Doesn't look the same.

We weren't prepared to sit Shiva on this beautiful day, but it looks like Pete Cashmore had other plans for us. Out of nowhere, the iconic Mashable icon on Twitter changed from the the angelic face of the site's beautiful British founder to an icy blue M, that at least reminds us of his stunning eyes.

Mr. Cashmore somehow managed to write nearly 500 buzzy words (engagement! evolve! community!) explaining the change on his superfluous LiveJournal account, er website. He basically wrote that he’s sick of receiving all the credit the public heaps upon him. The breathless hyperbole and slideshows that appear on Mashable take teamwork, and can't just be accomplished with his handsome visage.

When I go to conferences, a lot of people tell me that they read my tweets. And while I’m thrilled that people follow the account, and flattered that people think that I’m so prolific, I can no longer take credit. We have a talented Community team that has built our social strategy and engages our community across all of our social channels.

Value added, indeed.

The cast of How to Marry a Millionaire admires the Times' brass. (Wikimedia Commons)

The old Grey Lady sure has outdone herself. Today the New York Times treated us to "Bachelorville's Big Fish," about the Valley's population of wealthy, eligible bachelors who, it is universally acknowledged, must be in want of a wife. Even better: It's complete with a slideshow by the oh-my-God-are-you-serious name of "Dating Profiles of High-Tech, High-Worth Bachelors." We're sure that many of these gentlemen are lovely, but really?

Rather than get our knickers in a twist re: gold-digging and its inherent objectionability, we've decided to take a different tack and respond to each "dating profile" with a popular song. To wit: 

Ben Rattray, cofounder and CEO, Change.org

"At 31, Mr. Rattray still drives a 1996 Toyota Camry and shares a cramped Noe Valley apartment in San Francisco with three college buddies."

That is a man who is hanging out the passenger side of his best friend's ride, trying to holler at me. And to that we say, "No Scrubs," by TLC.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SqtRrMKBdho

Larry Ellison, CEO, Oracle

"At 67, Mr. Ellison might not fit everyone’s definition of 'eligible.'"

He probably thinks this entire slideshow is about him. Ergo: "You're So Vain," by Carly Simon.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQZmCJUSC6g

Tony Hsieh, CEO, Zappos.com

"'I don’t use the term "dating," ' he explained in a recent e-mail. 'My current philosophy is to not look at things as black and white,' he said, 'but instead to just enjoy hanging out with different people.'"

This is definitely someone that you will tell, as you break up with him, that if he liked it, then he should have put a ring on it. "Single Ladies," by Ms. Beyonce Knowles.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4m1EFMoRFvY

Salar Kamangar, SVP, YouTube 

"When a network dating show recently approached Mr. Kamangar to appear as a contestant, it didn’t get far. Mr. Kamangar is as private as he is eligible."

You know, shyness is nice, but shyness can stop you from doing things in life you like to. "Ask," by the Smiths.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2N_Dwpkzmuw

Matt Cohler, Facebook employee No. 7 and general partner at Benchmark Capital

"Last year, he and his longtime girlfriend broke up, and he now finds himself looking for company in the brownstone that he recently bought in downtown Manhattan, which he has decorated with works by Richard Avedon and Vienna Secession-period furniture."

Sounds like someone could use a little more time, and no one wants to be a rebound gal. Also: he apparently turned to tech when he "struck out trying to make it as a saxophonist." So we're going to go with one of our pop favorites, "Careless Whisper," by George Michael.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izGwDsrQ1eQ&ob=av2n

Pete Cashmore, CEO, Mashable

 "An anonymous Twitter account called @hotpetecashmore is dotted with tweets like 'Am I the only one feeling hot, hot, hot tonight? — Pete.'"

Given that we cannot possibly argue with Mr. Cashmore's good looks, we'll just go ahead and tip our hat. "Hot Hot Hot," Buster Poindexter.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrhf_zgtmAg

Matt Mullenweg, founder, WordPress and Automattic

"Still only 28, the boyish blond with the snowboarder stubble [Wordpress founder Matt Mullenweg] is now worth an estimated $40 million."

We're feeling it, Mr. Mullenweg. "Is This Love," by Bob Marley and the Wailers. Only until the next time our CMS does something wacky, though.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EztmEF24fdo

Jack Dorsey, cofounder, Twitter and Square

“I’ve learned a lot from ballet,” he was quoted as saying. “I appreciate the coordination and the discipline. Making something simple is very difficult.”

As much as that man works, he'll need a time machine to carve out the proper space for a relationship. "Dancing with Myself," by Billy Idol. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FG1NrQYXjLU

And last but certainly not least:

Aaron Levie, cofounder, Box

"Last September, [Box cofounder Aaron Levie] played ringmaster at the company’s first conference, BoxWorks, showing up in orange sneakers and firing up a crowd of hundreds with motivational pronouncements before handing out free Motorola XOOM tablets for everyone, Oprah-style, and giving over the stage to Third Eye Blind."

We wish the New York Times had stepped back from this particular ledge, and we want something else. Our ruling: "Semi-Charmed Life," Third Eye Blind.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWX_p2GgHzY

Justin Long, Richard Dreyfuss and John Hodgman at the 16th Annual Webby Awards.

This is a guest post from Gary Sharma (aka “The Guy with the Red Tie”), Founder & 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@garysguide.com.

It was Monday afternoon and after spending the morning hanging out with startup peeps at the TechCrunch Disrupt conference, it was time to head on over to the Hammerstein Ballroom for the 16th Annual Webby Awards (a.k.a. Oscars for the Internets!).

Thankfully the rain had stopped (it had been pouring cats and dogs and rabbits all day making everyone miserable). I groaned as I saw a long line leading up to the venue. But I wondered why everyone was wearing jeans and sneakers and carrying backpacks? Well thats cuz this was the line to catch the next bus to Jersey! I continued walking a few more steps and finally arrived at my real destination.

The lovely Shira Lazar (host of What's Trending) was on the red carpet doing what she does best - interviewing celebrities. I flashed her a smile and made my way in.

Shira Lazar with restauranteur Marc Forgione at the 16th Annual Webby Awards

Comedian Jim Gaffigan at the 16th Annual Webby Awards

I ran into my tech-scene-hopping-comrades-in-arms Scott Beale and Rusty Blazenhoff of LaughingSquid. Rusty alas is only in town for a bit and going back to San Fran tomorrow. At the bar, I bumped into Thrillist managing editor (and Webutante Ball impressario) Richard Blakeley and girlfriend Lindsay Kaplan of Chloe+Isabel. "Loved your Internet Week writeup!" said Mr. Blakeley. Ms Kaplan and I attempted to take a few photos together but the crowded bar made it awkward. My vodka tonic came in a jumbo keepsake Webby branded glass. Nice touch!

I met The Next Web's Anna Heim. Ms Heim I learnt is a polyglot French news junkie! There were quite a few familiar faces including NY Tech Meetup Chairman Andrew Rasiej, RTP Ventures Director Jalak Jobanputra, Barbarian Group Co-Founder and Angel Investor Rick Webb, 92Y Director of Digital Initiatives Leigh Ferreira, Mashable COO Sharon Hirsch, Google's Caroline McCarthy, Shorty Awards' Lee Semel, Zoe Media Group CEO Rodger Berman and of course Webby cofounders Neil Vogel and David-Michel Davies. Alongwith of course all the Webby winners (and their +1s).

Comedian Patton Oswalt hosting the 16th Annual Webby Awards (Photo: Scott Beale / Laughing Squid)

And now onto my highlights of the show...

New York City's CEO / Mayor Michael Bloomberg was honored with a Webby Award for Lifetime Achievement for his work with the Bloomberg corporation. He was presented the award by Tumblr Founder and CEO David Karp. As Mr. Karp noted in his tribute speech, if it weren't for Mr Bloomberg we wouldn't have found the cost of Facebook shares until Monday. Real-time FTW, baby! Mr. Bloomberg's five word acceptance speech? "Make it here, then everywhere!" Though it would have been more amusing if he'd gone with "I Can Haz Fourth Term?" ;)

It was pretty awesome to see die-hard Knicks fan Spike Lee on stage with Knicks wunderboy sensation Jeremy Lin. To say Mr. Lee was giddy like a schoolgirl would be an understatement. "Now this my man, right here. I wore his high school jersey. Wore his Harvard jersey." said Mr. Lee. Mr Lin's five-word speech: "Internet Fans I Love You".

Mayor Mike Bloomberg and Tumblr Founder and CEO David Karp at the 16th Annual Webby Awards (Photo: Shira Lazar)

Filmmaker Spike Lee and Knicks' Jeremy Lin at the 16th Annual Webby Awards

One of my favorite highlights from the ceremony was a minute-long video montage tribute to the late legendary Apple cofounder and CEO, Steve Jobs where a bunch of famous, influential folks thanked Jobs for his contributions to technology with five-word thank you speeches including President Barack Obama ("Thank you for thinking different"), President Bill Clinton ("For Spreading American Ingenuity Worldwide"), Vice President Al Gore ("Steve Jobs was insanely great"), U2's Bono ("For Saving Lives With Red"), Jimmy Fallon ("He Made Turtlenecks Sexy Again"), Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, Sarah Silverman, Arianna Huffington and a bunch of other folks. "I only need one word" said President Obama. "Amazing." Amen to that. You can watch the video here.

Actress Juliette Lewis and actor Graydon Sheppard won the Best Actresses award for their viral video "Sh*t Girls Say." Five-word speech: "We just want to thank..."

Bjork accepted the award for "Artist of the Year." What, no crazy swan dresses? Color me disappointed! Five-word speech: "A-E-I-O-U!"

Instagram (fresh off its $1 billion purchase by Facebook) won the award for Webby Breakout of the Year. Founders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger were at hand to accept the award. Five-word speech: "This Here Requires No Filter".

Bjork at the 16th Annual Webby Awards

Instagram founders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger at the 16th Annual Webby Awards

The Meme of the Year award went to Nyan Cat, edging out the popular "Texts from Hillary" tumblr.

Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (who plays Jamie Lannister in the HBO series Game of Thrones) accepted an award on behalf of Greenland.com. "I think winter just came!" quipped Mr. Oswalt.

And finally, Louis C.K. won the Webby Person of the Year award. Five-word speech: "When I Die, Bye Bye". Yikes! Morbid much?

Jim Gaffigan and Louis C.K. at the 16th Annual Webby Awards

John Hodgman, Mike O'Brien, Justin Long and Jason Sudeikis loling at Webby Winners Lounge

Mayor Bloomberg and Spike Lee sharing a private moment at the 16th Annual Webby Awards

After the ceremony, as I got up, I bumped into Mr. Dreyfuss. I asked him to elaborate on some of his remarks from earlier that night regarding Facebook and Google. Ten minutes later Mr. Dreyfuss was still going strong. The guy can talk! (and enough material for another blog post or two! ;) He expounded on what he felt was the dumbing down of America and the upcoming generations and how Facebook and Google were prime suspects in making that happen. We exchanged contact info and he invited me to California to learn more about some of the initiatives he's involved in.

I said hello to Jim Gaffigan and fist-bumped Jason Sudekis. I ran into Mashable CEO Pete Cashmore and his lovely girlfriend Lisa Bettany from Camera+. "Still with the red tie!" smiled Mr Cashmore. "Always!" I smiled back. We chatted about Mashable's new tech events section and the potential for collaborating and working together there.

Fab.com founders Bradford Shellhammer and Jason Goldberg at the 16th Annual Webby Awards (Photo: Scott Beale / Laughing Squid)

I chatted with an exec from Twitter. Twitter's New York office has now almost 40 people, I learned, and the vibe there is very Mad Men! "How's the monetization coming along?" I asked in my best oh-yes-I-went-there tone. I wasn't able to get any hard numbers out of him but targeting is getting much better with the more data they're collecting. "So, better than Facebook, eh?" I asked. That elicited a smile. And that lead to the discussion of how intense the tech rivalries are getting. Apparently mentioning Twitter inside Facebook offices is a big no-no. As apparently is mentioning Facebook inside Google and mentioning Google inside Microsoft. Why can't we all just get along?

As I made my way outside I caught up with the lovely Jocelyn Johnson (who I hadn't seen since SXSW!). Miss Johnson was accompanied by Sonia Gil Montero who picked up the People’s Voice Webby Award for Best Web Personality/Host for her online travel show Sonia Travels. And Miss Montero's five-word speech was in five different languages. Killer! I mentioned how I'd been trying to pick up Mandarin and it was hard. We got in a discussion about different language learning techniques. Interestingly Miss Monteros has a startup Fluenz which aims to help users with exactly that. "Better than Rosetta Stone?" I asked "Yes!" she replied without hesitation. Gotta love the confidence! :) I promised to check it out.

After Party at Edison Ballroom at the 16th Annual Webby Awards (Photo: Scott Beale / Laughing Squid

Later we all headed to the after-party at the Edison Ballroom where I ran into Rachel Sklar, easily one of my favorite people in the New York tech scene (super connected, super helpful and super nice). "I waved at you earlier to try get your attention!" she exclaimed. "So did I!" I replied. Ahhh, missed connections. Miss Sklar was excited about a new project she's launching called TheLi.st.

Soon more people began arriving, the crowd became more energized and the music picked up. Time to put the networking on hold and hit the dance floor.

So there you have it, folks. A wonderful star-studded-booze-fueled evening celebrating the wonder that is the Interwebs 'n the Internets. Until next time. Bye-bye!

Aol's Andrea Hong, GroupMe/Skype's Steve Cheney, TechStars' Justin Overdorff, Shelby.tv's Chris Kurdziel and Lauren Appelwick, American Express' Meghan Paul, Acquaintable's Joel Rodriguez and Greycroft Partners' Alisa Richter posing at the always epic Webutante Ball @ Internet Week 2012. (Photo: Nick McGlynn / Random Night Out)

This is a guest post from Gary Sharma (aka “The Guy with the Red Tie”), Founder & 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@garysguide.com.

"I think I just ran into Michael Stipe!"
"Get outta here. Srsly?"
"Well it looked like him."
"Wait, who's Michael Stipe?"
"The lead vocalist for R.E.M."
"Hmmm, are you sure you saw Michael Stipe?"
"Well he was bald and looked familiar."
"Maybe you saw Moby. You sure it wasn't Moby?"
(We all peered into the crowd gathered at the Hard Candy Shell party scanning intently to see if we could spot a familiar, bald rockstar.)

Welcome to Internet Week 2012, y'all! Where the young & the restless mingle with the bold & the beautiful mingle with the rich & the famous all brought together by the seductive beauty and power of this thing we call the Internets! :)

With over 500 companies and 40,000 attendees, Internet Week (now in its 5th year) is billed as a celebration of the city's thriving Internet industry and community. As festival co-chair David-Michel Davies (a.k.a. dmd) pointed out, it's the web, not TV, that is driving the conversation today and is the hub of all things pop culture. And New York is very much a big part of where innovation on the web is happening. "New York is an exceptionally entrepreneurial city," Mr Davies pointed out. "People come here for opportunity, and it’s been like that since the city was founded."

Well, you know what they say. Mo' innovation = Mo' Companies = Mo' Money = Mo' Jobs! :) Yes, I can get behind that. (Also it's been two months since all the partying + boozing + schmoozing + debauchery of SXSW and things have been a tad slow lately. Internet Week, you've arrived just in time!)

Tumblr Founder & CEO David Karp outside the Internet Week 2012 HQ

Demand Media's Oxygen Bar at Internet Week 2012 HQ

My journey began outside the aptly named Internet Week HQ, a 50,000-square-foot space at 82 Mercer. As I patiently waited in line to get in, a couple of girls behind me were chatting excitedly about their startup. "So what's it about?" I asked, unable to resist poking my nose in their bidness. "It's called Picksie! It's an awesome-new-iphone-app-for-location-and-proximity-based-discovery-service-for-things-to-do-near-you!" Their enthusiasm was charming and infectious and I agreed to check it out.

There were a ton of panels and keynotes all through Internet Week. Here are some highlights:

Mashable CEO Pete Cashmore sat down for a fireside chat with Mr. Davies and reminisced about starting Mashable at age 19 back in Scotland in 2005 out of his bedroom and bootstrapping it all the way through. (Interesting factoid: Mashable was hosted on WordPress instead of TypePad because it was too expensive at $10 a month!) Mr. Cashmore pointed out how the lines between consumer and producer are rapidly blurring as users are not just passively consuming but also activately creating and publishing content. Mr. Cashmore also noted that the value of social media is how it becomes our personal filter to the world around us helping make sense of it and making it more personal and relevant. (Personally, I'd have loved it if Mr. Cashmore shed some light on when/how he stumbled upon the goldmine that is Top 10 Lists ;))

In an hour-long conversation, the New York Times' David Carr and Brian Stelter explored the fast-changing world of media consumption, discovery, reporting and business models. "It was scary when it was first announced with all of us there in the newsroom," noted Mr. Carr, regarding the Times' decision to erect a subscription paywall. "We all held hands and jumped through the wall!" "Nobody should ever break news on Twitter," continued Mr. Carr. "There is certainly value to breaking news, but not to kidnapping it." Both Mr. Stelter and Mr. Carr cautioned against getting sucked into the Twitter echo-chamber. "Don’t mistake Twitter heat for real heat!" (Okay, I get it ... Mr. Carr looks at Twitter the way a mouse looks at a rattlesnake ;)

New York's CEO Mayor Mike Bloomberg unveiling the Mapped in NY initiative to help connect job seekers with startups looking to hire.

CNN Money reporter Laurie Segall, LearnVest CEO Alexa von Tobel, ArtSpace CEO Catherine Levene, Birchbox Co-Founder Hayley Barna, Mashable COO Sharon Feder and Nestio CEO Caren Maio at the 'Why being a good executive has nothing to do with being a woman' panel

Then there was the "Future of Media" panel, where folks from the media industry gathered to discuss--you guessed it--the future of media. Reuters social media editor Anthony De Rosa and recently elected Yahoo board member Michael Wolf opined on the continued relevance of smaller local newspapers and Warren Buffett's recent purchase of 63 newspapers. Jezebel's Jessica Coen gave a thumbs up to the tactile feel of glossy magazines that just can't be replicated digitally quite yet. And Buzzfeed's Jonah Peretti noted how Facebook was by far their biggest traffic referrer, surpassing Google.

IAC chief Barry Diller announced at the Federated Media CM Summit that they will be launching an offline component to Match.com. So what does that mean exactly? Well, it means Match.com will be organizing more face-to-face, curated, in-person events. This seems to have disaster written all over it, but I do give Mr. Diller points for trying!

There was video blogger Shira Lazar chatting with new age spiritual guru Deepak Chopra, who has a new YouTube channel The Chopra Well and is working on his 65th book, Spiritual Solutions (talk about prolific!). We waited breathlessly for Mr Chopra to impart one of his trademark enlightening comments and he didn't disappoint. "We are but a speck of dust in a huge infinite void somewhere in the junkyard of infinity." Yes we are!

Video blogger Shira Lazar interviewing new age spiritual guru Deepak Chopra in the Whats Trending section

But as we all know, while panels are great, Internet Week (like SXSW) is really all about the parties, right?!!

There was the opening day party at Internet Week HQ followed by the after-party at Tribeca Grand, where I ran into a bunch of people including the lovely Jennifer Laxmi from Picksie, Stylemusee's Karen Moon, Laughing Squid's Scott Beale, DotGo's Michelle DeForest, Interference's Jessica Randazza and others. The founders of a new startup launching soon called Klooff (it's Instagram for pets!) gave me an impromptu demo in the lobby downstairs. OMGPOP founder Charles Forman offered us strange orange tablets and encouraged us to mix them into our drinks. Which we promptly did. And that's pretty much the last thing I remember from that evening. I kid, I kid! It turned about to be just some tangy, Vitamin C stuff that Charles had picked up somewhere. This wasn't that kind of party, y'know! ;)

There was the Time Inc. party to celebrate the magazine's 10 NYC Startups to watch (ahhh top 10 lists again). The theme of the conversation was very much about 'Why NYC' as a place to start a company. Adaptly cofounder & CEO Nikhil Sethi mentioned how 99 percent of their customers were within a one-block radius of their offices. Sidetour cofounder & CEO Vipin Goyal talked about the breadth of amazing experiences available in the city including one of their more popular tours, "dinner with an investment banker-turned-monk in an East Village monastery." Only in NY! Art.sy founder & CEO Carter Cleveland reiterated what we all know, that New York is pretty much the center of the art world. And Fab.com CMO Scott Ballantyne talked about trying to replicate online that experience of walking down SoHo on Greene Street with one's friends on Sunday and discovering something in the shop window.

Mary Beth, Taylor Bennett and Kaki Read of Warby Parker at the Refinery 29 / Warby Parker party during Internet Week 2012

There was, of course, the much-anticipated Webutante ball (a.k.a. Nerd Prom a.k.a. Everyone Gets Laid Tonight) hosted by Richard Blakeley (Managing Editor at Thrillist) at Marquee, which had lines snaking around the block. I made a beeline to the bar where a young 20-something mentioned to me how excited she was to get away from her corporate cubicle world and finally dip her toes into the "NY tech scene cesspool." Uh-huh. Another pretty young thing whispered in my ear how she loved my curls and proceeded to slide her fingers through them. I closed my eyes, downed the remainder of my drink and signaled to the bartender for an encore. Yes, this was going to be a fun night!

As I made my way thru the crowd familiar faces popped up everywhere. There was The Next Web's Courtney Boyd Myers alongwith Storyful's Erica Berger. RecordSetter's Emily Meithener was there, as was Folio's Niamh Hughes and Sailthru's Aubrey Sabala. Thrillist founders Ben Lerer and Adam Rich and their posse were staked out in a corner. There was the hot (and poachable) Andrea Hong, who does bizdev for AOL, hanging with fellow bizdev cohort Steve Cheney of GroupMe/Skype. I got a hug from Perks Consulting's Lauren Perkins, who'd just arrived with Zelkova Ventures' Jay Levy in tow.

I ran into 360i social strategist Rosie Siman and MDC Partners' Faris Yakob. Mr. Yakob's dreadlocks are getting to be almost as crazy as my curls, if not crazier! I caught up with the lovely ladies of Morris+King - Chi Zhao and Elisabeth Maria. There was WeWork Labs' Matt Shampine, excited about their recent expansion into SF and even more excited about a recent excursion to wine country in Sausalito. Next to him was our very own Betabeater Adrianne Jeffries chatting with frenemy Dick Talens of Fitocracy. Eventually, as all parties do, this one had to end and we all headed over to the after-party thrown by Charming Robot at Destination Bar. The crowd grew drunker, the voices grew louder, the night grew warmer and the party grew crazier.

Gary's Famous (and Sponsored) Red Tie at Webutante Ball at Internet Week 2012

Shelby TV's Reece Pacheco and Lauren Appelwick crowned King and Queen of Webutante Ball at Internet Week 2012. (Photo: Nick McGlynn / Random Night Out)

There was TapRoot's Make It Happen party at a sexy private loft + rooftop apartment in Soho. Taproot's trying to connect folks who are interested in doing pro bono work with charities who could use their help. A worthy cause if there was one. I bumped into a bunch of people including TapRoot's Wendi Sturgis & Robert Acton, Morris+King's Andy Morris, DBG's Chris Young (our gracious host), Social Innovators Collective's Shana Dressler, NY Tech Meetup's Dawn Barber, OMGPop's Charles Forman and others. Inc.'s Howard Greenstein regaled us with stores about the early, early days of Silicon Alley, of Mac User Groups and BBSs.

There was Nick McGlynn's always-happening Obliterati party at Sweet & Vicious, where we all downed copious amounts of margaritas in jars (a.k.a. jargaritas!).

There was The Art of Apps show at the Soho Gallery for Digital Art, which showcased the art and design behind some of the coolest apps such as Path, Mixel, Cameo, Paper and others. As event host (and gdgt founder) Peter Rojas noted: "Creating an amazing user experience for an app – one where the device itself almost melts away – requires a thoughtfulness and cleverness that can be hard to find." Amen, brother.

There was the Stylecaster party, bringing a dash of fashion & style to Internet Week and attended by Fueled founder & CEO (& 50 Most Stylish New Yorkers honoree) Ramit Chawla (who I hadn't seen since SXSW), Foodspotting's Soraya Darabi, Chloe+Isabel's Lindsay Kaplan, Hearst's Head of Digital Marketing (and StyleCaster Co-Founder) Brandon Perlman, The Next Web's Courtney Boyd Myers, Intermix's Dani Axelrod and many more.

Stylecaster's Ari Goldberg, David Goldberg & Meghan Cross and Everyday Health's Mike Keriakos

There was, of course, our very own Betabeat's one-year anniversary party (they grow up so fast!) co-hosted with the Barbarian Group on their awesome Tribeca rooftop with a view to die for. As I arrived, I got a warm hug from Betabeat editor Adrianne Jeffries. Later I ran into Observer Editor-in-Chief Elizabeth Spiers, who told me she loved my column. High praise indeed from the founding editor of Gawker and the high priestess of blogging! There was ex-Betabeater Ben Popper who recently jumped ship to VentureBeat and blink-and-you-missed-it jumped again to The Verge.

I bumped into Mr. Webutante Ball himself Richard Blakeley and girlfriend Lindsay Kaplan of Chloe+Isabel. They mentioned they were planning to take a much-needed vacation to Italy. Right on! VYou cofounder and man-about-town Rex Sorgatz was there with the Wall Street Journal's Monica Vosough. Mr. Sorgatz complained that people had been lately confusing him for Barbarian Group cofounder and angel investor Rick Webb. I looked at Mr. Sorgatz, then looked at Mr. Webb and then back again at Mr. Sorgatz. No, I didn't see it--but then again, I was only on my second drink!

I ran into General Assembly's Matt O' Brimer and Jake Schwartz. GA has been on an expansion tear lately, first with London and then Berlin, and the pair were excited about their new online initiative, as well. Mr. Schwartz promised to connect me to their guy in London, where I'll be headed to later this month to explore Tech City. I caught up with Alli Mooney, who I hadn't seen a long, long time. Alli heads trends and insights marketing at Google. I met the lovely Nikki Durkin, the recent Y-Combinator graduate and 99Dresses founder, who bootstrapped her startup down under in Australia. We chatted about her experience at YC, the grueling interview process and the secret to acing it. (Yes, there is one. It's called showing traction. PG loves traction! :))

As the evening progressed, I ran into a whole bunch of acquaintances including Union Square Ventures' Christina Cacioppo, Aviary's Michael Galpert, Barbarian Group cofounder Benjamin Palmer, ABC's Maya Baratz, NYC Chief Digital Officer Rachel Sterne and many more. Yes, this was definitely a happening party!

Betabeat's One-Year Anniversary Party on the Barbarian Group Rooftop (Photo: Zarah Burstein)

McGarryBowen's Taylor Lorenz and Adotube's Bitsy Metcalf at the BetaBeat 1 Year Anniversary Party on the Barbarian Group Rooftop

Later, a bunch of us headed over to the party at Hard Candy Shell's new offices. Retro was very much the theme, with audio cassette tapes sprinkled everywhere and Mr. Webb snapping and sharing Polaroids all around whilst puffing on an electric cigarette. We ran into foursquare tech guru Harry Heymann at the entrance. He invited us in and encouraged us to make ourselves at home, which we did. The lovely Brooke Moreland from Fashism (there with her beau Joe Wiesenthal of The Business Insider) waved at us. I bumped into former Hard Candy Shell chief and now Charming Robot founder Dan Machharone. (Mr Machharone incidentally is also a co-owner of the aforementioned Destination Bar)

The lovely Bitsy Metcalf and I put on our sunglasses and hammed it up for the camera. A screen on the wall was playing YouTube videos of impossibly cute cats & dogs. I chatted with foursquare CEO Dennis Crowley, Laughing Squid's Scott Beale 'n Rusty Blazenhoff and designer Emma Welles. We all got excited at what seemed to be a whisky cabinet but upon closer inspection it turned out to be just a whiteboard inside. No hard candy for us :(

foursquare CEO Dennis Crowley on realizing the whisky cabinet was really just a hidden whiteboard (Photo: Scott Beale / Laughing Squid)

And finally there was the Internet Week closing party at IAC's snazzy Gehry-designed west side digs and hosted by hot new streaming-TV startup Aereo. The event was teeming to the brim with celebrities and the city's movers 'n shakers, including actors Wilmer Valderrama, Tyrese Gibson, Carrie Keagan and Allison Williams, IAC honcho Barry Diller, Match.com president Mandy Ginsberg and others. Actor and Comedian Will Arnett was manning the DJ booth.

Actors Will Arnett, Carrie Keagan and Tyrese Gibson at the IAC / Aereo Internet Week Closing Party

The two Rachels: Rachel Sterne and Rachel Sklar at the IAC / Aereo Internet Week Closing Party

Actor and comedian Will Arnett manning the DJ booth at the IAC / Aereo Internet Week Closing Party

The final crowning moment of Internet Week 2012 came as Mr Davies, alongwith the city's Chief Digital Officer Rachel Sterne and a bunch of others, rang the NASDAQ closing bell on a day that saw the exchange host the historic debut of the IPO of Facebook, arguably the most important Internet company of our lifetime.

Internet Week Co-Chair David-Michel Davies and NYC Chief Digital Officer Rachel Sterne ringing the closing bell at the NASDAQ

“I’d love to get a time machine and go back to 2004 and invest in Facebook,” quipped Mr Arnett.

So would I, Mr Arnett. So would I.

This is a guest post from Gary Sharma (aka "The Guy with the Red Tie"), Founder of GarysGuide, Mentor at ER Accelerator 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.

Just Peachy
It starts off innocently enough with buzzwords like platform, brands, game mechanics, engaging clients, social graph ... yada yada yada ... being thrown about. And then suddenly this ... "We've been thru a ton of together. I know her mood swings, I know when her blood sugar gets low." Wait, whaaa...? Yup, thats Betabeat's very own new reality show, of course. ;) It's called "The Pitch" and as Betabeater Ben Popper recently tweeted, it's got everything from college seniors and corporate bankers to toy makers and fashionistas trying their hand at the startup lifestyle. And yes, plenty of baseball metaphors. So go grab some popcorn, lean back and press the play button already.

Deals, deals & more deals
As always, we got a bunch of cool deals for y'all including classes at General Assembly, the Raise Cache tech fashion show, 500 Startups Warm Gun conference and more.

And now, lets take a peek behind the curtains to see who's performing (and who's showboating) in the Flatiron production of Silicon Alley this week...

Social Media World Forum North America
In case you had been wondering, yes, you just found the event where you can pow-wow with social media experts, strategists, maestros and gurus all-day-long. ;)
Tuesday, 8 a.m. @ Jacob K Javits Convention Center, 655 West 34th Street

HTML5 Live in New York 2011
Been stressing out dealing with the complexities of Objective-C and inanities of Android fragmentation? Hoping the rest of the world would hurry up and get with the HTML5 program already? You, my friend, needs to head on over to this event ASAP.
Tuesday, 9 a.m. @ New World Stages, 340 West 50th Street

Hacks & Hackers: How We Made Our Maps
Like to geek out over all things cartographic? Then u're gonna like this one. With John Keefe (WNYC Evacuation Zone Map), Albert Sun (WSJ Census Map Maker) and Jeff Larson (ProPublica).
Tuesday, 6:30 p.m. @ Aol HQ, 770 Broadway 5th Floor

Girl Develop IT: JavaScript/JQuery: November Section
I've said it before and I'll say it again. Girls + Coding = Plain Awesome :)
Tuesday, 7 p.m. @ Hive at 55, 55 Broad Street

New York Android Software Developers Happy Hour
For those who like cupcakes, donuts, eclairs, gingerbreads and ice cream sandwiches. And of course beer.
Tuesday, 7 p.m. @ O'Lunney's Times Square Pub, 145 W 45th Street

Open Hardware Breakfast & Panel Discussion
Had enough of software? Hoping to hang with the hardcore hardware crowd for a change? Then this one is for u, pal. Panelists include Bob Pasker (CTO-in-Residence, Accel Partners) and Kelsey Nix (IP Partner, Willkie Farr & Gallagher).
Wednesday, 8:30 a.m. @ The New York City Investment Fund, One Battery Park Plaza 5th Floor

Ad Age Happy Hour
Throwing back martinis with the Don Draper & Peggy Olson crowd.
Wednesday, 6 p.m. @ 13th Step, 149 2nd Avenue

How to Build a Company with a Multi-Million Dollar Exit
Building a startup is cool. But u know whats cooler? Having a multi-million dollar exit. Thats what. With Laurel Touby (Founder, Mediabistro) and Mark Wachen (Founder, Optimost). Moderated by Joe Chin.
Wednesday, 6:30 p.m. @ NYU Stern Kaufman Management Center, 44 West Fourth Street

GA + GLabs present: Ben Lerer, co-founder and CEO of Thrillist
Learn how to build a multi-million dollar, multi-platform brand. Bonus: Learn how to throw awesome parties.
Wednesday, 7 p.m. @ General Assembly, 902 Broadway 4th Floor

November 2011 NY Tech Meetup
I am super excited for yet another awesome edition of the NY Tech Meetu... oh wait, did u say its all the way uptown? Noooooooo!
Wednesday, 7 p.m. @ 92 Street Y, 1395 Lexington Avenue

SEGD Xlab 2011: Design of Location
Where the real physical world and the online virtual world collide and explode. With John Geraci (CoFounder, Outside.in), Kiyo Kubo (Founder, Spotlight Mobile), Greg Tran (Harvard School of Design), Philip Stanger (CEO, Wifarer), Vivian Rosenthal (CEO, GoldRun), Linda Perry-Lube (Chief Digital Officer, American Museum of Natural History), Colin Ellard (Waterloo Lab for Collaborative Virtual Environments), Patrick Hofmann (Google Maps), Mark Shepard (Artist, Architect & 2011 Eyebeam Fellow), Abby Suckle (Founder, CultureNow and Museum Without Walls) and more.
Thursday, 8 a.m. @ Eyebeam Art+Technology Center, 540 West 21st Street

Occupy Wall Street & the Role of Social Media
Whats more fun than occupying Wall Street? Why, learning about how to use social media to occupy Wall Street of course. With Paul Farkas (Social TV), Andrew Weinreich (MeetMoi/sixdegrees.com) and Gregory Galant (Sawhorse Media).
Thursday, 6 p.m. @ Media Training Worldwide, 34 W 38th Street

Women In Wireless Present: Public Speaking: How to Rock an Audience
Tara Hunt (she of The Whuffie Factor fame) will teach u how to speak in public. More importantly, later on she'll teach u how to karaoke like a pro at the Rock & Rose karaoke afterparty.
Thursday, 6 p.m. @ Lowenstein Sandler, 1251 Ave of the Americas

Collaboration Nation: From Napkin Idea to Reality: Best Practices or Innovation.
Cuz its about time u converted those napkin doodles into real startup gold, no? With Jason Baptiste (CEO and Founder, Onswipe), Danya Cheskis-Gold (Community Manager, Skillshare), Brandon Evans (CEO & Founder, CrowdTap) and Peter Lehrman. Moderated by Jodi Jefferson.
Thursday, 6:30 p.m. @ WeCreate NYC, 58 East 11th Street 8th Floor

Mashable Media Summit 2011
A rockstar speaker lineup of Paul Berry (CTO, Huffington Post Media Group), Emily Chang (Anchor, Bloomberg Television), Anthony de Rosa (Reuters), Tony Haile (Chartbeat), Alex Iskold (CEO, GetGlue), Alexis Maybank (CoFounder, Gilt Groupe), Andrew Nash (Google), Jesse Redniss (USA Network), Faris Yakob (MDC Partners), Brian Stelter (NY Times), ..... what's that? well yes of course Pete Cashmore is going to be there. Will he sign ur boobs? Errr, well u'll have to ask him that but if u bought a ticket, I'm sure he will.
Friday, 8:30 a.m. @ TheTimesCenter, 242 West 41st Street

EcoHackNYC
Global Environmental Change + Scientists/Hackers/Designers/Hobbyists + Hack.Hack.Hack!
Friday, 7:30 p.m. @ ITP, 721 Broadway

Reinventing Local: A General Assembly Hackathon
Attention all ye So-Lo-Mo hackers, designers, developers and entrepreneurs. Time to get ur local hack on, yo.
Saturday, 9 a.m. @ General Assembly, 902 Broadway 4th Floor

More on the horizon...
Future of Web Design (FOWD) Conference on Nov 7 @ New World Stages
Ad:Tech NY on Nov 8 @ Javits Center
CNet Gotham Live on Nov 9 @ Openhouse Gallery
Brands Conf on Nov 9 @ 92 Street Y
ERA Giving Thanks to NY Startup Community Party on Nov 10 @ Goodwin Procter
Raise Cache: A Celebration of NY Tech and A Benefit for hackNY on Nov 17 @ State Armory

Until next week. Stay thirsty social, my friends!

While he has called San Francisco home for the past few years, Mr. Cashmore is increasingly spending time in Silicon Alley as Mashable looks to significantly expand its footprint in the city.

For a long time the company relied on co-working spaces and many staffers clocked in from home. But just last fall Mashable moved into their first full time space on East 24th and Park. Now they are in the process of getting a new office downtown, five times larger than their current digs. "Intimacy is great, overcrowding is not," Mr. Cashmore said.

Part of the change is that Mashable left Federated Media and took over its own advertising, which means building a sales team based in New York. While a lot of sites have been rocked in recent months by the changes underfoot at Google search, Mashable has always seen the majority of its traffic arrive directly or from sources like Facebook and Twitter. "We got an audience that is keenly interested in using the megaphone of social media and that has been a strategic advantage for us," Mr. Cashmore said.

It's not uncommon to see a story on Mashable receive thousands of tweets within minutes of being posted, before readers even have the time to finish reading or comment. The company recently rolled out a new service, Mashable Follow, that turns the smorgasbord of widgets for sharing content into one button. After setting their preferences, many users post stories to Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn with a single click.

"I think our traffic is underreported in a certain way," Mr. Cashmore said. "Pageviews are one thing, but your presence on social sites is a better measure of mindshare. Advertisers are still adjusting to this, moving from measuring raw traffic to engagement. It will take time, but new metrics are coming that will better reflect the reality of the web."

According to their internal metrics, visitors who arrive through Mashable Follow spend three times longer on site than the average user.

New names are starting to become increasingly important to the social flow. "I think Stumble Upon gets a lot less hype, or attention, than it deserves. Maybe that's because it can be unpredictable, but it is a really powerful service," Mr. Cashmore said. "Among our audience, which is a lot of folks working in social, strategy or marketing, LinkedIn is taking off as a way to share news."

The expanding focus on live events is changing Mr. Cashmore's relationship to Mashable. "We just spent the weekend in Disney World, and I came away thinking their is a ton of value to that more human experience," he said, before quickly adding. "Of course, people were putting lots of great content about it online too."

Having built up an enormous following on the web, he often finds himself explaining the difference between his digital persona and real life existence. "In my Twitter photo I've got short, brown hair, so people often have a hard time believing its me when I meet them." He shook his head, now covered in long, blonde locks  that he frequently brushes out of his eyes. "I really should get that picture changed."