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.

Last week I was at the Brooklyn Navy Yard (where WWII battleships were once manufactured) to check out Beta Space, a precursor to New Lab, an advanced manufacturing hub and high-tech design + prototyping center slated to open in 2015. It'll anchor a 220,000 sq ft Green Manufacturing Center (backed by $46 million from the city and state). With MakerBot cranking out 3D printers in downtown Brooklyn and Shapeways building the Factory of the Future in Queens, it feels like a new kind of manufacturing renaissance is under way in our city. Exciting times!

Also at the Yard is Steiner Studios (the largest sound stage on the east coast). Last week at NY Ideas, NYC Film Commissioner Katherine Oliver commented on how increasingly more shows were being shot in the city, apparently including a series set in Chicago.

Don't miss Funding the Best in Global Innovation III this Thursday. Showcasing some of the best international startups, including Israel's Zimperium (voted #1 in Israel in 2013), Finland's CrowdValley (a leading crowdfunding platform) and France's Augment (the top augmented reality platform in Europe). Keynote by Divya Narendra (Co-founder & CEO, SumZero). FYI, I have 2 Free Passes to the event.

Want a free Apple TV? Duh, who doesn't? Thats what the good folks at the upcoming Vision conference are promising. And you get to learn about secure mobility, cloud solutions and collaboration. Did I mention the event is free? That's a win-win, people!

This week (May 10-21) is the inaugural NYCxDesign Week, with a ton of events that will showcase and promote design across all disciplines. Nice!

Tix for the Webutante Ball (aka the REAL #nerdprom!) are selling like hot cakes! But you, lucky GarysGuide reader, get $15 off with discount code GARY15. You're welcome.

Are you excited about the first evah Book Publishing hackathon this Saturday? I know I am! $10k in prizes AND a chance to pitch to Ari Emmanuel, CEO of William Morris and also the real life inspiration for Entourage's Ari Gold. Just don't ask him to hug it out.

Don't forget: the deadline for the NYC SeedStart Accelerator Summer 2013 program is May 13 and the deadline for the Enstitute program is May 15.

Coming up next week on May 20 is a unique, interactive evening celebrating 15 years of M.O.U.S.E. (a national ed-tech nonprofit empowering underserved youth to learn and create with technology). Being honored at the event are my buddy Bre Pettis (Co-Founder & CEO, MakerBot) and Joanne Wilson (Angel Investor and Advocate, Best Buy Children's Foundation). I'll be there. Hope you can make it too.

Also coming up ... Amusemi's Summer Tech Picnic on May 19, User Experience Awards on May 21, Mobile UX in Complex Business Models on May 23 (w/ David Fine, Director UX @ Time Inc and Tim Reis, Head of Mobile & Social Solutions @ Google) and AngelHack (a.k.a. The Largest Global Hackathon Competition) on June 1.

A historic moment recently as the spire is placed on the World Trade Center, which, now at 1,776 feet, is the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere. Nice! Even more awesome? We might FINALLY be getting WiFi in the subway trains. Sahhweet!

And finally, here's Commander Chris Hadfield performing David Bowie's Space Oddity on board the International Space Station.

And now lets see whats going down in the Alley this week...

AppNexus Speaker Series
With Howard Lerman (CEO, Yext) and Brian O'Kelley (CEO AppNexus)
Monday (May 13), 6 p.m. @ AppNexus, 28 W 23rd St, 4th Fl

Discussion Series: The Founders & Funders Dilemma
With Elizabeth Canon (Fashions Collective), Lilly Chan (Fareskind), Sindhya Valloppillil (Helix Men), Nikhil Kalghatgi (Softbank Capital) and Jacob Brody (Mesa+ Ventures).
Monday (May 13), 6 p.m. @ Lim College, 12 E 53rd St

General Assembly Fireside Chat
Gary Swart (oDesk) in conversation with Dan Schawbel (Millennial Branding)
Monday (May 13), 7 p.m. @ General Assembly East, 902 Broadway, 4th Fl

Facebook and Girls In Tech Present: Lessons Learned and Overcoming Our Mistakes
With Goranka Bjedov (Software Engineer, Facebook), Bethany Sumner (Engineer, Kickstarter), Nikki Stevens (Director of Engg, Refinery29), Catherine Hui (Head of Technology, Bloomberg Tradebook Equity Group) and Amanda Stent (AT&T Labs research).
Tuesday (May 14), 6:30 p.m. @ Facebook HQ, 335 Madison Ave, 17th Fl

Evolving Design Communities
With Dan Cederholm & Rich Thornett (Co-founders, Dribbble), Ignacio Oreamuno (Exec Director, Art Directors Club) and Matias Corea (Co-founder & Chief of Design, Behance).
Tuesday (May 14), 7 p.m. @ Huge BK, 45 Main St, Ste 220, Brooklyn

[NYCxDesign] Designer Founders in Tech
Featured panelists are Enrique Allen (Founding member, The Designer Fund & 500 Startups and previously at Facebook Fund & Venrock), Cameron Koczon (Founder, Fictive Kin and Organizer, BrooklynBeta) and Dayna Grayson (Investor, NEA).
Wednesday (May 15), 5 p.m. @ NEA Studio, 110 5th Ave

Fashion 2.0: Retail & Big Data
With Amy Jain (Co-founder, BaubleBar), Elyse Estrada (Manager Client Services, Foursquare), Florent Peyre (Co-Founder, Placemeter), Jared Schiffman (Founder, Perch Interactive) and moderated by Elizabeth Holmes (Wall St Journal)
Wednesday (May 15), 6 p.m. @ Scandinavia House, 58 Park Ave

NJ Tech Meetup 36 with Scott Belsky
With Scott Belsky (Co-founder of Behance which was acquired by Adobe). Demos by Sproute, Howndog and DJPlayerApp.
Wednesday (May 15), 6:30 p.m. @ Howe Center, Stevens Institute of Technology, 4th Fl, Hoboken

Entrepreneurs Roundtable 58
With Peter Stern (CEO of Bit.ly and Founder of Datek Online, Zenbe)
Wednesday (May 15), 6:30 p.m. @ Microsoft, 1290 6th Ave, 6th Fl

Meet The Innovators: The Venture Capitalists
With Joy Marcus (DFJ Gotham), Donna Novitsky, (CEO, Yiftee), Jeanne Sullivan (Starvest Partners), Kathleen Utecht (Comcast Ventures) and Ellie Wheeler (Greycroft Partners).
Wednesday (May 15), 7 p.m. @ Apple Store SoHo, 103 Prince St

Funding the Best in Global Innovation III
With David Aronoff (Flybridge Capital), Brad Svrluga (High Peaks Venture Partners), Ann Li (NYCEDC), Eliot Durbin (BOLDStart Ventures), Jalak Jobanputra (FuturePerfect Ventures), Andrew Cleland (Comcast Ventures) and others.
Thursday (May 16), 8:30 a.m. @ Dentons, 1221 Ave of the Americas

NYC BigApps + Huge App Design Night
With Jared Coken (Fitocracy), Ian Curry (Paper App), Jon Huang (NY Times), Justin Van Slembrouck (Digg), Michal Pasternak (Huge), Ian Spalter (Foursquare) and Khoi Vinh (Mixel).
Thursday (May 16), 6:30 p.m. @ Foursquare, 108 Crosby St

NYC Uncubed Spring 2013
Friday (May 17), 1:30 p.m. @ Metropolitan Pavilion, 125 W 18th St

First Ever Book Publishing Hackathon!
Win $10,000 AND get to pitch the Ari Emmanuel, CEO of William Morris and also the real life inspiration for Entourage's Ari Gold! :)
Saturday (May 18), 9 a.m. @ AlleyNYC, 500 7th Ave, 17th Fl

NYC Tech Picnic
Enjoy the outdoors with your fellow geeks and entrepreneurs. Join us for the 2013 picnic kick off!
Sunday (May 19), 2 p.m. @ Chelsea Piers, Pier 64, 64 Chelsea Piers

More events on the horizon...
MOUSE@15: Celebrating 15 Years of Inspiring Innovators on May 20 @ The Pier 61, Lighthouse at Chelsea Piers
New York Crowdfunds 2 on May 20 @ WeWork Lounge
Vision 2013 Tri-State IT Conference & Expo (hosted by PCM) on May 21 @ Hilton Woodbridge
User Experience Awards 2013 on May 21 @ Tishman Auditorium
NYC BigApps Cleanweb: Is IT the Secret to a New Energy Future? on May 22 @ The Jerome L. Greene Performance Space at WNYC
Opportunities for Mobile UX in Complex Business Models on May 23 @ Venue
dd:IMPACT Groundswell: The Next Wave of Content on May 30 @ Galapagos Art Space
AngelHack NYC - Spring 2013 on Jun 01 @ Huge Inc
F.A.T. Session 2: Sales/Use Taxation for 21st Century Commerce on Jun 11 @ Marks Paneth & Shron

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

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.

Last night I co-hosted the Big Apple Smackdown! (a.k.a. The Silicon Alley Ping-Pong Tournament) at Spin NYC with my friends Nihal of LocalResponse and Vijay of VSCPR. Congrats to Artsy's Benoit Corda for emerging victorious! And a big thank you to everyone who came and made it such a fun, memorable night! :)

Last week I was down in DUMBO, and I bumped into a Fox 5 News crew. They wanted to know the dealio with all the stickers on my red tie. "It's advertisements, you know, like a walking billboard," I explained. Minds blown, they decided to film a short segment about it. At this rate, my tie might need its own agent.

Congrats to my buddy David Rotbard and the good folks at MicroOffice for being selected by Mayor Bloomberg and the NYCEDC to develop, launch and operate Harlem Venture Space (a.k.a. Harlem Garage), a new business incubator on 118th Street that'll launch this summer.

NYC SeedStart's third accelerator class starts in July and will be focused exclusively on enterprise software. Smart! They're partnering with local VCs (RRE, Starvest, Contour, Safeguard) and large enterprise partners (SAP, CA, Deutsche Telekom, Amazon). There's an info session event on April 29. Applications are due midnight of May 5. So get on it! Speaking of deadlines, don't forget applications for the Entrepreneurs Roundtable Accelerator's Summer 2013 class are due April 19.

I'm a big fan of Reshma Saujani and the awesome work she's been doing with Girls Who Code. She's also running for public advocate of NYC. Next week, on April 24, Jack Dorsey (cofounder of Twitter and Square) will be hosting an event for her. I'll be there.

Hardware is hot these days, and this Saturday is the inaugural Hardware Freedom Day, a worldwide celebration of open source hardware. Hack Manhattan (Manhattan's only public hacker space) is celebrating with displays of open hardware created by their members. They're also doing the Super Tech Tuesday event.

April 22 is Earth Day, and so Goodnik is organizing the Helping Hacks Green Earth Day Hackathon this Friday. And if you wanna hang out with a real, live astronaut this week, you're in luck! :) Check out the Space Apps Hackathon Kick-Off Party this Friday, featuring Astronaut Ron Garan, who'll be there as NASA's ambassador.

Coming up: April 25 is NY Tech Day (the largest tech startup event in the world!). April 27 is the TechCrunch Disrupt Hackathon (tickets will go fast!). And May 2 is the Office Ninjas Tech Mixer & Showcase, a must-attend event for office professionals who love tech and the hottest new tools.

On May 16, my buddy Eyal and the Worldwide Investor Network (WIN) are organizing the awesome Funding The Best In Global Innovation conference, an event I highly recommend (terrific panels and speakers). Early birds get a 30 percent discount (til May 1) with the code "garysguide." Foreign tech startups can apply here. Deadline is April 19.

Ever wanted to participate in a show that's American Idol meets Shark Tank?! You know me--I deliver! Meet NY Crowdfunds, which will have an all-star lineup of judges including Hotmail founder Sabeer Bhatia and basketball legend Earl Monroe. It's on May 20, and there are a limited number of spots for contestants and studio audience. Contact my friend Sonali for more info.

This week is the Tribeca Film Festival. I'd recommend getting the future of film pass to get special access to the technology and innovation events.

And now lets see whats going down in the Alley this week...

AllThingsD: Dive Into Mobile
With Eric Schmidt (Google), Mike Schroepfer (CTO, Facebook), Michael Sippey (VP Product, Twitter), Gary Kovacs (CEO, Mozilla), Noam Bardin (CEO, Waze), Jan Koum (CEO, WhatsApp), Evan Spiegel (CEO, Snapchat) and others.
Monday (Apr. 15), 9 a.m. @ The Ritz-Carlton Battery Park, 2 West Street

NJ Tech Meetup 35
With Brad Feld (Cofounder, Foundry Group and TechStars and author, Startup Communities)
Monday (Apr. 15), 6:30 p.m. @ Stevens Institute of Technology - Howe Center, 1 Castle Point Terrace, 4th Fl., Hoboken

NYU Founders Forum
Three founders from the NYU-Poly incubators and three student founders from across NYU will present their startups. Judges include Owen Davis (NYC Seed), Brendan Dickinson (Canaan Partners), Tom Loverro (RRE Ventures), Frank Rimalovski (NYU Innovation Venture Fund) and Yaron Eitan (Selway Capital)
Tuesday (Apr. 16), 6 p.m. @ NYU Stern School of Business, 44 W. 4th Street, M5-50

PandoMonthly Presents
A Fireside Chat with Lewis DVorkin (Chief Product Officer, Forbes Media) interviewed by Adam Pennenberg
Thursday (Apr. 18), 6 p.m. @ Projective Space L.E.S., 72 Allen Street, 3rd Fl.

NYC Startup Job Fair Presented by AT&T
Connecting talented job seekers with exciting NYC-based startups.
Friday (Apr. 19), 12 p.m. @ IAC HQ, 555 W. 18th Street

Goodnik Presents: Helping Hacks Green - Earth Day Hackathon
Focusing on environmental-related projects in recognition of Earth Day (April 22).
Friday (Apr. 19), 6 p.m. @ Alley NYC, 500 7th Avenue, 17th Fl.

NASA Hackathon Kick-Off Party feat. Astronaut Ron Garan
The 2013 International Space Apps Challenge is fast approaching and astronaut Colonel Ron Garan will be there as the official NASA ambassador! A RARE opportunity to get up close and personal with a real astronaut. :)
Friday (Apr. 19), 6 p.m. @ AlleyNYC, 500 7th Avenue, 17th Fl.

BUZZ the Bar & The Professional Wingman Present: The Happy Hour BUZZ
A hot new weekly after-work series, celebrating the start of a new season, the rising temperature & the newest way to order drinks!
Friday (Apr. 19), 6 p.m. @ EVR, 54 W. 39th Street

2013 International Space Apps Challenge led by NASA
A two-day hackathon during which citizens from around the world work together to solve challenges relevant to improving life on Earth and life in space
Saturday (Apr. 20), 9 a.m. @ AlleyNYC, 500 7th Avenue, 17th Fl.

NYC BigApps Jobs and Economic Mobility Hackathon
Come build apps that help New York City’s underserved residents find gainful employment, develop workforce skills, and/or access worker support services.
Saturday (Apr. 20), 10 a.m. @ School of Visual Arts (SVA), 136 W. 21st Street, 5th Fl.

Hardware Freedom Day
Open hardware created by Hack Manhattan members on display.
Saturday (Apr. 20), 5 p.m. @ Hack Manhattan, 137 W. 14th Street.

More events on the horizon...
Women Innovate Mobile: Behind The Pitch on Apr 22 @ AppNexus
Ideas Are Worthless Conference on Apr 23 @ Goodwin Proctor @ The NY Times Building
NYTECH Presents: Designing for Touch on Apr 24 @ Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz
NY Tech Day on Apr 25 @ Pier 92
Hackathon at TechCrunch Disrupt NY: April 27-28 on Apr 27 @ Manhattan Center
Entering the European Market: Lessons from Serial Entrepreneur & Investor Jos White on May 01 @ Venue
Office Ninjas Tech Mixer & Showcase on May 02 @ Alley NYC
Funding the Best in Global Innovation III on May 16 @ SNR Denton
NYC Tech Picnic - 2013 Kick Off on May 19 @ Chelsea Piers, Pier 63

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

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.

Hi folks,

Hackathons are all the rage these days, and even the White House is hopping on the bandwagon. they held their first hackathon a couple of weeks ago, welcoming 21 programmers and tech experts to spend the day working alongside seven members of the administration's own development team on the online petitions platform We the People. Check out the videos.

Applications for the fall 2013 Master of Engineering program at Cornell NYC Tech are now open. Deadline is March 15. Questions? Email admissions@tech.cornell.edu.

Applications for Startup Chile open up soon (March 25) so if you wanna get your hands on that $40,000 cash + 6 months of relaxation, you'd best get on it.

Later this week is the Start Summit, called "Davos for Geeks" by Bloomberg and one of the hottest tech events of the year. Invitations are hard to come by, but hey, its worth a try!

Anyone reading this who isn't a New Yorker? Heads up if so: Warby Parker is giving away a weekend for two here in the city to celebrate the opening of their very first flagship store.

An in-depth report on  my SXSW adventures is coming soon. It's been a blur of schmoozing, boozing, celeb spotting, pool partying, BBQing .... and a monkey who went just BANANAS with my business cards.

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

5th Annual North by New York City (NxNYC)
Don't want to drive to Austin because you might hit a roadrunner? Don't like cowboy boots because they don't match your black clothing? Don't want to leave because it might rain more in Austin? Then this is the event for you!
Monday (Mar. 11), 6 p.m. @ The Bowery Electric, 327 Bowery

FurtherEd TV Premiere + Launch Party
Think TED Talks but with a sole focus on edtech and entrepreneurs.
Tuesday (Mar. 12), 6 p.m. @ FurtherEd Studios, 61 Broadway, Ste 1105

NY Enterprise Tech Meetup
Fireside chat with Ed Sim (founder, Boldstart Ventures and cofounder, Dawntreader Ventures). Demos by DataHug and Waratek.
Tuesday (Mar. 12), 6:30 p.m. @ Cooley, 1114 Avenue of the Americas

New Challenge Presents Panel & Celebration
Panelists include Cheryl Dorsey (President, Echoing Green), Jeremy Heimens (founder & CEO, Purpose), Sasha Dichter (Chief Innovation Officer, Acumen Fund). Moderated by Bruce Nussbaum (Professor of Innovation & Design, Parsons The New School for Design).
Wednesday (Mar. 13), 6 p.m. @ Theresa Lang Center, 55 W. 13th Street

2013 Fashion 2.0 Awards
VIP reception and red carpet with nominees and presenters, cocktails & hors d'oeuvres, black tie.
Wednesday (Mar. 13), 6:30 p.m. @ SVA Theater, 333 W. 23rd Street

Entrepreneurs Roundtable 56
With Gil Beyda (Genacast Ventures)
Wednesday (Mar. 13), 6:30 p.m. @ NYU Stern School of Business, 44 W. 4th Street

Engineering @ Scale: 3 Failures and 1 (Big) Success
AppNexus CEO Brian O'Kelley tells the story of three failures and one (big) success: the evolution of a startup CEO.
Wednesday (Mar. 13), 6:30 p.m. @ AppNexus, 28 W. 23rd Street, 4th Fl.

Aaron's Law: Crowdsourcing the Future of Anti-Hacking Felonies
Digging into the expansion of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act and its current conflicted treatment in the courts. A look at what exactly is meant by "exceeds authorized access," while also looking to potential avenues for reform.
Wednesday (Mar. 13), 7 p.m. @ Projective Space L.E.S., 72 Allen Street, 3rd Fl.

NJ Tech Meetup 34
With David Kidder
Thursday (Mar. 14), 12 a.m. @ Babbio Center, Stevens Institute Of Technology, Hoboken

Investor Feedback Forum
Panelists include David Aronoff (Flybridge Capital), Gil Beyda (Genacast Ventures), Ed Sim (BOLDstart Ventures) and Mark Wachen (DreamIt Ventures). Startup Pitches by Caleb Gandara (DegreeCast), Michael Strong (Zola Books), Melchior Schöller (Poutsch), Rohit Vashisht (Sverve), Domi Enders (Open Assembly), Noah Smith (Dwelleo), Bernhard Mehl (KISIBOX), Dan O'Sullivan (Rock the Deadline) and David Carlos (myHomePayge).
Thursday (Mar. 14), 6:30 p.m. @ Microsoft, 1290 6th Avenue

Cultivated Wit #WhiskeyFriday
With Baratunde Thurston (cofounder, Cultivated Wit and author, How To Be Black) and Ron Williams (cofounder, Knodes)
Friday (Mar. 15), 6 p.m. @ Dorian Gray, 205 E. 4th Street

International Space Apps Challenge Meetup
Calling all space and data geeks! Come learn more about the International Space Apps Challenge.
Friday (Mar. 15), 6:30 p.m. @ AlleyNYC, 500 7th Avenue, 17th Fl.

More events on the horizon...
The Future of 3D Manufacturing - Brooklyn Style on Mar. 18 @ Brooklyn Law School - Moot Court Room
March 2013 NY Tech Meetup on Mar. 19 @ NYU Skirball Center For The Performing Arts
Mobile UX Design: Session 1: Theory and Practice of Mobile UX on Mar. 20 @ Frankfurt Kurnit
Design for Manufacturing Summit #3 on Mar. 21 @ Dumbo Spot
Silicon Dragon Alley 2013: Digital Media Innovators Venture Capitalist Mavericks & Dealmakers on Mar. 21 @ NASDAQ MarketSite
Made in NY Happy Hour on Mar. 21 @ Green Spaces
FinTech Hackathon on Apr. 6 @ AlleyNYC
Big Apple Smackdown: Silicon Alleys 1st Annual Ping-Pong Tournament! on Apr. 14 @ SPiN New York
Kingpins of Silicon Alley on Apr. 15 @ Bowlmor - Union Square
NY Tech Day on Apr. 25 @ Pier 92
Women Entrepreneurs Rock the World - 2013 on May 8 @ Altman Building, NYC

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

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.

So, the fiscal cliff has been averted, the NHL lockout is over (yeah!) and William Shatner (a.k.a. Captain James T. Kirk) tweeted at an astronaut--AND got a reply back. 2013 is off to a great start already!

As you know, I got an early jump on one of my New Year resolutions (to get in great shape). Things have been going well and thanks for the encouraging emails, keep 'em coming! And I've got some more suggestions for fitness routines. Two in particular caught my eye: New York news personality Ben Aaron's Dance Walking (yes, apparently that's a thing, and the video's a viral hit) and Formula 50, rapper/mogul 50 Cent's badass six-week regimen.

FYI, deadline for the TechStars New York Spring 2013 class is January 18. So, go apply now. But first, read these excellent tips by TechStars NYC Managing Director Nicole Glaros on team, video and describing your business.

500 Startups is ramping up its presence in New York City with over 35 investments and now a brand spanking new coworking space at 28th and Park. Half of the space (20 startups) will be open to non-portfolio companies. Interested? Contact 500 Startups NY partner Shai Goldman for all the juicy details. Here's the application form.

Hearst is teaming up with the good folks at Angelhack to bring you the Fashion Hackathon: Hack The Runway next month on Febuary 9 during Fashion Week. Prizes include access to exclusive VIP Fashion Week shows and events, use of your hack in NYFW events, $10,000 in cash prizes, and mentorship from Hearst. Yup, it's going to be off the hook!

My friend Alison Flood (producer, Webby Awards / Internet Week) is throwing a little birthday bash / fundraiser to help those affected by Sandy on Staten Island (where she was born & raised). There'll be drinking, dancing and sounds by Silent Drape Runners, Steven Rojas and DJ Frankenmack. Rock on!

For the startup founders, here are two classes I'd highly recommend you check out this week - Steve Schlafman (Lerer Ventures) on How to Pitch Your Startup to NYC Venture Firms (January 7) and Aaron Holiday (DFJ Gotham) on Essential Things to Know When Forming Your Startup (January 10, livestreamed).

My buddy Vijay and his punjabi funk band BlackMahal will be in town on the 12th, performing with Nomadic Massive at Drom. They've played the Vancouver Olympics, shared a stage with Das Racist and been called awesome by Rolling Stone. So go check them out!

Random nugget: "What these people (in the late 19th century) missed was that electricity, far beyond light, was a platform for a host of new industries. Over the following years, entrepreneurs would come up with appliances--today we might call them 'apps'--for vacuuming, laundry and eventually radio and television and huge industries grew on the electricity platform." - Dave Morgan (Internet advertising pioneer and founder/CEO, Simulmedia) in a recent New York Times article.

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

A Conversation with Adaptly Founder Nikhil Sethi
When you found an ad:tech startup at age 22 without ever having worked a day in advertising, odds are high you might make a mistake or two. Learn about the good, the bad, and everything else en route to the first $10 million in transactions through Adaptly's platform last year.
Monday (Jan. 7), 6:30 p.m. @ General Assembly East, 902 Broadway, 4th Fl.

Captive Audience: The Telecom Industry and Monopoly Power in the new Gilded Age
A reception and conversation organized by the Ford Foundation with author and leading telecommunications policy expert Susan Crawford to celebrate the release of her new book.
Tuesday (Jan. 8), 6 p.m. @ Ford Foundation, 320 E. 43rd Street

Invasion of The Hackathons
How a geek event gone mainstream is breeding innovation and unique opportunities for entrepreneurs. With Sabeen Ali (Angelhack), Jonathan Askin (Brooklyn Law School), Christopher Kennedy (48HourApps), Peter Robinson (ChallengePost) and others.
Tuesday (Jan. 8), 6:30 p.m. @ NYU Poly Tech Incubator, 20 Jay Street, #316, Brooklyn

January 2013 NY Tech Meetup
You know the drill: Five-minute, rapid-fire demos. A bunch of amazing new startups. Now hopefully you've managed to snag one of those elusive tickets!
Tuesday (Jan. 8), 7 p.m. @ NYU Skirball Center For Performing Arts, 566 Laguardia Place

New Relic Presents: Code Forward NYC - Meet the Developers Behind the Obama Campaign
Learn how the Obama for America’s focus on team building and efficiency helped them build a sophisticated cloud-based infrastructure that used big data to maximize their campaign’s success, volunteer engagement and voter outreach.
Tuesday (Jan. 8), 7 p.m. @ Grand Hyatt, 109 E. 42nd Street

FinTech Startups: VC Panel on Raising Capital in FinTech and 2013 Forecast
With Mike Cichowski (Edison Ventures), Josh Abramowitz (Deep Creek Capital), Huck O’Connor (Multiplier Capital) and Jordan Bettman (Bain Capital Ventures).
Wednesday (Jan. 9), 6:30 p.m. @ Dechert LLP, 1095 6th Avenue, 28th Fl.

Future of Media Panel
With Angela Tribelli (CMO, HarperCollins), Kate Lee (Director of Content, Medium) and Shafqat Islam (CEO, NewsCred).
Wednesday (Jan. 9), 6:30 p.m. @ Cooley at The Grace Building, 1114 Ave of the Americas, 46th Fl.

General Assembly + Warby Parker New Year's Resolution Party
An exclusive event to celebrate the new year, at Warby Parker's Annex showroom. In keeping with the resolutions theme, fill-in-the-blank postcards will be handed out to help you make and keep your resolutions.
Wednesday (Jan. 9), 7:30 p.m. @ Warby Parker Annex, 819 Washington Street

StartUP Series sponsored by WeWork
With Matthew Manos (CEO, verynice), Farrah Bostic (founder/Creative Strategist, The Difference Engine), Jared Cocken (chief product officer, Fitocracy), Oscar Torres (cofounder, zenplaya) and Pamela Castillo (cofounder, Market Publique). Emcee'd by Cindy Gallop (founder, MakeLoveNotPorn).
Thursday (Jan. 10), 6 p.m. @ Art Directors Club Gallery, 106 W. 29th Street

NJ Tech Meetup 32
With Bob Dorf (co-author, Startup Owners Manual)
Thursday (Jan. 10), 6:30 p.m. @ Stevens Institute Of Technology, Babbio Center, Hoboken

Investor Feedback Forum
Investor Panelists include Brad Harrison (Brad Harrison Ventures), Eric Hippeau (Lerer Ventures), Geoff Judge (iNovia Capital) and William Reinisch (Paladin Capital Group). Startup Pitches by Glyph, Curioos, Vestorly, NimbusBase, Epion Health, FreshNeck, MOWA and Sumpto.
Thursday (Jan. 10), 6:30 p.m. @ Microsoft, 1290 6th Avenue

Startup GC Panel #2
With Craig Abruzzo (general counsel, Birchbox), Nithya Das (legal counsel, AppNexus), Mark Silverstein (legal counsel, Spotify) and Benjamin Singer (associate general counsel, Gilt Groupe).
Thursday (Jan. 10), 8 p.m. @ General Assembly , 902 Broadway, 4th Fl.

API Hackday NY
Bringing developers together for an all-day coding fest focused on building apps and mashups with APIs. Brought to you by Twilio, SendGrid, Ordr.in, Singly, IKANOW, OpenTok & Mashery.
Saturday (Jan. 12), 8 a.m. @ Alley NYC, 500 7th Avenue, 17th Fl.

More events on the horizon...
Soho Startup Lunch on Jan. 14 @ Cupping Room Cafe
Enterprise Technology Meetup on Jan. 15 @ Cooley
1st Bronx Tech Meetup on Jan. 16 @ Majora Carter Group
Social Retail Summit #4 on Jan. 17 @ Dumbo Spot
Benefits of Cloud for Video & Image on Jan. 17 @ Anchin
Legal Essentials for Startups: Part 3 - Intellectual Property Protection on Jan. 22 @ Anchin
UX Design and User Experience Optimization Trends on Feb. 6 @ Anchin
Hearst Fashion Hackathon 2013 on Feb. 9 @ Hearst
Investor Feedback Forum (New York) on Feb. 14 @ Microsoft
Social Media Week NY 2013 on Feb. 18 @ Metropolitan Pavilion

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

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.

Terribly saddened by the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. Thoughts and prayers go out to the families of the victims, and hopefully we can all come together and figure out how to never ever let something like this happen again.

Plenty more holiday parties this week. The one event you don't wanna miss is the Queens Tech Meetup Holiday Party. QTM has quickly raced to almost a thousand members, and this Wednesday they've assembled a rockstar panel of women in NYC tech including Rachel Haot (Chief Digital Officer, New York City), Reshma Saujani (Founder, Girls Who Code and former New York City Deputy Public Advocate). Jessica Lawrence (Managing Director, New York Tech Meetup) and Helen Marshall (Queens Borough President and Coalition for Queens). Long Island City is happening, yo!

Who wants high-speed broadband fiber goodness at their business? You do! The NYCEDC may be bringing you the Christmas gift you always wanted. It's called the NYC Fiber Challenge. Winners receive free fiber build-out to their business, an overall value of up to $7 million for all winning businesses over two years. The application deadline is 2pm on December 27. Go get 'em! If you wanna learn more, there'll be a few workshops this week in Long Island City and Brooklyn.

Matter Ventures, a new incubator for media startups supported by The Knight Foundation, KQED, and Public Radio Exchange will be holding an information session on December 18th from 6:30 to 8:30pm at the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism. Inaugural class begins in late February and the deadline for applications is January 6th.

In other news, Manhattan's hottest new museum is ... MoMath! It's the first math museum in the U.S. and, true to its name, math pervades every aspect of the design--even the cafe, where the walls are made of Tetris-like puzzle shapes called pentominoes, and the tables are arranged as a knight would progress on a chessboard. The museum is located at 11 E. 26th St (north of Madison Square Park) and open everyday from 10 to 5. So go check it out and don't forget to take your kids (and nieces and nephews) along. It's about time we made an effort to make math cool and fun!

And if you're looking to check out GPS shoes with LED lights, a high-tech music box, Rotobooths and 3D printers, head on over to the WIRED popup store in SoHo (583 Broadway). It's open 11am-7pm Tuesday to Sunday through December 23rd.

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

NJ Tech Meetup 31
With Tony Haile (CEO, Chartbeat)
Monday (Dec. 17), 6:30 p.m. @ Howe Center Bissinger Room, Stevens Institute of Technology, 4th Fl., Hoboken

NYTM Meet the Board of Directors Candidates Event
NYTM members and the candidates running for a seat on the New York Tech Meetup board of directors.
Monday (Dec 17), 6:30 p.m. @ Projective Space L.E.S., 72 Allen Street

Second Screens and Social TV Roundtable
With Alex Iskold (founder/CEO, GetGlue), Tom Boland (SVP, Social@Ogilvy), Jesse Redniss (SVP digital, NBC / USA Networks), Michael Hussey (CEO, PeekAnalytics), David Beck (VP/GM of social media, Univision) and others.
Tuesday (Dec. 18), 8:30 a.m. @ SNR Denton, 1221 6th Avenue

NYC Data Business Meetup #11
Presenters include Oren Falkowitz (cofounder & CEO, sqrrl), Eric Frenkiel (cofounder & CEO, MemSQL) and Dhruv Bansal (cofounder & CSO, Infochimps).
Tuesday (Dec. 18), 6 p.m. @ Bloomberg LP, 731 Lexington Avenue, 7th Fl.

December NY Enterprise Technology Meetup
Featuring keynote by Fred Wilson (partner, Union Square Ventures). Demos by tracx, JouleX and SoMoLend.
Tuesday (Dec. 18), 6:30 p.m. @ Cooley, 1114 Avenue of the Americas, 46th Fl.

Windows 8 Launch Celebration!
A night of wine and cheese networking hosted by Microsoft, in celebration of the company's latest OS.
Tuesday (Dec. 18), 6:30 p.m. @ Microsoft, 1290 Avenue of Americas

Introduction to the NYC Startup Community + Founders Panel
With Neil Blumenthal (cofounder, Warby Parker), Brad Hargreaves (cofounder, General Assembly) and Kathryn Minshew (cofounder, The Daily Muse).
Tuesday (Dec. 18), 7:30 p.m. @ Warby Parker Annex, 819 Washington Street

Queens Tech Meetup 5 & Holiday Party
With Rachel Haot (Chief Digital Officer, New York City), Reshma Saujani (founder, Girls Who Code and former New York City Deputy Public Advocate), Jessica Lawrence (Managing Director, New York Tech Meetup) and Helen Marshall (Queens Borough President and Coalition for Queens).
Wednesday (Dec. 19), 6:30 p.m. @ See Exhibition Space, 25-25 44th Drive, Long Island City

NYC Gaming December: Demo Night
Demos by Kristen Harris (Taptiles), Mike Weiksner (Tip or Skip), Dat Nguyen (Smart Kick), Vianel Aquino (Waveology), Noah Sasso (BaraBariBall) and Muse Games (Guns of Icarus).
Wednesday (Dec. 19), 6:30 p.m. @ Microsoft, 1290 Avenue of the Americas, 6th Fl.

New Work City Holiday Festival
Arts & crafts & drinks & music! Holiday-themed drinks and activities will abound, and there might even be a surprise up their sleeves!
Thursday (Dec. 20), 10 a.m. @ New Work City, 412 Broadway, 2nd Fl.

Health 2.0 NYC: Crystal Ball Charity Gala 2012
With Esther Dyson (angel investor) and Bryan Sivak (CTO, HHS).
Thursday (Dec. 20), 5:30 p.m. @ Club 39, 303 West 39th Street

No Office Holiday Party 2012
Wyatt Cenac, Sexy Santa Photo Booth, DJ Steve Reynolds (Party Like It's 1999), Karaoke + more!
Thursday (Dec. 20), 8 p.m. @ Littlefield, 622 Degraw Street, Brooklyn

More events on the horizon...
ConnectNYC Fiber Challenge: Application Deadline on Dec. 27 @ NYCEDC
The Product Group January 2013 on Jan. 3 @ MTV Networks / Viacom
January 2013 NY Tech Meetup on Jan. 8 @ NYU Skirball Center For The Performing Arts
Startup GC Panel #2 on Jan. 10 @ General Assembly
Enterprise Tech Meetup on Jan. 16 @ Microsoft
Law to Tech Breakfast Panel on Feb. 22 @ General Assembly East

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