The Summit Series, an event for Internet entrepreneurs under the age of 36, is gearing up for a third get-together, this time in Aspen.

Rowland, the founder of Hilary Magazine and New Faces, a modeling agency, was one of the few women who went to the last Summit Series, a phenomenally ill-timed November junket in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, for some 60 Internet-industry second-raters who partied and drank in the midst of an economic meltdown. (One attendee, Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh, came straight from laying off 8 percent of his workforce.)

The event was supposed to be off the record, with no names released, no photos posted, and no mention made of the event's existence. But Rowland, a very attractive blonde with a decidedly unattractive penchant for name-dropping, issued a press release and posted photos of the event for her vast number of Facebook friends. The summit's stated mission was the exchange of ideas and the promotion of charitable works. Perhaps that happened! But if so, Rowland's photographs did not document it:

Among the people Rowland exposed: Drop.io founder Sam Lessin, the son of a Wall Street banker who took 19 of his closest friends to his dad's vacation home in Cyprus, where they filmed a video of their frolics. The clip leaked and the event, promptly dubbed "Camp Cyprus," became an infamous example of the Web 2.0 set's irrational exuberance. In other words, Summit Series Mexico was only the second money-wasting event Lessin, whose startup is hardly setting the world on fire, got caught attending.

And that's the problem that the Summit Series' organizers are now facing. Rowland has proven that they can't keep the event private, and the likes of Lessin surely don't want to be caught out as wastrels a third time. Elliott Bisnow, the event's founder, is also trying to cajole invitees to the four-day Aspen event to pay $3,000; past events were free save for airfare. (Here's the full text of his emails, including an amusing followup to beg for ticket purchases.)

I suppose Bisnow could disinvite Rowland. But there will always be someone willing to barter privacy for a little taste of fame. Isn't that what the Internet was made for? With all her experience, Rowland should know that better than anyone.

The first message from organizer Elliott Bisnow, a self-aggrandizing publisher of email newsletters who compares himself to Rupert Murdoch:

From: "Elliott Bisnow"
Subject: Aspen 2009

Hey

You knew the announcement was coming...It's time for Summit III.

We're taking over the St. Regis Hotel in Aspen from Thursday, April 2nd to Sunday April 5th and we'll have 125 of the most influential people in America under 35 years old. 

GQ will be co-hosting the event.

Here's a link to the official invitation: aspen09.com/attendees

At the end of the invitation, you need to enter the following code to purchase a ticket and attend the event:

XXXXXX

If you are receiving this email, your name is in the system and you will be allowed to book a ticket. 

We are not releasing a list of people who are booking or have booked do to the high profile of attendees on the trip.

There are 3 rules for Aspen 09

1. Don't tell anyone about Aspen 09
2. There are no comped tickets
3. Don't tell anyone about Aspen 09

We would like everyone to book their ticket by next Thursday, January 22nd at 5pm EST (That is the date we need to finalize hotel rooms we are booking).

On January 22nd, the rooms will go up 20% and until that date I will be emailing you every day to book.  

A couple of trip details:
We are staying at the top ski hotel in North America (St. Regis Aspen)
Co-hosting the event with GQ, Calvin Klein, Marquis Jet and others
I would advise people to go with the Mogul Single Room or Robber Baron Double Room. 

Hopefully most of you can book tickets this weekend

Feel free to email me with any questions. See ya in Aspen!

-Bisnow

— 
Elliott Bisnow

Co-Founder & 
Co-Chief Operating Officer
Bisnow Media Corp

Founder
The Summit Series 

www.Bisnow.com
www.Thesummitseries.com

Bisnow quickly sent another email explaining why he was charging $3,000 for an event that was formerly free:

From: Elliott Bisnow
Subject: Quick follow up

From: The Summit Team

To: People who came on our last trip (free), we want them to come on this next trip (not free), and they haven't booked a ticket yet because they probably can't believe we are making them pay!

Our goal is to create the world's coolest retreat for people under 35 years old.  Imagine if in 18 months there is an event where every cool young person (company founders, entertainers, philanthropists, athletes, etc) in the world attends. This is what we want to create.

When we did our first trip one year ago, it was because I wanted to meet other (really young) like minded company founders.  When we did our trip to Mexico, it was because we wanted to meet even more amazing people. We were able to make both trips free because sponsors could cover the costs of 65 people. 

As we grow the trip (125 people on this trip) bring on a Summit staff/team (9 people on board) make it even more fun (staying at the St. Regis in Aspen) and try to raise even more money (we're supporting a handful of philanthropic causes) sponsors can no longer cover the costs. 

Our hope is that the value we can offer you from attending (new friends, business deals and an amazing 4 days) is worth the roughly $3,000 price tag to attend (ticket cost + airfare).

If you're getting this email, it's because you came on the last trip and haven't yet booked a ticket to this trip.  If you want to come on this trip, you should book your ticket today or tomorrow, as rooms are running out and ticket prices will rise at 5pm tomorrow. 

I can promise you that this will be the best $3,000 you ever spend.  Most people think I'm crazy before I do something...All I can say is trust the vision, and always think bigger.

Very excited for you to come to Aspen.

The login to buy a ticket is:
http://aspen09.eventbrite.com/

The password is:
XXXXXX

-Elliott

— 
Elliott Bisnow

Co-Founder & 
Co-Chief Operating Officer
Bisnow Media Corp

Founder
The Summit Series 

www.Bisnow.com
www.Thesummitseries.com

Dustin Moskowitz, Facebook co-founder with Mark Zuckerberg
Tony Hsieh, Zappos, CEO
Sam Lessin, Drop.io, CEO and co-founder
Chris Sacca, Venture Investor and former Google BD/M&A
Michael Chasen, Blackboard, CEO and co-founder
Garrett Camp, StumbleUpon, CEO
Jud Bowman, Motricity, CEO
Jia Shen, RockYou CTO and co-founder
Duke Chung, Parature, CEO and co-founder
Josh Abramson, Collegehumor.com, co-founder
Ricky Van Veen, Collegehumor.com, co-founder
Kamo Asatryan, LOLapps, CEO
Catherine Levene, DailyCandy, COO
Ben Leventhal, Curbed, Founder
Ben Lerer and Adam Rich, Thrillist Founders
David Karp, Tumblr, Founder
Ben Kaufman, Kluster, Founder
Lin Miao, Tatto Media, CEO and Founder
Sean Mills, The Onion, President
Kevin Colleran, FaceBook, Director of Media Sales
Dave Morin, FaceBook, Platform Manager
Josh Spear, Undercurrent, co-founder
Shawn Fanning, Napster, co-founder
Nikki Laffel, Gotta Mentor co-founder
Tim Ferris, Author and Entrepreneur
Charles Forman, Iminlikewithyou, founder
Maggie Grace, Actress on LOST
Joe Green, Casuses, Founder
David Hauser, GotVmail co-founder
Scott Harrison, Charity: Water, Founder
Graham Hill, Treehugger, CEO and Founder
Joel Holland, Footage Firm, CEO and Founder
Rob Jewell, SocialCash, CEO and Founder
Brian Monahan, People Search Media, co-founder
Mike Mothner, Wpromote, CEO and founder
Blake Mycoskie, Toms, CEO and founder
Liane Mullin, Modelinia, President and co-founder
Summer Rayne Oakes, Supermodel and Entrepreneur
Josh Peterson, Adteractive, President
Hilary Rowland, Hilary Magazine, Founder
Keith Richman, Break.com, CEO
James Siminoff, Phonetag, CEO and founder
Alex Zhardanovsky and Joseph Speiser, Epic Advertising, Founders
Eric Stotz, Karma Foundation, President and CEO
Neil Vogel, Webby Awards, CEO and co-founder