• by Kelly Samardak , January 16, 2009

Mashable's New Year NYC Networking, 212, New York
January 15, 2009

Feeling hot hot hot! Some like it hot! It's getting hot in herrrrrre. Get out of my dreams and into my car... wait... that doesn't work. My friends, last night was one part tartare, three parts PR, and 98 parts sweat. Combine ingredients in a small bowl, whisk together with Peroni, and you get the Mashable New Years New York Networking Party. Walk with me, as we enter what I like to call the social steam room.

It was COLD last night! It was that bite-your-ears-off-and take a digit frigid, but it felt good, didn't it? Every lung-frosting breath tasted sterile, which made me imagine my almost-dead cold just chipping off my insides and leaving for warmer territory. I popped off the 6 at 68th Street and wandered towards 212, the restaurant where 400 RSVPs were supposed to fit.

Now, anyone who has planned any size event knows that the number of people who RSVP is never equal to the number who attend. But, once inside, I realized that even if half the people showed, the downstairs cave of 212 was not going to comfortably house them. When I arrived it was still early and it seemed like a decent venue to talk somewhat privately (in public) about a job search - with potential employers, which is what this event was aiming to do: connect companies hiring in January with people sorely in need of a job.

Brett Petersel, Mashable Events Director, was manning the nametag station and wrangling the clickable Sharpies. His expression at the beginning of the evening was relaxed, greeting people with a smile, being his usual goofy self, and sipping on a Peroni.

I took my coat and my+1 to the coat check for some hanky-panky. No, that's not what happened.  We waved at Adam Hirsch, COO of Mashable, and dropped our coats at the $3.00 coatcheck, which you'll BET I bristled at. For Mashable, this was a paid event. Guests spent anywhere from ten to 20 bucks to sip Peroni and possibly nail down job or story placement leads (there were a lot of PR people there), so maybe 212 felt they should cash in somewhere, so they charged three bucks a coat to stash your valuables near the kitchen.

By the time I dumped my coat and began wiggling my way back to the front where Josh Sternberg was regaling Gail Hilton, Director of Sales and Marketing at Qwikker, Sharon Feder of Mashable, and Roger L. Resnicoff, R2 Multimedia, with Lewis Black jokes, the warmth level was bordering on bathhouse. I wasn't yet regretting my sweater/scarf combo, but I knew it was only time. Behind Sternberg and his captive audience was Nichelle Stephens, multi-blogger and bookkeeper, and David Hirschman of mediabistro. 

Ngozi Odita, part owner of Harriet's Alter Ego, a downtown Brooklyn boutique, was also there, squashed against a side wall. Alyson Campbell, Partner at AMP3 Public Relations, Cynthia Wallce from MediaStory, Christa Punturieri from eHire, Matias Dutto from origins unknown, Tim Cane of Associated Content,  Adam Sachs from Ignighter, Chris Macowski of The Morris + King Company, and Chris Snyder from Wired.com helped increase the body heat.

Some passed food flittered by, hefted by an invisible hand that was all but enveloped in a wave of hungry bodies.  I stood on a chair talking video and spelling with Buddy Media's Matt Zarzecki and the always effervescent Abby Lauterbach, trying to get a good shot of the crowd, when it seemed to triple in size like the offshoots of a bunch of self horny paramecium. It was as hot as it sounds - temperature-wise. From my near-ceiling vantage point, I was having trouble getting a good clear chunk of air. It started to smell like catfood. My overactive imagination took over and concocted stampede scenes and fire marshall scoldings (scary!). Wild-eyed, I looked at the sweaty-browed Sternberg and Hilton and squeaked, "We have to get out of here!"

We narrowly escaped, agreeing to meet the MBooth crew of Alyssa Galella, Account Coordinator for Online Brands, Andrea Betts, Assistant Account Executive in the Consumer space, Tom Schuyler, Account Executive for Spirits / Public Affairs, and Josh Rosenberg, who is Senior Vice President of M Booth's Spirits practice and also the Director of FirstWord Digital, to find another destination. When we emerged on the sidewalk, the MBooth (MMMBop) crew was gone, but Wilson Cleveland, VP, Digital, of Cubitt, Jacobs, and Prosek Communications and Neil Capel of Sailthru, were there, informing us that there was an official spill-over location at Carriage House. On the way there we ran into Matt Caldecutt of Trylon SMR, nearly sending him into cardiac arrest while absorbing him into our dirty dozen.

Now, this is where it gets dicey. How, in all of that sweat and get-me-past-the-bar bulldozing, were job searchers supposed to interact with quality? How could they identify hiring businesses? It seemed the only hiring company there was the basket of moist chocolate-chip-cookie-toting wearenom.com clan of Oz Sultan and Arthur Bouie, but otherwise, it felt like an overcrowded after-work party.

The Carriage House spillover was fun, don't get me wrong. It was great to see Andrew Graham again, meet Sarah Cooley, Freelance Web Video Producer, check in on Lisa Lacy's job hunt (she's an amazing writer, hire her!), talk mucus with Matt Biscuiti from Lippin Group, and make fun of Alexander Gordon for looking nothing in person like his Twitter avatar (this coming from someone who is much, much paler and chubbier than her avatar), but I also didn't pay 20 bucks to not hear myself talk and not find a job.

And, while it was generous for Adam Hirsch to appear and buy a round of shots for those at the spillover (mind erasers, natch), it was more of a friendly bunch, not necessarily those Mashable readers who made it out for the first time. Oh! Arc90 was also nice enough to pick up the first round of drinks at the spill over. A larger venue and more organized focus on the job searcher would have made it a much more valuable night for everyone -- including Brett, whose face took on the expression that my mom gets when Heinen's is out of Sloppy Joe mix. She really likes Sloppy Joes.

Packing 'em in gently? Invite kelly@mediapost.com and get in Just An Online Minute!

Check out the sardines in the photoset on Flickr!

When I finally get my BlackBerry fixed, I'll Twitter from the latest shindig.