By Gary Sharma 4/08 11:00am

Goooood Morning Silicon Alley!

sponsor_garys_red_tie_new

Best Tech Events This Week (Shorty Awards, NYU Startup Week, Big Apple Smackdown, NY Tech Meetup, PSFK, British Invasion, LeanUX, Investor Feedback Forum, Assembled Food)

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.

R.I.P., Roger Ebert. Over the years I’ve learned a lot from Mr. Ebert, inspired not only by his style of writing and communicating but also by his personality and approach to life. Check out this TED talk he gave–”Remaking My Voice“–and here’s a wonderful essay from his book Life Itself: A Memoir. Read More

By Gary Sharma 4/01 10:00am

Goooood Morning Silicon Alley!

sponsor_garys_red_tie_new

Best Tech Events This Week (FinTech Hackathon, Newark Tech Week, Kaplan EdTech Accelerator, Blueprint Demo Day, NYU Stern Summit, FinTech Meetup)

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 Google just launched Google Nose (smelling is believing!) and Google Maps now has a Treasure View mode, while Virgin is creating a glass-bottomed plane, Twitter will start charging $5 per month for vowels and Youtube is shutting down. Hmmmm… either I am hallucinating or it must be April Fools Day!

I recently came across something awesome: brainstorming sessions between George Lucas, Steven Spielberg and Lawrence Kasdan for the movie Indiana Jones and The Raiders of the Lost Ark (easily one of my all-time faves). There were five consecutive nine-hour, day-long sessions, and it’s fascinating to see their thought process as the characters and story are fleshed out. Here’s the New Yorker‘s abbreviated take. Read More

By Gary Sharma 3/27/12 7:13pm

No FOMO

3 lovely ladies – my friend Victoria Song (Flybridge Capital) with Miss USA 2011 Alyssa Campanella and reigning Miss Teen USA Danielle Doty at the 2012 Shorty Awards. Raawwr!

Gary Sharma’s Shorty Awards 2012 Highlights (Mayor Bloomberg, Tiffany Thiessen, Miss USA, The Daily Show Gang and More)

3 lovely ladies – my friend Victoria Song (Flybridge Capital) with Miss USA 2011 Alyssa Campanella and reigning Miss Teen USA Danielle Doty at the 2012 Shorty Awards. Raawwr!

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 follow him at @garysguide and reach him at gary@garysguide.com.

“Once a year I put on a tie. Tomorrow is that day!”

Ok, yeah, so obviously thats not me! (I put on a red tie 365 days a year, people! Thats my friend SawHorse Media & Shorty Awards CoFounder Greg Galant tweeting as he geared up in preparation to organize the fourth edition of the popular Shorty Awards (or as they’re also known as “Oscars for Social Media Peeps!”).

The event, which took place at the Times Center, was, as expected, packed with celebrities. I ran into Aasif Mandavi from the Daily Show who was one of the presenters along with fellow Daily Show correspondents the always funny Samantha Bee and Jason Jones who have co-hosting duties this year. (Did ya know Sam and Jason are a couple? I had no idea. How funny must their kids be!) Read More

By Ben Weitzenkorn 3/27/12 5:50pm

Hey Shorty

33 Photos

The 2012 Shorty Awards at the Times Center

The 2012 Shorty Awards Were Anything But—and Betabeat Has the Photos to Prove It

Last night’s Shorty Awards at the Times Center was a comedy-filled night hosted by The Daily Show’s married, Canadian correspondence team Sam Bee and Jason Jones. Michael Bloomberg made a special appearance to accept the Mayor of Foursquare award from Foursquare founder and CEO Dennis Crowley.

Improv Everywhere’s Charlie Todd, White Collar‘s Tiffani Thiesson, Read More