The Webutante Ball, Internet Week’s “nerd prom” that people attend because they feel they have to, is swiftly approaching. Held at Marquee on May 23rd, the event attracts startup glitterati, media titans and various riffraff from The Scratcher. Read More
The Real Nerd Prom If you want to relive your high school dance days while getting the chance to mingle and drink with some of the biggest names in tech, you might want to consider buying tickets to the Webutante Ball, which go on sale today. One of the highlights of the upcoming Internet Week New York, the Webutante Ball will be held at the Marquee Nightclub in Manhattan on May 23 and features drinks and dancing, along with the crowning of the annual Webutante King and Queen, which rewards two people for their achievements in tech. Who’s cool now, JOCKS? Read More
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 / 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!) Read More
The scene outside Marquee, a 700-some capacity club on 10th Ave. and 26th, was dramatic. Three fire engines wailed, police cars pulling up behind them, beside a long line of well-heeled public relations professionals that snaked around the block. A middle-aged man carrying a brown sack was getting into it with the bouncer. “I was invited, and this asshole…” Never attempt to gain leverage with one bouncer by berating the bouncer next to him. He will never take your side. “Who do you think you fuckin’ are?” the guest asked, before he turned and performed a pissy walk north. Read More
Unless you’ve gone off the grid, you probably already know that Internet Week 2012 launches on Monday. But with a dizzying number of events to attend, it’s hard to figure out which ones are worth the time, effort and subway fare. Betabeat guest blogger Gary Sharma, something of an events truffle hound, already penned his personal list of recommendations. But consider this Betabeat’s official to-do list: blogger tested, Betabeat approved. Read More
LAWGIC. Today 2tor is partnering with Washington University to put their Master of Laws degree online. 2tor’s previous partnerships with USC, UNC and Georgetown have put high-end higher education online with programs in social work, business and nursing. The Washington University partnership is specifically aimed at removing a hurdle for international students who want to study U.S. law. Read More
Not content with a mere week to bestow its fairy booster dust on the tech set, Internet Week New York just announced it will be hosting a recurring networking event “for the New York City internet community” called Websdays. Despite the awkward-sounding reference to a day of the week (not to mention the fact that the company backing it has “Week” in its name), Websdays will be a monthly shindig, with the first one taking place on July 27th at 200 Orchard.
The event, produced in conjunction with Webutante Ball’s Richard Blakely (unlike Seamless, some people apparently see nothing wrong with keeping “Web” in their name), will only be open to a limited number of guests per month. Read More
The Third Annual Webutante Ball: It was fun! Mark Zuckerberg, who reportedly drank all the premium liquor in Midtown on Saturday, was not there, but the small-fry start-up folk Betabeat loves to cover almost all were.
We had our ID checked on the way into Marquee–Meatpacking District, standard–and ran immediately into social media anti-guru Alex Blagg, standing in front of a red carpet that was really a red rug, and dapper in his trademark bow-tie and jacket, preparing to shoot a video for Gawker TV mogul-turned Thrillist managing editor Richard Blakeley, the event’s creator.
Who was there that we should interview? Betabeat asked. “Me,” he said. We promised we would. Read More
“In about one week, tickets to the Webutante Ball will be on sale. If you haven’t heard of it, the Webutante Ball is a big party for tech nerds, with all proceeds from tickets going to the Michael J. Fox Foundation,” organizer Simon Kirk of TechiesGiveBack writes in an email blast. “Last year the event sold out in five hours, which meant that some of our friends didn’t get to come. This year we are secretly opening up ticket sales to our friends one week ahead of the general public. You can share the link but please avoid the tweets.” Buy now, he cautions, or you may not get to go. General admission tickets are $35.
