the empty security desk to get my wristband... and waited. I accidentally walked into some drama as a woman poked her head out of the tiny office door and whisper-yelled "I DON'T CARE!!" to a younger fellow who ran off with jackrabbit quickness.

A warm-eyed, curly-haired fellow glided over and asked whom I worked for. After some easy small talk I discovered that he was Business Development Guy for Digg. He handed me a wristband so I didn't have to wait for the invisible security guy. A 9-foot-tall (to me) gangly fellow approached, speaking hurriedly but without anxiety, "Uh... there's a line around the block... I gotta go out there." Pause. "Hello, how are you?" -- politely recognizing my existence, he ran his hands through his hair, and bounced outside to give his fans some attention.

"That was Jay Adelson, CEO of Digg and chairman of Revision3," Business Development Guy educated me. Studio B was filled with superfans of Digg and Diggnation. Those waiting outside the building wrapping around it were in a hormonal lather, sniffable from the bar. But was Adelson full of himself and pompous? Nope. He could not have been nicer and more appreciative of the energy and excitement stinking up the joint. When he and Kevin Rose, founder and chief architect of Digg, got on stage, the response was of rockstar proportion.

Speaking of appearance, I couldn't see a damn thing. But what I heard what enough. A dude-heavy crowd, they chanted chants I wasn't familiar with, they laughed at "Mr. Happy Pants," -- at which, yes, I chuckled at a bit, but it was obviously young nerdboy humor. And I loved every minute of watching this laughing, sweaty, ill-fitting-T-shirt-wearing, backback touting, not-giving-a-crap-about-girls-in-the-audience-because-this-is-Digg,man crowd.

Shouts of "that's what she said" launched from the back as SCAM SCHOOL'S Brian Brushwood asked his female volunteer to describe what was in the brown bag. What was in there was an inch-and-a-half-long nail which Brushwood then slipped into his right eye and smooshed along his face to have it boink out of his left eye. Brushwood also set himself on fire, ate fire, and blew fire out of his face.

Good clean nerd fun. And as far as I could tell, it was refreshingly not a "pick up the hottest skank here" scene. No pretense, no Gucci shoes, just jeans Ts, Bud Lights, and the dark, dank-beer sticky floors of Studio B.

And as I headed home, I ogled the beautiful lights of the Manhattan skyline with the gritty foregound of Williamsburg/Greenpoint's industrial center.

Want to set yourself on fire and have Kelly cover it in Just An Online Minute? Send invitations to kelly@mediapost.com

See all the pictures on Flickr!