party report

SXSW, the Conference for Julia Allison and Other People Lacking Real Jobs

What recession? More than 10,000 revelers are expected for this year's SXSW Interactive conference in Austin, Texas this week. With no real work at hand, they're hitting the parties hard — especially the unofficial ones. More »

03/15/09

13,475

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By Scott Kidder

Comment by if_i_only_had_a_heart: sxsw ... didn't that used to be a music convention? 3 Responses | Other threads

party report

Yahoo's last hurrah

Canceling year-end parties is a hot holiday trend. But Yahoo executives, even as they prepared to put 1,500 employees on the street this week, greenlighted a bash for the troubled Web giant which took place Saturday. The theme: gambling. Appropriate!

12/08/08

19,687

35

By Owen Thomas

Comment by Forest4theTrees: I never liked to "yahoo." "Googling" slips right off the tongue. 3 Responses | Other threads

Camp Cyprus

MySpace DJ taunts Wall Street Journal reporter

Poor Jessica Vascellaro. The Wall Street Journal reporter will never be able to live down the video she and several Webhead friends recorded on a Cyprus vacation. The song-and-dance number was controversial as a sign of bubble-era excess — and as an indication that Vascellaro might be rather too close to the companies she covers. Last night, as Vascellaro partied at the MySpace Music party, the DJ put on "Don't Stop Believing" — the same Journey song which provided the soundtrack to their seaside frolics. Kara Swisher has video from the party: More »

11/07/08

2,901

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By Owen Thomas

Comment by NickDentonMumsBum: wn hts brsts. Y'r gy. K. K. W gt t wn. Y ht Bbs. Htrs. Jgs. Gzmbs. Grn Ttns. Jggly Wggls.... 2 Responses | Other threads

party report

MySpace Music party a dud

When the highlight of the evening is Twitter CEO Ev Williams meeting faded hip-hop star MC Hammer, you know the night was a waste. Indie-music consultant Corey Denis reports that the event "had ten actual music industry people there, tops." MySpace didn't have much to celebrate, either: It has yet to appoint a figurehead CEO to its MySpace Music faux joint venture. The only thing confirmed about Courtney Holt, the MTV executive widely rumored to be taking the job, is his gender. (Photo by Brian Solis/Bub.blicio.us)

11/07/08

1,398

8

By Owen Thomas

Comment by FaceMelter: Lionel Ritchie and DJ AM? I know AM used to fuck his daughter, but what kind of crazy combination is that?... 1 Responses | Other threads

party report

Facebooker Dave Morin turns 28, but fails to destroy Internet

When I got an unauthorized invite, via a tipster, to Dave Morin's birthday party Tuesday night, I knew I had to crash — if only to find out what he and his friends were thinking. Morin, you see, is a Facebook employee and a prime instigator of Camp Cyprus, the gang of Internet instigators whose shockingly fun video scandalized a shaken Silicon Valley. What's with these Web kids? First they go to Cyprus and destroy the entire economy by filming themselves cavorting at a rich friend's dad's vacation house on the Mediterranean. The horror! But then, what's worse, they return to the United States, unashamed, and continue spending money and enjoying themselves! All this economic activity cannot end well! More »

10/15/08

2,684

8

By Owen Thomas

Comment by JohnGreel: Can someone please tell me why I'm supposed to care about this guy? And why Owen Thomas' sole job is... 1 Responses | Other threads

party report

Stewart Alsop's sausagefest

No one quite understood why venture capitalist Stewart Alsop was handing out salamis at Alsop Louie Partners' annual party at Tres Agaves Tuesday night. Power investors in the crowd: Ann Winblad and Ron Conway. The boring business gossip: Sequoia's funereal presentation to entrepreneurs on the coming financial apocalypse. The more interesting personal gossip: Alsop is dating Robin Wolaner, the founder of Parenting magazine — see, everyone's a founder of something in the Valley! — and the author of CEO confessional Naked in the Boardroom. (Since I first wrote this post, Wolaner emailed me to mention that she's also, much more recently, the founder of TeeBeeDee, a social networking website.) More »

10/15/08

1,274

3

By Owen Thomas

Comment by Uncle-Sam's Littlle Helper: I am hungry *drool* 1 Responses | Other threads

party report

Loïc Le Meur, Segway instructor

Please tell me someone has pictures of Seesmic founder Loïc Le Meur giving small-time technology investor Michael Arrington Segway riding lessons outside 330 Ritch for the TechCrunch50 conference's closing party. For now, I'll have to settle for Siqi Chen, left, and Alex Le, right, the guys behind Facebook widget Friends For Sale, at the Plista party at Fluid. Where's the afterparty? It's not at the W or the Four Seasons. Maybe Mahalo chief Jason Calacanis is drinking responsibly tonight and has turned in early, but I'm pretty sure Arrington is up drinking scotch somewhere.

09/11/08

512

1

By Jackson West

Comment by michaellamb: the thought of seeing that tub of lard teetering around on a weird looking scooter is enough to make me... more » | Other threads

party report

Cal Henderson sighting at 330 Ritch

Stubblicious Flickr developer Cal Henderson and his "fake wife," Pownce community liaison Ariel Waldman, were sharing a precious booth with their entourage at yet another overpacked Seesmic party. Here, Waldman tries to chat with Laughing Squid founder Scott Beale over the din. Mahalo CEO Jason Calacanis and Twitter cofounder Evan Williams, probably fed up with the crowds, have ditched 330 Ritch for the Plista party at Fluid.

09/11/08

1,132

3

By Jackson West

Comment by cal_forgot_password: i'm scared. are you outside my house now? this isn't healthy more » | Other threads

party report

Valleywag spy goes to TechCrunch50 so you don't have to

A Valleywag spy attended the second day of TechCrunch50 and then followed the crowd to a dinner, a party and an after party. He learned that blondes love Mark Cuban, Jason Calacanis likes to drink, and flack turned TechCrunch blogger Calley Nye knows how to leave with a billionaire. Also, our spy reports that the startup that's getting everyone's attention at the show itself is doing it "through the use of hot and semi naked booth girls." All that and more in his bullet-point recap, below. More »

09/10/08

3,166

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Comment by nicolejordan: Dearest anonymous poster (I know who you are, btw) It was nice to have you at my personal friends and family... 2 Responses | Other threads

party report

Michael Arrington drinks Valleywag's milkshake at TechCrunch meetup

Jason Calacanis, the Mahalo CEO and email list administrator, and Michael Arrington, editor of TechCrunch and hero to hopeless website creators, held a meetup in Menlo Park last night for finalists in their TechCrunch50 startup beauty contest at the British Bankers Club. Our spy infiltrated the proceedings — and served Arrington a milkshake. "He didn't seem too happy about it," reports our informant. More photos from the event — including a surprise appearance from CNET TV star and former TechCrunch writer Natali Del Conte, who came after the proceedings were over for a brief tête-à-tête with Arrington. More »

08/29/08

1,737

1

By Owen Thomas

Comment by michaellamb: I know who it's NOT.... more » | Other threads

party report

Spy photos from the Facebook toga party

PALO ALTO — How was Facebook's toga party, held to celebrate the company's 100 millionth user? We couldn't sit back and just read the status updates. So we sent a Valleywag spy deep inside the social network's headquarters. At last, the answer to the question, "What do you get when you mix 5 kegs of beer and a case of champagne with hundreds of geeks?" Alas, we just missed Zuckerberg — he's not known as a big drinker. But even COO Sheryl Sandberg, known for quashing every sign of fun at the company, showed, and grudgingly allowed herself to be wrapped up in a toga. The photos: More »

08/26/08

6,690

20

By Owen Thomas

Comment by Shadowlayer: Well theres two ladies in there, so it isnt oficially a sausage fest 3 Responses | Other threads

team party crash

Meet Leah Culver and her circle of ex-boyfriends

Programming Django isn't quite the same as dropping Dorothy Parker quips at lushed-out parties, but Pownce cofounder Leah Culver's line last night warmed even my cynical heart. Scene: We were mobbed briefly around the photo booth at 330 Ritch, former gay bathhouse and setting for the public launch of Yahoo's location-based mobile social thing, Fire Eagle. "Melissa, I want you to meet Cal Henderson," she said, presenting Flickr's head of engineering. "He's a fan ..." More »

08/15/08

5,990

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By Melissa Gira Grant

Comment by ZukeZuke: Holy run-on sentence, Batman! more » | Other threads

party report

Lame as it ever was, TechCrunch party spawns much better afterparty

TechCrunch editor Michael Arrington is viciously critical of Web startups that make their users pay for their wares. But he's perfectly happy to charge party sponsors for booths. The return on investment was hard to find at TechCrunch's annual party held at August Capital's Sand Hill Road offices on Friday. The booths, in the midst of free booze, pretty people, and business cards to swap, went completely unnoticed. The party, TechCrunch's third annual event held with the VC firm, was unremarkable. But the afterparty was legendary. We got in and took photos of the whole thing. More »

07/28/08

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By Alaska Miller

Comment by Rachel Marsden: This Arroganton guy would look much hotter with my knuckles planted in his face. more » | Other threads

party report

Leave Julia alone!

The other night, Lockhart Steele, the ex-Gawker Media guy with the porn-star name, threw a lovely, cliquey little party in SoMa. Steele ditched the usual startup-founder blowhards for a pack of writers and editors — I had a national newspaper assignment before my first club soda. But things turned ugly when Wired covergirl Julia Allison traipsed in around 11 p.m. Instead of cheering her, partygoers whom I'd mistaken for grownups just minutes before took turns sniping about Allison behind her back: She's jumped the shark. She's not that pretty. Just look at her arm fat! Bonus hater points to the guy who mimicked Allison's trademark hand-on-hip pose — just out of her view. More »

07/25/08

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By Paul Boutin

Comment by Uncle-Sam's Littlle Helper: Oh that is Julia. OK. I thought it was Avril Lavigne in 15 years' :O) more » | Other threads

party report

Slide shows off the wealth at third anniversary

Attention, rival Facebook-application developers: Slide has money in the bank, and your widget startup doesn't. Such was the unsubtle message of Slide's third anniversary, held last night at San Francisco's newly opened Contemporary Jewish Museum. It was the first tech-company party held at the sleekly modern spot, a block or so away from Second and Mission, San Francisco's new dotcom epicenter (Slide is based nearby, as are Yelp, Socializr, and others.) It was Slide's first big party since raising $50 million earlier this year. CEO Max Levchin has not let wealth go to his head — he was happily recounting how, when he first moved to Palo Alto, he had to fast-talk his way into an apartment lease from a paisan named Vinnie, since past startup failures had thoroughly wrecked his credit. More »

07/17/08

1,560

5

By Owen Thomas

Comment by VirgilWolf: Slide is actually ignoring it's consumers on superpoke pets. The forum is full of complaints which are not... more » | Other threads

party report

Wellington Partners happy to spend our worthless American currency

At the brand new Contemporary Jewish Museum in San Francisco last night, the team at European VC firm Wellington Partners celebrated the addition of an outpost in Palo Alto to their existing offices in London and Munich with a swell mixer. The hors d'oeuvres? Cheese gougères, tiny lamb chops, mushroom napoleons, Kobe beef sliders, croutons with creme fraiche, smoked salmon and caviar and a bite-sized tuna tartar, all washed down with French wine which topped $300 a bottle — which, as the joke went, "Is like, what, 20 euros?" Mahalo founder Jason Calacanis explained that for European private equity investors, the American market offers a double-dip: More »

07/10/08

972

3

By Jackson West

Comment by Shadowlayer: So the french are literally throwing the house through the window... Whos the capitalist pig now? more » | Other threads

Totally Gay

Tech-sector sissies hide from SF Pride weekend

The most shocking sight at yesterday's SF Pride parade wasn't the contingent of marching Googlers. It wasn't the Yahoo booth handing out temporary tattoos. It was the total absence of other tech companies, small or large, from what should have been a cheap and easy opportunity to build brand goodwill among the estimated one million attendees. Hello, Microsoft? Valleywag reporter Melissa Gira Grant helped build Float 183 for two nonprofit sponsors. More »

06/30/08

2,730

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By Paul Boutin

Comment by ps2300: at the least tech companies could have given props to pride via their sites...google and yahoo both did this. google... more » | Other threads

party report

Supernova conference interrupted by burger disaster

Catering to the whims of the Web 2.0 crowd is tricky — but it usually doesn't bring in firetrucks. The Supernova conference, which wraps up tomorrow, served freshly made sliders, White Castle-style, at a party this evening. The fumes from this fare were enough to alarm San Francisco's fire department, which sent up a ladder crew to investigate. Photos from an eyewitness, after the jump: More »

06/17/08

1,270

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By Owen Thomas

Comment by raincoaster: Who cares about burgers? If you'd told me there would be FIREMEN there I'd have crashed it! more » | Other threads

i hate it here

Local scribe discovers citizen journalism at cupcake event

The San Francisco Bay Guardian's Susie Cagle went in search of that most elusive of user-generated content — actual good times at a Web 2.0 event. Her target: CupcakeCamp, a "crowd-sourced" bakeoff where Internet cool kids took pictures of one another eating cupcakes. More »

06/10/08

790

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By Melissa Gira Grant

Comment by Melissa Gira Grant: @lustylady: As in, the cupcaking photo orgy, without it being overrun by lads who think attending a party is a... more » | Other threads

party report

Founders Club partiers revel in the view from the top

HEARST TOWER, NEW YORK — Far from the sweaty, screaming fans that attended Digg's Brooklyn meetup Wednesday night, the suits of the Alley and Valley gathered last night on the top-most floor of the Hearst Tower for another Founders Club party to celebrate each others' transcendent splendor. All night, giant screens at either end of the party played clips from Citizen Kane, the barely fictionalized biopic based on the life of Hearst Corp.'s own founder, William Randolph Hearst. There wasn't a Hearst in the crowd, but there were those who aspire to be him. Blog moguls like PaidContent's Rafat Ali, Gawker Media's Nick Denton and AlleyCorp's Henry Blodget mingled. New Gifts.com CEO Jason Rapp attended, as did Digg cofounders Kevin Rose and Jay Adelson. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg's mentor, Valley bad boy Sean Parker, was rumored to be in the crowd as well. Jimmy Wales, cofounder of the world's most comprehensive list of William Randolph Heart's angry responses to Citizen Kane, attended with Andrea Weckerle on his arm. Photos below. More »

06/06/08

1,775

0

By Nicholas Carlson

OutCast Communications

At OutCast CEO Dinner, Robert Scoble greeted us warmly

FERRY BUILDING, SAN FRANCISCO — Let's be clear: Local PR firm OutCast's CEO Dinner event Thursday night wasn't really a dinner — most people ate standing up. Nor were there many CEOs. (I counted one: Jim Louderback of Revision3.) It's a far cry from years past where the decimated post-bubble survivors of San Francisco's tech press corps would gather in a room and listen to OutCast clients like Gordon Eubanks of Oblix, a salty former submarine officer, utter zingers about the wonders of Viagra. OutCast is a sizable firm now, and it's got big clients like Facebook and Yahoo. But Mark Zuckerberg? Jerry Yang? Nowhere to be seen. Instead, you had a hall full of hacks and flacks. I wonder how many of them shook videoblogger Robert Scoble's hand? Photo gallery after the jump: More »

06/06/08

2,084

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By Owen Thomas

Comment by Adam Rock: Have confidence problems? Need a few tips on how to handle those tough everyday situations? well just watch this video and learn... more » | Other threads

party report

Digg meetup more like a concert in a land without women

The line to get into Digg's meetup and live filming of Diggnation last night in Brooklyn went around the block. Inside, the joint was packed with dudes drinking beer, waving around iPhones, and wearing T-shirts. There were maybe like 10 or 15 women. Just as rare: Microsoft Zune users. Despite Microsoft's sponsorship, when Revision3 CEO Jim Louderback tried to give away Zune T-shirts, the crowd only booed. Julia Allison's entourage, Kevin Rose, and more in our photo gallery. More »

06/05/08

4,565

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By Nicholas Carlson

Comment by GoddardThallo: I would have gone but it was in Brooklyn and I don't venture outside of Manhattan. Plus, I would have... more » | Other threads

party report

Wired celebrates 15 years of turning a cult into a culture (and back again)

MIDTOWN WEST — "You're a normal person," Wired editor Chris Anderson asked me at Wired's 15th anniversary party last night in New York. "What do you make of all this?" He nodded his head toward the four corners of the roof top, crowded with the Wired set. In response, I said something about the thick-rimmed black frames and all the scarves. But for reading-comprehension points, I should have said I felt like I was in the midst of a cult. Because that's what Conde Nast's Wired is all about, Anderson and Wired cofounder Louis Rossetto told us in their speeches: turning the cult of technology into a culture, but keeping it as fervent as a cult. That and covers of a nude Jenna Fischer and LonelyGirl15 in bed, of course. Below, photos of the faithful. More »

05/20/08

1,791

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By Nicholas Carlson

Comment by Alaska Miller: How do I get an image to work, dammit. That's it, I'm giving up commenting for another month. more » | Other threads

party report

Photos from Sarah Lacy's book party

Web 2.0 was hot last night. And I mean the kind of heat determined not by Technorati rank, but by the thermometer. Despite the stifling weather, San Francisco's Web stars turned out for a party Sarah Lacy threw for her new book, Once You're Lucky, Twice You're Good at Otis off Union Square. The hole-in-the-wall, two-story bar couldn't handle the crowd, which spilled out on Maiden Lane. Slide CEO Max Levchin, the star of the book, stopped by with fiancé Nellie Minkova to congratulate Lacy, and then immediately left. Runner-up Jay Adelson, whom Levchin beat on page count, stayed longer, as did Twitter's Ev Williams, who came with his wife, Sara Morishige. Also in the crowd: August Capital VC David Hornik, who didn't even rate a mention in the index, despite inviting Lacy to his exclusive Lobby conference. A gallery of photos, after the jump: More »

05/16/08

3,908

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By Owen Thomas

Comment by ahaislip: That's a great picture of the little lady and I, thanks for running it! more » | Other threads

party report

The future of Jonathan Zittrain (and how to stop it)

Really, I wasn't trying to be posh for the book party Arianna Huffington threw Saturday for Oxford scholar Jonathan Zittrain and his new book, The Future of the Internet and How to Stop It." I pulled up to Larry Ellison's Pacific Heights manse in a black Town Car because that's the only vehicle I was able to flag down in North Beach. Huffington, the pundit turned blog mogul, greeted me at the door and extracted a promise of my best behavior before allowing me in. (One wonders what these people think my worst behavior might be, and if they realize how tempting living down to their expectations is.) More »

05/12/08

2,565

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By Owen Thomas

Comment by Rachel Marsden: Jetzt stereotypieren Sie Deutsch. Und mich. :) more » | Other threads

party report

Inside the Facebook Prom

It's true: Facebook held a prom for its employees in San Francisco last night at the Metreon. The shopping mall-cineplex's fourth floor was tastefully decorated with white flowers, and the gathered Facebookers were dressed up — and so youthful, you might think it was an actual prom, save for the booze being poured at the open bars. (Ubiquitous photographee Julia Allison, who was invited, did not attend, staying in New York for a book party instead.) Why throw a prom? Facebook is going all-out for prom season this year, with a tie-in to Sony's Prom Night and a prom-dress partnership with Sears. Why not reward employees working on prom marketing campaigns with a throwback prom of their own? More »

05/10/08

8,631

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By Owen Thomas

Comment by random_play: @raincoaster: Way to call the tune! Ooh, and it makes me wonder... more » | Other threads

party report

For VentureBeat, a profitable display of excess

This is what I remember from last night's VentureBeat party: A social network for golfers announced a round of funding at the event. A social network for golfers? Is this what blogging has come to, I asked founder Matt Marshall. He gamely held his ground and ducked the question. As Kara Swisher documented in the clip above, VentureBeat's party at the Ambassador in San Francisco was a bubbly affair, packed wall to wall with free drinks for all comers — until the bar turned cash. That kept the event, paid for by sponsors, profitable, Marshall explained. I'm glad the blog bought me a drink. I needed it when I ran into Craigslist CEO Jim Buckmaster later that evening. He was perfectly civil, but it's disconcerting to talk to a man to whom one only comes up to clenched-fist level.

05/02/08

382

1

By Owen Thomas

Comment by Duncan: For the love of god, someone buy Kara a camcorder with anti-shake technology. I know it's hard to keep a... more » | Other threads

party report

Michael Arrington drinks Valleywag's milkshake

LOS ANGELES — Pictured above is a perplexed Michael Arrington receiving a strawberry milkshake — with a cherry on top — courtesy of Valleywag. Why did we have a milkshake delivered to Arrington after he blew us off at the Geek Goes Chic party, had our photographer escorted from the premises, and kicked out the dreamy Pete Cashmore of Mashable? The full report from Hollywood after the jump. More »

04/11/08

6,344

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By Jackson West

Comment by Peteski: hey bonNEEE, wa'sup? ps. bloggerreps. wait ... , what? I nearly rolled on the puke in my mouth. more » | Other threads

party report

Peter Cashmore too handsome for Michael Arrington to bear

Rumor has it that Pete Cashmore, the unfairly handsome Mashable blogger, has also been kicked out of the PopSugar-TechCrunch party. His offense, if any, is still unknown. [Twitter]

04/11/08

2,512

4

By Owen Thomas

Comment by Jimbo Wales: If any of you Valleywag malcontents are still inside, can you ask Arrington why he never returns my calls? more » | Other threads

party report

Valleywag photographer frogmarched out of PopSugar-TechCrunch party

Bonny Pierzina, a photographer attending tonight's PopSugar-TechCrunch party with Jackson West at the invitation of cohost Sugar Publishing, has been escorted out of the party.

04/11/08

1,916

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By Owen Thomas

Comment by raincoaster: Why in god's name would you boot someone for taking pictures of something taking place on stage, unless it was... more » | Other threads

party report

Live report from Los Angeles: Michael Arrington as obnoxious as ever

"EPIC FAIL meeting Arrington. He totes blew me off. Awesome!" — Valleywag's Jackson West, confirming via text message other eyewitness accounts of the TechCrunch editor's personal charm.

04/11/08

1,300

4

By Owen Thomas

Comment by matto: MIKE HIT YOU WITH CLUB. MIKE NOT LIKE YOU. more » | Other threads

party report

Meet the Harvard professor who seeded venture capitalism

Between 1970 and 2005, U.S. venture-backed companies created 10 million jobs and produced almost 17 percent of the country's GNP, and according to BusinessWeek editor Spencer Ante, one man is largely responsible for all of that. He is former Harvard Business School professor and "founder of the modern VC industry" Georges Doriot, the subject of Ante's new book Creative Capital. "[Doriot] was the first one to believe there was a future in financing entrepreneurs in an organized way," Lehman Brothers banker Arnold Kroll told Ante. Doriot's disciples went on to found or help run Greylock Partners, Fidelity Ventures and Kleiner Perkins. So now we know whom to blame. Photos from the Creative Capital book launch party held in New York last night, below. More »

04/04/08

896

1

By Nicholas Carlson

Comment by raincoaster: Old People Gone Wild! more » | Other threads

party report

Mozilla's 10th anniversary made Valleywag feel old

Mozilla's 10th anniversary party at 111 Minna last night felt a little like a high school reunion for the kids who didn't go to their high school reunion. The Mozilla Foundation, maker of the Firefox browser, feigned poverty by renting just half the gallery space and serving up crudités and issuing one drink ticket per guest, only later splurging by opening up the bar. There was some awkward dancing to Soft Cell's "Tainted Love," old jean jackets embroidered with the Netscape logo, a gargantuan chocolate cake and a photo booth. Many of the oldsters who were around when CSS was just a dream and Ajax was still used to scrub toilets also traded reminiscences of Burning Man, tech society's annual prom. Mozilla Foundation chair Mitchell Baker earned part of her $500,000 salary by giving a brief speech. And sign-toter Frank Chu showed up, uninvited but always welcome. But the talk of the party was the man who wasn't there. More »

04/01/08

1,636

1

By Jackson West

Comment by matto: It has been requested by an associate that I point out that burning man is not a prom. If it... more » | Other threads

party report

Scribd holds anniversary at investor's $22 million mansion

I've never quite understood the point of Scribd. Some describe the startup as a "Flickr for documents," except just about any blog platform lets you post documents. At last I'm clear: Scribd is an elaborate excuse for its investors to hold lavish parties. Ed Kinsey, the former CFO of Ariba best known for buying a $22 million house in Atherton before the bubble burst. Kinsey, an angel investor in Scribd, threw a one-year anniversary party Saturday night. On the menu: Caviar on potato chips, vodka shots, lamb chops, a full in-house sushi station, cocktails chilled on a martini-shaped ice sculpture. (These details are courtesy of Joey Wan's Flickr set.) Reports another attendee: More »

03/31/08

3,241

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By Owen Thomas

Comment by ManojRanaweera: Scribd has done very well in terms of attracting VC funding and generating significant traffic. Their initial strategy of pumping... more » | Other threads

party report

Hey, wait a second: Why am I the only one working at SXSW? For everyone else in the Valley, the Austin conference is just a sanctioned spring break party. Clearly, I'm an idiot. I just spent three hours snapping photographs at SXSW's Bit 16 opening-night afterparty, without so much as a beer touching my hands. The Scoot Inn, a dingy dive bar east of downtown, hosted the event. I ran into Julia Allison first thing. I heard Kevin Rose was there, too, but I never spotted him. (Curious.) I chatted up Automattic's Matt Mullenweg, and Mashable's Pete Cashmore, as well as Glenda Bautista, Mullenweg's ballsy Bronx belle (pictured here with friends). It was a good time. But the ROI on SXSWi? Hard to spot, if you don't run an Austin bar, restaurant, or convention center. More »

03/09/08

3,182

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By Owen Thomas

valleywag

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