• by Kelly Samardak , October 1, 2008

Facebook's GenerationNext Wrap Party, Nokia Theatre, New York
September 25, 2008

I wonder if that lady who got arrested in Ohio in a cow costume for chasing kids around (disorderly conduct) has a Facebook page.  I would friend her for three reasons:  I love Ohio (le der, it's where I'm from), I love cows (to eat and to hug), and I don't like children.  Something tells me if I didn't have this job, our roles might be reversed.   It's safe to say everyone and their mother has a Facebook page, and it's also safe to say that after hitting at least three parties a night during Advertising Week I almost didn't go to the Facebook party even though I was on the list.  And I wasn't about to feel guilty about it.  Of course I went anyway, and I'm glad I did.

Leaving the Everyday Health party, I cursed the gods of rain as my cuffed jeans filled with New York's sky droppings.  My pal Gail Hilton, Director of Sales and Marketing, Qwikker, forced me into a cab (I'm a city gal, I take the subway!) and we shot up a few streets before she pushed me out into rainy Times Square.   There it was, once again, Nokia Theatre.  I sighed, gathered up my energy, and nearly walked by Matt Van Hoven, AgencySpy, because he was wearing a costume.  Not a cow costume but a preppy frat boy costume.  It blew my mind and I forgot my manners and squawked  "What are you WEARING?!"  Turns out he had been at mediabistro bloggers dinner, so it's almost excused, but I better not see that get-up again.

I checked in and was peripherally seeing Matt showing his Press badge to no avail.  I said, overly loud "Wait, you can't get in?" and stood by him all shocked.  I waited while the table-guarding list checkers did their thing.  Finally one asked "Can you vouch for this guy?" I immediately said "Yes!"  I've never had to vouch for anyone - so Scooby Doo!  Little did I know what the future would hold for him.  We went straight to the bar and ran into Ryan Katana of Hyperfactory.  There we ordered some of those most horrible tasting drinks... I mean, if you say, out loud, "why does my wine taste like scallions?" it's not good.  Right?  OK, as long as we are on the same Facebook page.

I walked zombie-like toward the sound of reggae.  There is nothing like a bunch of buzzed up Advertypes swaying to Ziggy Marley doing the late Bob Marley.  Whenever I'm stressed at work, I plug "Trenchtown Rock" in my ears.  Hitting myself with music is way better than hitting myself with a club, and believe me, I have one.   Guess who was dancing around and embracing his Facebook moment?  Shawn Ames of Guerilla Marketing, whom I saw maybe three times during the week,  and some other merrymakers.    I reunited here and there with the ole AgencySpy and Ryan but eventually got separated and received a cryptic text from Matt saying he made a speedy departure, details to come.  

Why was this a "no press" event? Maybe the Facebook event staff wanted a safe haven for random hookups, overindulging, and honking.  Think about it -- the entire audience probably live-blogged, uploaded photos with their mobile devices, and made new selfie profile pictures all night. By blocking press, you're not blocking information dissemination, just saying.   And seriously, it was even for a good cause... it WAS called "Facebook's GenerationNext Wrap Party," a marriage of Advertising Week and the AAAA's New York  Council aiming "to engage  young people in Advertising Week " and "to generate new, incremental money for talent and diversity initiatives."  Maybe they're a bit afraid of young people+open bar+mini-burritos+Ziggy?

Regardless, I didn't get hassled by the man but once, when I had myself all crammed up against the stage to get good up-the-dreads shots of Ziggy.  A security guy authoritatively, not snootily, said "You're going to have to put that away, no professional cameras allowed."  I popped a cap on my camera, stuck around for a little longer, and headed out.  But don't you worry; I have TON of pictures of clumps of people having a blast.  No one shied from the camera; they were just a lot of fun. 

So am I glad I got on the list?  Absolutely. It was awesome to see Ziggy Marley and run into familiar faces, including Liam Fleming, Sales Manager, Print and Online Media, MediaPost Communications, Johanna Shalhoub ,VP Strategic Accounts at Datran Media , Aaron Lear of JWT, and Cary Johnson, VP at eVisibility (fun little "who is this guy?" tagline on his card), and of course Matt and Ryan.

Oh gosh!  I almost forgot.  As I exited Nokia, there was a ruckus!  I peered out from the awning and two fellows were being handcuffed; New York's finest had them against the wall.  I snapped some pictures until one cop turned around and yelled "Are you with them?!"  Uh, negatory.  "Then shut the hell up!"  A likely response to my pepper spray like barrage of "What happened?"s.  Then I ran away into the dark and stormy night.  Like a squirrel.

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See Ziggy Marley up close and personal + more party people in the Flickr set!

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