The Cyber Scene in Denver ~ by Suzanne Lainson

I attended the Colorado Software and Internet Association's (http://www.coloradosoftware.org) 2001 APEX Awards at the Paramount Theater on May 17. Coors provided the beer, and there was food upstairs and down. I saw people from all the nominated companies, including Zoa Techmedia (http://www.zoetechmedia.com), Spire (http://www.spiremedia.com), and Via West (http://www.viawest.net). The ceremony featured some very cool 3-D multimedia effects developed by Digital Metropolis (http://www.digitalmetropolis.com) using software from Anark (http://www.anark.com). Brian Smith, president of Sonant Communications (http://sonant.net), joined me during the presentations. Check out the list of winners: http://www.coloradosoftware.org/calendar/apexfinalists.htm.

After the APEX Awards were over, Dick Pankoski, president/CEO of Strategic Development, and Adam Martone from GreenRamp Software (http://www.greenramp.com), persuaded me to take the 16th Street Mall shuttle down to LoDo to catch SchmoozeIt, the semi-annual event put on by interactive marketing agency LH3 (http://www.lh3.com). Just one problem: it was raining, and none of us had raincoats or umbrellas. When we got off the bus, we all huddled under Dick's coat and slogged our way several blocks to Sevilla's at The Icehouse. It was definitely a lively place--more than 500 people packed into the grotto-like club. Some of them were among the recently unemployed, but their partying abilities were not compromised in the least. I left early to get back to Boulder for the 10th Anniversary gathering of the Boulder Media Women. Julie Jacobs of PHD Management Group (http://www.juliejacobs.com) was kind enough to give me a ride back up to my car, so I didn't have to deal with the bus or a taxi. I was told SchmoozeIt continued on until nearly 11 p.m. There was dinner, a fashion show, dessert, music and dancing.