I don't know about you, but nothing says "super fun!" like a full day of nothing but investment bankers, Internet researchers, and private companies pitching their wares in a stuffy Boston hotel. It's not bad if you like to learn about private companies' missions and needs, and enjoy tented parties along the Boston Harbor plating food from some of the best restaurants Boston has to offer. The only mood cramper would be, oh I don't know, something like anti-photo sentiments leveled at the person invited to photo-document the day. That's me.

Based on eyeballing earholes on the walk to work or on the stifling subway heading to parties, I am not the only one powered by music. Every day is a new sound track for me. Sometimes it's a Death From Above 1979, sometimes it's Death Cab For Cutie. Whatever the case, inarguably (so don't try it!), music is powerful connector of people. When you're in the shaking and shifting world of media, marketing, and advertising, music is also a powerful way to reach your audience, connect them to each other, and create the infamous warm fuzzies around your brand. The …

I know what you're thinking. Why leave Manhattan to cover a party, when, like, all the best stuff happens in the core of the big apple. Not so, my insular friends. The only thing worse than someone on the East Coast who hasn't yet been to Manhattan is someone from Manhattan who never leaves. Which is why I mixed business with pleasure (or Bleasure for all you Home Movies fans) on the greatest weekend on earth: the weekend of Virgin Mobile festival. Strapped with my trusty and dusty Canon and I crowd surfing goal (yeah, it's taken me this long), …

I never liked the term "networking". It brings to mind uber-adult dinner parties with low talking, crinkled eyebrows of seriousness, calloused palm squeezing, and "business only please!" conversation -- like a mullet without a tail. I'm "that guy" at networking events. You know the one -- that pesky critter who actually wants to get to know you and have a real conversation, which is a waste of time for some hardcoded networkers. Now, imagine networking without social lubricant, which is what I did yesterday at IAB networking at the very low lit Vig 27.

I found myself waiting for the L again. And while I waited I thought, "why are all these parties on the West Side?" I mean, is the space cheaper? Just once during the week I want to walk to a party on the East instead of taking the L to the ACE. This time, I was heading to Penthouse 15 for the Sobieski "Spread the Truth" party. Where's the media tie-in with that!? Does it count that I was invited via email? Probably not. Does it count that I met two endearing foodie/drinkies outside the "truth booth" who are helping …

I don't want to say I'm sick of the heat. There are worse things going on in the world like people losing their homes, The Olympics losing their meaning, starving children and all that... so whining about the heat is just so... whiney. But dude, it's HOT out there. If I actually stand at the curb in the hopes that the Mwhatever bus will splash me with milky road chunder in order to cool off, it's too dang hot. Lotame has the solution for the thick acrid heat - a party at Marquee!

The NBC Experience Store is odd. It is, there's no denying it, even if you work at NBC Universal. There are bobble head dolls, sparkly tanktops, life-size cardboard cutouts of Dwight Shrute, green "Psych" mugs, and "Monk" wet wipes. Hey, that's why it's called the NBC Experience! The real treat is up the silver spiral staircase: the recently opened, ready for action msnbc.com digital café. What could you possibly do in a digital news café? You have no idea.

When I got the invitation to the AR100 + CSR Award Show cocktail reception, I confused them with BlackBook mag and the fun guide I had hand-delivered to me by Associate Publisher Brian Kantor on the infamous Jet Blue JetVegas flight (thanks, Brian!) You can see how that would happen. What I wasn't confused about was whether or not to go. Open event space in Chelsea? Quirky arty types chugging open bar beverages? Pretty things like slickly designed annual reports? Yes, please!

When I hear the phrase "garden party," I cringe. I think of ladies in lace with floppy hats, harrumphing about Felicity's performance at the cotillion, and men in seersucker suits sipping mint juleps gurgling about "the links" and why Bitsy won't let Hoover the schnauzer sleep in the bed. I stuffed my cringing in a sack due to my weirdo nerdy love of other people's office spaces and had to say "oh, indeed" to BrightRoll's garden party invitation for more than two reasons. Read on, and I'll net it out for you.

What do you get when you add coconut shrimp, open bar and a room full of behavioral targeting types? You get a bunch of buzzed cookies, that's what! Ok, so my lame joke was just that, lame. But the post-OMMA Behavioral cocktail reception was anything but. Set high atop the Hotel Nikko, we (well ... okay, I) sipped on vodka and cranberries (which I just found out are called Cape Codders!) and debated the fate of ISP-side BT firms like Phorm and NebuAd.