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.

I recently visited a friend at her offices in Union Square. As she gave me the grand tour, she pointed at a room: "That used to be Andy Warhol's office." I paused. THE Andy Warhol? Yup! Apparently the building became home to Warhol's Factory back in 1973. It struck me that in today's world of Twitter and Instagram and fans and followers and micro-celebrities, Warhol's "15 minutes of fame" quote had finally come true.

Speaking of factories, as I made my way out of the building I ran into one-man idea factory Seth Godin and his son Alex. Seth had recently come out with a new book (via Kickstarter),  The Icarus Deception, which I was eager to sink my teeth into, and Seth was excited about an event I'm co-organizing next month: The Big Apple Smackdown a.k.a. Silicon Alley's First Annual Ping Pong Tournament! FYI, I'm raffling off 5 FREE Passes to this invite-only event. So apply today and keep your fingers crossed! ;)

Applications for the Fall 2013 Masters of Engineering program at Cornell NYC Tech are now being accepted! Deadline is March 15. Questions? Email admissions@tech.cornell.edu.

The deadline is bearing down on us for Competition THRIVE, which NYC EDC (with Baruch College) created to seek innovative strategies for helping immigrant entrepreneurs succeed. Five semi-finalists get $25,000 and the grand prize winner gets $100,000. Apply by this Thursday, March 7.

Congrats to Raspberry Pi on their first birthday! With over a million Pis sold, this is one New York startup I'm very excited about. It feels like New York City is very much at the center of the Maker Movement, with Kickstarter, Quirky, MakerBot, BugLabs, Etsy and Shapeways all here right in our backyard.

SPLAAATTT!!! That's the sound of my Google Calendar finally buckling under the weight of all my SXSW RSVPs, now at a mind-numbing 330 parties! Good God. What kind of monster have we created?! FYI, I have two FREE passes to Rovio's SXSW BBQ & Pool Party! Each pass is good for 1 person + 1 guest. Yes, the Mighty Eagle will be there.

In other SXSW news: My friend Irina will be doing TechCab Confessions at SXSW, giving attendees a free ride in exchange for their video confession of a technological sin. We're once again partnering with the good folks at Shoutem to create the Austin Party Guide app, so make sure to download it. And finally, to get everyone in the mood, my buddy Brian Shields (IncubateNYC) has created this mixtape with DJ B-Hen. 

If you're not going to SXSW, there are still plenty of events happening in New York City including The 5th Annual NxNYC, The Anti-SXSW and South by Southside.

Mark your calendars, because coming up next month, on April 25, is what's shaping up to be the lagest tech startup event in the world--AND it's free. I give you: New York Tech Day!

Finally, check out Fred Wilson interviewing Jack Dorsey at the NYU Entrepreneurship Festival last week. These are two guys at the top of their game. Jack talks about his favorite book (Hemingway's Old Man and the Sea), his admiration for Bieber, his love of sailing, his short-lived career as a tailor, why he chose Fred as investor, his dreadlocks-and-nose-ring days and more.

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

BRITE 2013 Conference
Speakers include Shiv Singh (PepsiCo), Kaaren Hanson (Intuit), Liz Schimel (Meredith), Charles Duhigg (New York Times), Kerry Trainor (Vimeo), Michael Hagan (LevelUp) and others.
Monday (Mar. 4), 8 a.m. @ Columbia University Lerner Hall, 2920 Broadway

Founders@Fail: How To Build A Community
With Mark Peter Davis (founder, Kohort), Amanda Hesser (founder, Food52), Kathryn Minshew (founder, The Muse) and Jen Rubio (head of social, Warby Parker)
Monday (Mar. 4), 6:30 p.m. @ General Assembly East, 902 Broadway, 4th Fl.

Art and Technology: Wendi Murdoch and Jerry Yang
Monday (Mar. 4), 6:30 p.m. @ Asia Society, 725 Park Avenue

The Future of Food - A talk at the Museum of Natural History
Join plant geneticist Paul Gepts, economic journalist Fred Kaufman, ethicist Paul Root Wolpe, and intellectual property lawyer Rochelle Dreyfuss for an intellectual feast about the future of food.
Tuesday (Mar. 5), 6:30 p.m. @ American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West at 77th Street

Crowdfunding Cleaner Waterways With +POOL
A discussion on how design can transform cities and improve the environment. With the founders of +POOL (a Kickstarter project that raised $40,000 to design a floating swimming pool in the East River that'd filter 500,000 gallons of water every day)
Tuesday (Mar. 5), 6:30 p.m. @ Huge Brooklyn, 45 Main Street, 2nd Fl.

Tech Tuesday
The Return of Tech Tuesday with GrandLife and Fueled: Pre-SXSW Edition
Tuesday (Mar. 5), 7 p.m. @ Tribeca Grand Hotel, 2 6th Avenue

BUZZtheBar Launch Party! (Free with discount code GARYSGUIDE)
Classy 1940s meets modern-style boozing, games, giveaways, and just a darn good time! Free with discount code GARYSGUIDE.
Tuesday (Mar. 5), 8 p.m. @ Hotel Chantelle, 92 Ludlow St

March NY FinTech Startups Demo Day!
Featuring EquaMetrics, Vestorly, TradeEmbark and more.
Wednesday (Mar. 6), 6:30 p.m. @ Dechert, 1095 6th Avenue, 28th Fl.

Inaugural Latino Tech Meetup
Wednesday (Mar. 6), 7 p.m. @ ThoughtWorks, 99 Madison Avenue, 15th Fl.

Accelerating Startups - Introduction to DreamIt NYC
Learn about DreamIt NYC Summer 2013 program. With Mark Wachen (managing director, DreamIt NYC).
Thursday (Mar. 7), 12 p.m. @ NYU-Poly DUMBO Incubator, 20 Jay Street, Ste 312, Brooklyn

The Future of Education #2: Innovation in K-12 Learning
With Andrea Coleman (CEO, Office of Innovation at NYC Dept. of Education), Ivan Cestero (Avenues: The World School), Leigh Ann Sudol-DeLyser (Academy for Software Engineering: AFSE NYC) and Lyel Resner (NYU Stern & Startup Box: South Bronx)
Thursday (Mar. 7), 7 p.m. @ Avenues: The World School, 259 10th Avenue

Women 2.0 Founder Friday NY
Happy International Women's Day! Come celebrate.
Friday (Mar. 8), 6 p.m. @ Google NYC, 111 8th Avenue

NY Gaming Meetup and Games.com Hackathon
To celebrate the launch of the new Games.com platform.
Saturday (Mar. 9), 1 p.m. @ AOL Ventures, 770 Broadway, 6th Fl.

Tech@NYU DemoDays
Students across NYC take the stage to showcase what they've been working on!
Saturday (Mar. 9), 3 p.m. @ eBay HQ NYC, 625 6th Avenue, 3rd Fl.

More events on the horizon...
NYTECH Presents: Legal Essentials for Startups - Intellectual Property Protection on Mar 11 @ Anchin
NY Enterprise Tech Meetup on Mar 12 @ Cooley
Entrepreneurs Roundtable 56 on Mar 13 @ NYU Stern School of Business
Unleash the Beast: How to Hack a Hackathon Save the World and Make Your Parents Proud on Mar 14 @ Internet Media Labs
Investor Feedback Forum on Mar 14 @ Microsoft
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 Four-Part Series: Theory, Science, Optimization & Design on Mar 20 @ Frankfurt Kurnit
Design for Manufacturing Summit #3 on Mar 21 @ Dumbo Spot
Big Apple Smackdown: Silicon Alleys 1st Annual Ping-Pong Tournament! on Apr 14 @ SPiN New York
NY Tech Day on Apr 25 @ Pier 92

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.

I'm a big fan of organizations and groups that encourage more women to get involved in the traditionally male-dominated worlds of tech and entrepreneurship, by creating community and providing guidance and support. And this week, we have a ton of these women-focused events.

There is the Ladies Who Code hacknight, where they encourage you to bring your brilliant self, your laptop,  and your beloved text-editor of choice! There is Celebrating Extraordinary Female Founders at Levo League (a site for Gen Y female professionals), as well as the launch party for PlumAlley (a new site supporting female-founded companies). There is the Go Connect - Ignite Your Ambition event organized by NY Tech Women and The White House Project. There is JumpStart Your Dreams, organized by She Creates Change (a community supporting women as they make their professional dreams a reality). And finally there's Women 2.0 Founder Friday, with guest hosts Alexis Tryon (cofounder, Artsicle) and Anagha Nadkarni (cofounder, AppGuppy).

Speaking of women in tech, there are two upcoming events that should be on your radar. My friend Dani, the founder of DaniWeb (a million-member-strong IT discussion community), is throwing a big party next month on October 2nd. So go check it out! :) Second is Focus100, a conference and boot camp on October 5th, organized by Kathryn Finney (founder, DigitalUndivided) and supported by BlogHer and Andreessen Horowitz. The event aims to get 100 companies founded or cofounded by black women to raise funding or get acquired by 2015.

Also: The deadline for voting on panels submitted for SXSW 2013 has been extended until midnight tonight, and so you still have a chance to help out your fellow Silicon Alley friends. Here's the list of panels we've compiled. Show some love with your votes!

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

Curators Conference
With Gia Coppola (fashion filmmaker), Susie Bubble (founder, Style Bubble), Josh Rubin (cofounder, Cool Hunting), Rodrigo Calvo (managing director, Mr. & Mrs. Smith), Chris Corrado (fashion curator, Capsule), Warren Fu (music video director), Philippe von Borries (cofounder, Refinery29), Soraya Darabi (founder, Foodspotting) and more.
Wednesday (Sept. 05), 8 a.m. @ Walter Reade Theatre, 70 Lincoln Center Plaza, 165 West 65th Street

NY Games Conference
With Dan Porter (OMGPOP/Zynga), Brian Cho (Andreessen Horowitz), Perry Tam (Storm 8), Adam Boyes (Sony) and more.
Wednesday (Sept. 05), 8 a.m. @ Museum of Jewish Heritage, 36 Battery Place

Practical Approaches to Transhumanism
Featuring a guest from Grindhouse Wetware, whose focus is "augmenting humanity using safe, affordable, open source technology." Yes, that does sound intriguing!
Wednesday (Sept. 05), 6:30 p.m. @ Pearl Street Studios, 519 8th Avenue

Celebrating Extraordinary Female Founders
Celebrating extraordinary female founders on Fashion's Night Out and kicking off the launch of Plum Alley.
Thursday (Sept. 06), 6 p.m. @ Levo Labs, 833 Broadway, 5 Fl.

NYTechWomen and The White House Project Present: Go Connect - Ignite Your Ambition
With Tara Sophia Mohr (founder, Wise Living), Amanda A. Ebokosia (founder, The Gem Project), Layla Revis (VP digital strategy, Ogilvy), Maggie Patton (founder, Hands On America) and Jessica Lawrence (managing director, New York Tech Meetup).
Thursday (Sept. 06), 6:30 p.m. @ AOL Patch NYC, 675 6th Avenue, 3rd Floor

Discussion with LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner & New York Times Columnist Adam Bryant
A discussion between Adam Bryant (Columnist, New York Times) and Jeff Weiner (CEO, LinkedIn) before a live, interactive audience.
Thursday (Sept. 06), 7 p.m. @ Directors Guild Of America Incorporated, 110 West 57th Street, #6

#techdrinkup - Rooftop Party @ Empire Hotel
A party for NYC's brightest and savviest tech people to gather and mingle over drinks and food at exclusive NYC venues.
Thursday (Sept. 06), 7 p.m. @ Empire Hotel Rooftop, 44 W. 63 Street

CashCatsBiz Art Exhibit + Partie!
Tumblr and Forced Meme Productions will present "Cashcats.biz: How the One Purrrcent Really Live." It's a one-night popup exhibition featuring dozens of previously unseen "member photos" from Cashcats.biz and new mixed media works inspired by C$C$ aristocats.
Thursday (Sept. 06), 8 p.m. @ Dumbo Loft, 155 Water Street, Brooklyn

Tech Does Fashion Week (#TDFW): A Kickoff Party
An evening of fun, music, and dance. Drinks & hors d'oeuvres provided.
Friday (Sept. 07), 8 p.m. @ AlleyNYC, 500 7th Avenue , 17th Floor

Comedy Hack Day
Twilio and Cultivated Wit are organizing Comedy Hack Day, an awesome 36-hour hackathon where developers and comedians come together to build the most hilarious apps imaginable.
Saturday (Sept. 08), 9 a.m. @ Pivotal Labs NYC, 841 Broadway, 8th Floor

Cool Cravings | Hot Startups
Insanely delicious desserts from innovative food startups around the city. Get an hour of unlimited access to the newest creations from brands like Brewla Bars, Krumville Bake Shop, SkyIce, Purely Elizabeth, NibMor, The Soft Serve Fruit Co. and Stogo.
Saturday (Sept. 08), 12 p.m. @ OpenHouse, 379 Broome Street

More events on the horizon...
Digital Money Unconference-- From NYPAY and Consult Hyperion on Sept. 11 @ Google
September 2012 NY Tech Meetup on Sept. 11 @ NYU Skirball Center For The Performing Arts
Dating Tactics for the Business World on Sept. 11 @ General Assembly West
Investor Feedback Forum on Sept. 13 @ Columbia University - Schapiro Center
From Wall Street to Silicon Alley on Sept. 19 @ General Assembly
Design for Manufacturing Summit on Sept. 20 @ Dumbo Spot
Startup Weekend NYC on Sept. 21 @ AlleyNYC
Daniweb Presents: Advertising, Marketing and Media Mayhem! on Oct. 02 @ Slate Lounge
FOCUS100 Symposium and Pitch Bootcamp on Oct. 05 @ Ogilvy & Mather

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