A butcher, A baker, a Candlestick maker

Well, actually it was more a banker, an investor and an e-com developer. Dr. Geoffrey S. Carroll, president & CEO of Internet Commerce Corporation, hosted a cocktail party in his three-storied home on the Upper East Side. Behind the austere exterior there is a home rich in history, art, and commerce. Gorgeous tapestries hung from the walls, a small herd of antlers graced the others, oil paintings, illustrations and the family crest were other decorative features to the massive home.

Dr. Carroll and the other hosts Tim Straus, senior managing director of Bear Sterns and Doug Schmidt, managing director of ING Barings invited friends and associates for the intimate gathering. I invited a few friends that I wanted to include and David Friedensohn of BigStar, Diana Butler of iXL, Tery Spataro and Debbie Newman came up to meet some of these investment-types. I mixed in with the very pin-striped crowd and met Jonathan Pressman, SVP of Prime Charter.

David Rosenfeld of Eagle Growth found out he was on the same baseball team with one of Bob Ponce's neighbors. Peter MacGuire and Dermot McAtamney of DKM Equity Partners told me how they might try and plan a trip to Dublin to meet up with one of their newest clients. Key Compton and Gary Gluck of Solbright were also in attendance, and down by the baby grand piano I met the dashing Michael Peacock, SVP-Investments at Salomon Smith Barney. Upstairs, near the massive fireplace were Gilbert Dunham of The Courtney Group and Brian Tully of MViDigital. A creative infusion came David Weil and Raymond Roubeni of Ego Media and Anna, a consultant with Wit Capital, and Ann, an actress will be performing on broadway soon.

My introduction to this event came from long-time friend James O'Connor, a cousin of Dr. Carroll's. James, who is at Mercury Interactive, stopped by for a bit with his seriously successful wife, Melissa Grossman, managing director of Zefer's New York office. The party was proof that when you bring together quality people in an elegant setting, positive networking will be a result!