Internet Week 2012.

Sounds like changes are coming to that staple of the Silicon Alley social calendar, Internet Week New York. Crain Communications--the company behind publications like AdAge and Crain's New York--has made a "strategic investment" in the festival. What's more, the publishing conglomerate will be taking a role in the event itself.

An unlikely marriage, to say the least.

According to an announcement, Crain and the Internet Week team will "grow the festival under a shared vision," but Crain will be taking over day-to-day management.

The press release also says that Crain will "leverage its strong editorial heritage and media expertise to add a robust offering of premium programming and content to the festival’s lineup." It's hard to imagine an old-line powerhouse like Crain adopting some of Internet Week's less traditional planning procedures, like relying on crowd-sourcing for a festival lineup. That just feels a little too... seat of the pants.

Say Internet Week's cofounders:

“For five years we’ve supported and worked closely with New York’s thriving Internet community to create the world’s largest crowd-sourced Internet festival,” said Davies and Vogel, co-founders of Internet Week NY. “We’re thrilled and proud to partner with Crain, an organization with a deep and storied editorial history, to grow and further build the community and festival.”

We'll see what all this means in May 2013, when Internet Week rolls around once more.

We hope Crain's involvement doesn't mean the end of sissy bounce parties under the brand banner?