• by Kelly Samardak , July 2, 2008

Every Party from New York to Vegas!
Any Day, This Year

Doesn't summer seem like the best time to throw a big fat party? I would think online and traditional media types with "calculate your gas mileage and get your fortune told" sites or "lose that beer belly in time for the beach" mags and sites with some good apps to install on mobile devices would be having big blowouts. If I had millions of bucks flowing in from advertising sales and from my superior intelligence cornering the market on targeted "you're 31 and fat" (thanks, Facebook, I really needed to read that before I head to Red Bank, N.J. for the 4^th) ads, I'd be throwing a party where all drinks are served in recyclable tiny gas cans (shout-out to soaring gas prices!) and events would include "shaved ice wrestling" and the "tuna tartare toss." I'm just saying.

What's a social diarist (excuse me) to do when July 4^th is looming hand in hand with vacation time, and there are still some really good photos from Vegas sitting on the burping hard drive? Why, write a post of "things you didn't see the first time around!" AND give some well deserved second- round (ding!) shout-outs to some of my favorite parties and most gracious hosts! I'm still wrestling with my criteria for a great party so mind you, this is all one short gal's opinion, not representative of you, you, or you (that I know of), but suffice it to say, I get some pretty agreeable emails.

On that note -- I encourage you all to leave your thoughts as comments! While I love the emails (I really do, makes me get up in the morning), I do want to support the nature of blogging - online sharing and all that. I mean hell, if you disagree with me and then send me an email about it, it still looks like, online, that everyone agrees with me. Which is great, I love to look right, but I know in reality, what I say doesn't always go (darn it!)

Oh Vegas, why can't you just go away? Honestly, not a day goes by that I don't either lovingly mention the JetVegas trip because of the handful of fantastic fools I met or regrettably mention it because deep inside I don't really like Vegas, and deeper insider, I don't like barfing based on my own unfortunate decisions. Either way, it was a memorable trip even though you're not supposed to remember it. With that, I updated the Flickr set with new shots resurrected from the stack of "when I have time" so you can jog your own furry brain! And you know how that goes, you hard working media masterminds.

So far, the best parties are thrown by people for their people, as was the case with COREMedia and their perfectly orchestrated, dancefloortastic party-for-a-cause at Marquee. Great food, a fabulous DJ, and a clan of people who you know work hard and really appreciate the time to cut loose and get nutty. A recipe for success! Scrolling through their party pics is a must if you're pulling together your own blast budget. I'd also like to thank COREMedia for sweeping away the mystery of Marquee for me. I never would have seen that place otherwise, and you know what, it's really no different than clubs in SoNo (South Norwalk for you overly city-fied folk). In the end, it's all about the way things are marketed and promoted, isn't it?

And finally, if you're getting caught up and want to know what some of the hotter nights have been, give the Webby's afterparty a look-see, the mustache art at MoMA celebrating The Art & Technique Of The American Commercial, as well as the most recent get-up-to-get-down party thrown by Uptown and UptownLife.net - which, by the way, I will trek up to "MEHAR" any day to shake a tail feather at Talay (you had me at blue-mood lighting and my new best friend, champagne).

Want to show off your company's tan lines and have it covered in Just An Online Minute? Send invitations to kelly@mediapost.com

Catch every single photo in the gigundous Just An Online Minute Flickr collection!