• by Kelly Samardak , November 6, 2008

Naked (Photon) Election Party, Photon Party Headquarters, New York
November 4, 2008

I've never said I'm the most mature person in the world, which is why I snickered and tittered gleefully when, in response to the question "So, what election parties are you hitting?" I said, "I'm going to the NAKED election party." The statement is two parts immature, one part erroneous -- since it was actually a Photon party. According to the invitation (invite is not a noun), Photon purchased Naked and their corporate siblings Findology and OBMedia were in town, so maybe to soften the blow of future reorging, they decided to rent out the same location as the infamous RADAR/Campari party, supply a bunch of snacks and drinks to politically minded or simply free-drink-seeking peoples, and throw a big fat election night party. I scurried out of the cab and up to the door, which was plastered with politically styled sponsor logos. How biparty-san.

I approached the door with trepidation. The flashbacks from the hot foodless Campari party are still all too real -- and I wished that I had eaten something at the Yahoo Party just before. All fear was swept aside, however, when I opened the door to the event space on Crosby St. between Spring and Broome and I heard the din of partygoers unseen bouncing off the cement walls. This was unexpected. For one, it was nice and cool downstairs, like my granny's basement... well, minus the spiders the size of Pomeranians. And for two -- there was a keg of beer. You're right, that's not unusual -- kegs are everywhere, but when was the last party -- the last advermedianerd industry party -- where you had the distinct pleasure of pumping your own keg beer? I'm saying it was delightful.

Out of the corner of my eye I glimpsed a tray of what looked like, wait... what are those? Oh hellz yes, lined up like little cylindrical pork chunk soldiers were medium-sized (not cocktail) hotdogs snuggled into their crispy yet soft medium-sized buns. The food server told me this wasn't the only tray and that there was more food upstairs, which is also where I heard a much larger concentration of voices. Before running up to enter the melee, I ran into a huge group of Findology people. Of course I would love to call them out by name but, forgive me; I lost business cards throughout the night. They were all fantastic, how's that? I quickly donned my Pollyanna style political rally hat and scooted up the stairs with my marathon +1.

Naked (or Photon) hit their mostly Democratic party people with the one-two punch of plasma and projection. In the space where art once hung at the Campari party, now displayed history in the making in larger-than-life form. When I arrived, the electoral votes were 8 to 3, with McCain on top. This grew ever more unbalanced as the crowd, filled with keg beer, wine, cafeteria-grade pizza (and I am NOT complaining, sometimes I just want a good square of plain pizza), hotdogs, apple pie (uh, WITH Reddi wip!), chicken wings, and a mixed bag of other liquid treats, grew more wobbly and a bit unbalanced themselves. 

I heard a ruckus upstairs and investigated with my newly acquired pal from Findology (oh, P.S., the place was filled with tons of Naked people past and present, and you can see everyone's pics in the Flickr set) and discovered at least seven - seven -- dudes dancing like mad. As I snapped away, they proclaimed "Dance party for Obama!!" and, given the momentum my inebriation (on politics and the election, duh) was gathering, I ALMOST broke out my crumping skills. Oh, I crump. I could have stayed all night, goofing with the Australians, cheering and booing along with the crowd, but the 23/6 party awaited in the Huffington Post offices. I was hoping to run into some of my favorite Thrillist boys, so I had to resist the pull of the hotdogs. 

I'd like to leave you, potential party-thrower, with a recommendation. Chill. Chill is the way to go. Why go through the rigmarole of trying to impress the Gucci glasses off of bigger-than-their-britches executives? Recreate the weekend peoples' parents were out of town, spurring on a flip-cup tournament in the garage. THAT creates a positive atmosphere -- and ,I'm telling you, everyone lets their guard off duty when they're relaxed. I hope someone has a bonfire this summer. Bonfire for banner ads!

Invite kelly@mediapost.com to your clothes on party!

Get your fill of Naked people in the Flickr pictures !

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