Unlike your average non-vice presidential book event, tickets to hear Mr. Gore speak at Dumbo's PowerHouse Arena are going for $45 a pop (students can rush for $35 at the door).

On the bright side, tickets guarantee an autographed copy of the book. No word on if he signs tablets.

This is a guest post from Gary Sharma (aka “The Guy with the Red Tie”), founder and CEO of GarysGuide and proud owner of a whole bunch of black suits, white shirts and, at last count, over 40 red ties. You can reach him at gary [at] garysguide.com.

Sooooo...it's that time of the year again. SXSW (a.k.a. Spring Break for Geeks) is right around the corner, running March 8 to 12 in Austin, Texas. And you know what that means: Parties, parties 'n more parties!! :) So, once again, we're putting together what we hope will be THE definitive guide to all this year's SXSW Interactive parties. We'll be updating this list regularly, so check back often. And email me if you're organizing an event or a party.

Of course, I'll be at SXSW ... attending all (or as many as humanly possible) of the amazing parties, mixers, networking events, lounges, panels, keynotes, BBQs, nuclear taco nights, concerts, happy hours, karaokes, food trucks, block parties and what-have-you.

So if you can't make it down to Austin this year but still wanna get the word out about your amazing startup / company / firm / service / app / project, you can do so. How, you ask? Well, by sponsoring my Red Tie of course, and covering it in your company's awesome logo stickers and giving me your company's elevator pitch. If you're interested, shoot me an email at gary@garysguide.com for more details.

In the meantime, here's my blog post / highlights from last year's SXSW to give you a little taste of what to expect.

FYI, next week is probably the most exclusive hackathon of the year. Google's Project Glass will be holding a two-day hackathon (February 1 to 2) in New York City that'll allow developers to get an early look at Glass so they can start developing for the platform. Google engineers will be on site to help at any point in the process, and developers will have the opportunity to show off what they’ve been working on.

So, how to score an invite: Your guess is as good as mine! If you were one of the smart ones who shelled out $1,500 for the early access to Google Glass you're on the list. Or you could try pinging Googler Aygul Zagidullina and hope you get lucky! Well, for those of you who don't make it, here's a pic of Sergey Brin sporting his Google Glasses on the subway.

In other news, the NYC EDC is partnering with the Lawrence Field Center for Entrepreneurship at Baruch College to create Competition THRIVE, and they're seeking original, innovative strategies and programs that help immigrant entrepreneurs succeed in business. In Round 1, $25,000 will be awarded to five semi-finalists to pilot their program and create a business plan. And in Round 2, $100,000 will be awarded to one grand prize winner to further scale their program. Submission period is February 1 to March 7. For more information, check out the website or email competitionthrive@baruch.cuny.edu.

On January 30, my buddy Haithem is organizing the Lemonade Heroes Yacht Party. It's gonna be a crazy night of dancing, drinking, mixing and mingling--on a yacht.
You'll be getting photographed on a red carpet, and you'll have a shot at an audition for an entrepreneurship TV series and book.

More stuff you don't wanna miss this week: AppNexus Speaker Series (with Fab.com CEO Jason Goldberg) on the 23rd, PandoMonthly Presents (with Etsy CEO Chad Dickerson) on the 24th and Amusemi's 1 Year Anniversary Party+Dinner on the 26th.

Last week my buddy Charlie Todd & the folks at Improv Everywhere organized their twelfth Annual No Pants Subway Ride. Over 4,000 participants showed up. Here's the recap and video. And my friends Jen and Allison are back with another hilarious edition of Blogologues, playing this week on the 24th, 25th and 26th at Under St Marks (and yes, there will be giveaways!).

And now let's see what's going down in the Alley this week...

DUMBO Improvement District Annual Meeting
All members of the DUMBO community are invited to hear the latest on hurricane recovery efforts and learn what's in store for the neighborhood in 2013. The coveted DUMBO "Magic Feather" awards will be given to Rachel Haot (New York's chief digital officer), Susan Feldman (artistic director, St. Ann's Warehouse) and Jerry Hultin (president, NYU-Poly).
Tuesday (Jan. 22), 5 p.m. @ Galapagos Art Space, 16 Main Street

Next Top Makers: The Business of Design
Join the creators of New York’s Next Top Makers for an evening of education, guidance, and networking. Hear from IDEO storytelling gurus why good design doesn’t always speak for itself, and learn about the role of a designer in a world of 3D printers.
Tuesday (Jan. 22), 7 p.m. @ 3DEA Pop-Up Store @ Eventi Hotel, 835 6th Avenue

The Future of Education #1: New Models for 21st Century Learning
Panelists include Brad Hargreaves (founding partner, General Assembly), Kane Sarhan (cofounder, Enstitute), Juliette LaMontagne (founder & director, Breaker) and Abigail Besdin (head of Skillshare's education team).
Wednesday (Jan. 23), 6:30 p.m. @ Centre For Social Innovation Pop-Up Space, 601 W. 26th Street, #360

AppNexus Speaker Series
Brian O'Kelley (CEO, AppNexus) will host a fireside chat with Jason Goldberg (CEO, Fab.com) and Jared Cluff (VP Marketing, Fab.com).
Wednesday (Jan. 23), 6:30 p.m. @ AppNexus, 28 W. 23rd Street

How to Build Great Communities: Lets Collaborate!
With Sheila Karaszewski (community manager, Airbnb), Tony Bacigalupo (cofounder, New Work City), Andrew Wagner (director & editor-in-chief, Krrb) and James Wahba (cofounder, Projective Space). Moderated by Melissa Young (founder, Let's Collaborate!)
Wednesday (Jan. 23), 7 p.m. @ Projective Space L.E.S., 72 Allen Street

#ArtsTech 4 Year Anniversary Party!
Open Bar with 3 Pernod Absinthe cocktails from 7-8 pm. Variety of grilled panini appetizers. Photobooth by Styleblaster. Tunes by DJ Winslow Porter. Video art by Sabrina Ratte, Mr. Div, Yoshi Sodeoka and Andreas Nicholas Fischer
Wednesday (Jan. 23), 7 p.m. @ The Counting Room, 44 Berry Street, Brooklyn

PandoMonthly Presents
A fireside chat with Chad Dickerson (CEO, Etsy)
Thursday (Jan. 24), 6 p.m. @ Projective L.E.S., 72 Allen Street

dd:COLLECTIVE - The Changing Retail Environment (Presented by Digital DUMBO)
Featured speakers include Philippe von Borries (Co-Founder, Refinery29), Keith George (General Manager, Gilt Man by Gilt Groupe) and Claire Mazur (Co-Founder, Of a Kind).
Thursday (Jan 24), 6:30 p.m. @ Huge, 45 Main St , Ste 220, Brooklyn

Dinner, Cupcakes, Wine & Technology!
Introducing the inaugural NJ Tech Gals meetup!
Thursday (Jan 24), 7 p.m. @ Hoboken Business Center, 50 Harrison Street (2nd Fl), Hoboken

Nike+ Accelerator (powered by TechStars) Recruiting Tour
Join the team from Nike and TechStars to hear about the Nike+ Accelerator. Some local quantified self demos. And the team from Nike will be bringing along some SWAG, including some Nike+ FuelBands!
Thursday (Jan 24), 7 p.m. @ TechStars NYC HQ , 36 Cooper Square, 6th Fl.

Power Breakfast
With Susan Feldman (cofounder, One Kings Lane)
Friday (Jan. 25), 8 a.m. @ Fordham Graduate School of Business, 113 W. 60th Street, 12th Fl.

NYC Mobile Startup Weekend
Where developers, designers, marketers, product managers and buddying entrepreneurs gather together to share ideas, form teams and spend the weekend building and launching a startup.
Friday (Jan. 25), 6 p.m. @ WeWork Soho Lounge, 154 Grand Street

2013 Brooklyn Inventgenuity Festival: Digital By Hand
A popular annual winter celebration of making things for kids and their parents. With public projects and workshops led by Beam Center’s faculty of artists, engineers and big thinkers. This year’s theme: Digital by Hand.
Saturday (Jan. 26), 11 a.m. @ The Invisible Dog Art Center, 51 Bergen Street

Amusemi 1 Year Anniversary Party + Dinner
Celebrate the anniversary of our first startup dining event. Register for Amusemi to get on the guest list.
Saturday (Jan. 26), 7 p.m. @ TBD

More events on the horizon...
TEDxBroadway: Industry leaders envision the future of Broadway on Jan. 28 @ New World Stages
NYC Gaming January: Demo Night on Jan. 29 @ Microsoft
Brooklyn Tech Meetup with Victoria Brown on Jan. 29 @ Feil Hall, Brooklyn Law School
Lemonade Heroes Yacht Party featuring a chance to Audition for a TV Series! on Jan. 30 @ Hornblower Inifinity
Entrepreneurship in the Beer Industry on Jan. 30 @ Professor Thoms
dd:SOCIAL - 4 Year Anniversary & dd:A-LIST Crowdfunding Launch on Jan. 31 @ The DUMBO Loft
Business Insider Presents: Social Commerce Summit on Feb. 06 @ Pier 60
UX Design and User Experience Optimization Trends on Feb. 06 @ Anchin
Hearst Fashion Hackathon 2013 on Feb. 09 @ Hearst
Social Media Week NY 2013 on Feb. 18 @ Metropolitan Pavilion
AIPAC Technology Division: Launch Event w/Dan Senor on Feb. 27 @ Bloomberg Tower

Until next week. Stay thirsty social, my friends! ;)

The scene of the gathering, during last year's Dumbo Arts Festival. (Photo: flickr.com/glans)

We knew Dumbo's vacancy rates were low, but we hadn't realized they were this low. The Wall Street Journal reports that yesterday Dumbo techies gathered at an unusual outdoor watering hole: Underneath the Manhattan Bridge.

Perhaps the roar of the traffic overhead provides a kind of natural white noise?

Office-sharing startup Loosecubes organized the event, setting up shop with the three essential ingredients for an outdoor summit of tech folk: picnic tables, Wifi and beer. The Dumbo Improvement District also participated, but it sounds like this little shindig was primarily about selling folks on the beauty of flexible office space. After all, the company does start charging fees this fall:

While large companies like Google Inc. and Facebook Inc. have offices in pricey neighborhoods such as Chelsea and Midtown, younger tech entrepreneurs want a laid-back, almost entertaining atmosphere for work. What's more, they don't want to commit to one location.

"We think of our customers a lot as local nomads," said Campbell McKellar, founder of Loosecubes.

Careful there, Ms. McKellar. Given the nature of this promotion, you might not want to harp too hard on the concept of your customers as transients.

It also sounds like this perhaps wasn't the most productive afternoon these folks have ever had:

Most of about 50 casually dressed people at the event Thursday stood around drinking beer and eating sandwiches at what sometimes felt like a festive cookout. But a group of about a dozen toiled away at four picnic benches littered with empty iced coffee cups.

That said, developers working while their non-technical coworkers socialize probably isn't entirely unheard of for a summer Thursday, either.

If the concept appeals, the event will be held every Thursday for the rest of August.

(Photo: Brooklyn Tech Triangle)

The Brooklyn Tech Triangle already thinks it's bigger and better than Manhattan, and now they're getting a transportation upgrade to help them prove it.

The triangle--which includes Downtown Brooklyn, DUMBO and the Brooklyn Navy Yard--is getting its very own dedicated bus route, according to a press release issued today by New York state senator Daniel Squadron.

Senator Squadron and MTA stakeholders will plan the new route, which is set to roll out in 2013. "Brooklyn's tech industry is changing the face of New York -- and now, we'll have a bus route that will allow the booming Tech Triangle to continue to grow and innovate," Senator Squadron stated in the release.

And here we thought most startup kids were fiercely loyal to the ice cream-wielding Uber team.

Mr. Dickerson (flickr.com/eschipul)

DIY-ers, you may now begin crocheting celebratory pillows and other yarn finery: E-commerce site Etsy, also known as Amazon for Twee People, announced today that it has raised a $40 million Series F round from investors, including Union Square Ventures and Accel Partners.

In a lengthy blog post, Etsy CEO Chad Dickerson strayed from the typical tech funding announcement, instead choosing to first focus on Etsy's growth and continued commitment to making the world a better place through business. The DUMBO-based startup has scored a B Corporation certification, which "gives [them] a framework to measure Etsy’s success against rigorous values and responsible practices as [they] scale as a company."

The B Corporation certification is basically a commitment to doing good by doing well, which is a smart PR move, considering Etsy's artisan demographic.

Mr. Dickerson also writes that this $40M capital injection will help "grow Etsy into an economic force all around the world... we want to provide more products and services to help sellers succeed and build their businesses on the Etsy platform."

Perhaps it can also go towards helping to solve that wedding redesign flap.

WTH is a tech engine? (brooklyntechtriangle.com)

Looks like DUMBO isn't the only neighborhood eager to flaunt its tech prowess. According to a new site launched last week, DUMBO is just one 'hood that's part of the "Brooklyn Tech Triangle," which also includes downtown Brooklyn and the Navy Yard. A local coalition from each neighborhood has been tapped to represent its district in the Brooklyn Tech Triangle initiative, which seeks to establish the area as an innovative and welcoming place for tech firms.

According to a recent report commissioned by the initiative's three main partners, the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership, DUMBO Improvement District and the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation:

The Brooklyn Tech Triangle, is currently home to more than 500 creative companies in more than 1.7 million square feet of space.  By 2015 the area is expected to exceed more than 600 firms requiring 3.1 million square feet...Brooklyn has experienced greater and faster growth in the tech and creative sectors than New York City as a whole from 2007 to 2011.  Brooklyn has seen annual average growth of 4.9 percent, compared to -1.4 percent for NYC.

The Brooklyn Tech Triangle initiative intends to use the survey's findings to better understand and address the needs of the area, so that they may "create an area-wide master plan that examines the viability of the tech sector in Downtown Brooklyn, DUMBO and the Navy Yard, the reuse of certain real estate assets to accommodate growth and bolster Downtown Brooklyn as a destination for creative companies."

Man, the city is really on its A-game this week. The initiative site's launch, as well as the survey's findings, dovetail nicely with today's announcement that downtown Brooklyn will become the home of a new NYU-sponsored Center for Urban Science and Progress. Of course, it's important to maintain a healthy dose of skepticism, since it's obviously in the best interest of both politicians and real estate developers to make it look like this is indeed a movement and not just spillover from digital DUMBO.

So, "Brooklyn, start your tech engines" the website urges (ugh): looks like the tech turf wars have only just begun.

Check out the Brooklyn Tech Triangle initiative's infographic below.

(brooklyntechtriangle.com)

Crain’s is just the latest to notice all the fuss across the river. Etsy has long been a neighborhood fixture; digital consulting firm Takeout just relocated; Loosecubes and Docracy are homegrown efforts. Why are startups flocking to a neighborhood with a mere 3 percent commercial vacancy rate? Surely there are roomier (and therefore cheaper) environs. Turns out, Manhattan lacks a certain spark. (Manhattan, are you just going to let them talk about you like that?)

Shirley Au, president of HUGE Inc., told Crain’s:

“There's this combination of creative energy and digital business talent that gives us an edge,” Ms. Au said. “Frankly, that's been driven out of Manhattan.”

She added, “Just by being here, we're saying something about our company's values, our ethos.”

A bit of neighborhood pride is all well and good, but let’s keep the internecine rivalry to minimum, here. We don’t want the subway ride to New York Tech Meetup feeling like The Warriors.

Esty's Dumbo office via Fred Wilson on Foursquare

At an industry breakfast yesterday, the commercial real estate brokers at Cushman & Wakefield announced that New York City has reached a tipping point: For the first time since 1999, the information and media sector (including technology) beat out financial services terms of office leasing.

In the first quarter of 2012, information and media accounted for 27.8 percent of office leasing by square footage, compared to the financial sector's 26.3 percent. "New York is not just a financial town anymore,” Cushman's managing director Ken McCarthy told the Real Deal.

You don't have to tell Dumbo. Yesterday, the Brooklyn Paper reported that commercial vacancy rates in the neighborhood are down to 2 percent, prompting city planners to try to make Downtown more appealing to Brooklyn's creative class. "Everyone in the tech industry wants to be in DUMBO," said the paper. And here we thought the ideal spot was spitting distance from Union Square Ventures.

Betabeat reached out to real estate broker Chris Havens, an expert in Dumbo's cobblestone streets and East River vistas, to find out more.

According to Mr. Havens, who pegged the vacancy rate at 3 percent, it's a matter of capacity. Dumbo has 1.26 million square feet of leasable office space across just nine buildings, which Mr. Havens said was equivalent to "a few blocks in Midtown South." One hundred and fifty leases have already been signed in the last year and a half.  "This has been building for a long time and it has a lot more to do with the economy," he said noting the proliferation of graphic design, affiliate marketing, consumer tech, architectural, and other creative startups in Dumbo. "It's getting tighter and tighter and tighter."

Mr. Havens said three counties in the country dominate in terms of creative business tenants: L.A. county, New York county, and Kings county. "Brooklyn is booming. In fact some people think there are more creatives in BK than Manhattan," he said, but added a note of skepticism, "Who knows?"

In Dumbo, the two biggest tech tenants are Etsy, "an Ebay for twee people," as the Brooklyn Paper describes it, and Wireless Generation. The amount of space those two companies have taken up has "pushed other tenants out," said Mr. Havens.

But don't founders want to be General Assembly-adjacent? "There’s way more tenants like this in Union Square," Mr. Havens admitted. "But this is $27 dollar [per-square-foot] space. So it doesn't matter what people like in Manhattan."

For Brooklyn residents that want to work close by, there are increasingly fewer options, he said. "There's no space in Fort Greene. Gowanus is tight too. They don’t like Downtown."

As the Brooklyn Paper notes, neighborhood groups are trying to do something about that.

"The DUMBO Improvement District, Brooklyn Navy Yard, and Downtown Brooklyn Partnership have joined forces to launch a task force seeking ways to nurture the borough’s tech sector, both inside DUMBO and beyond. That includes making Downtown more palatable for startups by improving streetscapes, creating a shuttle-bus system between the startup neighborhoods, and providing attractive commercial space."

We're inclined to go with commenter SwampYankee, who wrote, "Because anyone that works in software for a living will tell you a really cool nabe is essential to delivering a quality product in a timely manner. Talent really has nothing to do with it." But maybe we're just jelly. Betabeat is stuck in The Observer offices at Hell's Kitchen, which aside from some standout tacos and a Shake Shack outpost, really lives up to its name.

The new space. (dumbostartuplab.com)

Apparently DUMBO isn't wanting for tech talent after all. The sleepy strip of cobblestones and art galleries beneath the Manhattan Bridge has seen a surge in tech company leases, and DUMBO Startup Lab is next on the list to trade in their small workspace for a 2,300 square foot loft.

Members of the startup lab have been working from the personal workspace of chief organizer Freddie Pikovsky since the lab's inception, but the organization has seen such a dramatic uptick in membership recently that they're moving up and out into a real office space.

To become a member of this elite cabal of "Silicon Beach" boys and girls, you have to pay $400 a month for a desk or $200 a month to be a portable participant (meaning you sit where there's space). The lab is also soliciting "VCs, investors and entrepreneurs" to help support workshops and panels.

According to the press release, Mr. Pikovsky says he wants to "create a synergetic and educational atmosphere by bringing in complimentary talent, projects, hosting classes and events that will help build Brooklyn’s identity within the innovation ecosystem."

@DumboStartupLab says the new space is located at 68 Jay St., which is conveniently right above a bar. And we all know that nothing helps fuel a million dollar startup idea quite like a stiff drink.

(dumbo.is)

Jobs, jobs everywhere, and not a worker to fill them. In a city with nine percent unemployment, 17 Dumbo tech companies are struggling to fill 329 jobs in web development, mobile development, gaming and other related jobs, reports the New York Post. The agency HUGE needs to hire 50 people; Wireless Generation needs 150. Even DigitalDumbo, the local meetup and tech  blog, is hiring a community manager. "We are growing and positions open frequently!" says Carrot Creative.

Local startups say the answer is for NYU to close that deal on an applied sciences grad school in Downtown Brooklyn. (Guess they figure students who have from the Roosevelt Island tech campus will be snapped up by some other startup on the way to the interview.)

Dumbo, despite its cute cobblestones, has struggled for decades to recover from the decline of its manufacturing and industrial economy. But now that the area has a number of trendy young companies (Etsy! Holstee!), it's being choked by its own growth. Almost two months into the new year, and Ben Parr's rather obvious 2012 prognosticating is looking rather obviously correct. Mr. Parr! What will happen to Dumbo?

UPDATE: A spokesman for Wireless Generation says they're not having trouble hiring—they're just growing that fast. See comment below.