Doubleclick's "The Gallery of the Alley"

 Just before you fall into the river, there's a loft space that has lots of

 parties. It's very far west and on Tuesday, April 27th Doubleclick

 took advantage of the stunning views and vastland for their latest

 themed party "The Gallery of the Alley." All the striking photographs

 that were on display were taken by Paul Hunter, who works in

 Doubleclick's mailroom. Mark Stahlman and Debbie Newman

 (DejaNews), Jeff Heron (SCIO-Ltd.) and Manos Megagianis

 (Teknowledge) were milling about the suspended photographs. And

 Scott Heiferman was beaming as he announced he was going to

 confiscate the "American Gothic" imitation of Kevin O'Connor. The

 Ecom guys were there (we'd all been following each other around

 since breakfast), Brand Dialogue's David Israel and Kit Cody and

 Amy Shapiro were enjoying some of the yummy hot hors d'oeuvres

 and desserts that were getting passed around. Dynamic duo team

 Roger (CEO, LIFilm.com) and Marissa Raderman (Doubleclick and

 LIFilm) were there. These two are so hip and trendy I think someone

 should write into the Sony studios and tell Donny & Marie to watch

 out! Before I left I chatted a bit with Chip Austin and Bradford Farkas

 (Lazard Partners). Each photograph had a Silicon Alley professional

 attribute a quote to it and naturally, on eof the best quotes came from

 Doubleclick's CEO Kevin O'Connor -- "It's not about working harder,

 it's about dreaming bigger."

Art Directors Club panel "The Latest vs. The Greatest"

 It wasn't totally a mosh pit, but the Art Directors Club panel on "The

 Latest vs. The Greatest" on Tuesday, April 27th was a showdown

 between seasoned advertising design industry shapers and scrappy

 young revolutionaries. Anthony Vagnoni, editor-at-large "Advertising

 Age" kept the light and pointed conversations between Jerry Della

 Femina, Allan Beaver, Ed McCabe, Paul Thayer, and Steven Grasse.

 Jeff Weiss definitely was on the progressive front, but paid homage to

 the wizened greats who had lots of laughs and stories about how they

 started. Before the panel started I met Donna Belej, an account

 exec/researcher with Image Bank and SVA students Dave Arnold and

 Jason Rogers. Bill Oberlander, exec. creative director of Kirshenbaum,

 Bond & Partners was there along with Jonann Tansman (VP,

 associate Creative director, BBDO) and bubbly Amanda Angotti

 (BBDO) and an FIT and Tuoro college professor (name escaped me).

 I took the serious look on Tyme Gadson's face for real when he said

 he is from Monsoon, a rival design shop in Philadelphia to Grasse's

 shop. Even people from Brazil -- Fabricio Branco -- and London --

 Adam Helliwell -- came for the panel. Well, actually Fabrico is

 studying and living here, and Adam moved here to work in the

 super-uber cool design shop The Attik (with super hip plastic credit

 card business cards).

Tenagra Awards for Internet Marketing Excellence

The Tenagra Awards for Internet Marketing Excellence on Tuesday,

 April 27th, drew a glittery digerati crowd. These awards are the

 Internet marketing industry's oldest peer-review awards program

 where a panel of leading Internet marketing experts recognize

 achievements each year that have made a fundamental impact on the

 way marketing, public relations, and advertising are done on the

 Internet. K2 Design won but Tom Hespos only had the box with him

 (at the Doubleclick party later that night) as the creative director ran

 off with it -- most likely to show friends and family. Steve Nesle,

 executive creative director at Modem Media.PoppeTyson said the

 "design is elegant and works because it keeps the focus on the

 message." I had a chance to speak with Steve Roth, co-founder

 Thunder Lizard, and more than 500 attendees also got to witness the

 ClickZ challenge, where K2, Beyond Interactive, Lot 21 and BBDO

 developed campaigns to generate online contributions for the Doug

 Flutie Jr. Foundation, which benefits autism awareness and research,

 and names for the Flutie Foundation mailing list. The agency that

 produces the best results, as measured by the AdKnowledge System,

 will win the grand prize. Lee Wright's panel revealed results from their

 1999 national benchmark study on Client Satisfaction with Interactive

 Services Firms. It's due out May 17th and you can find out more.

Thunder Lizard Productions' Web Advertising '99

Meanwhile, down the Alley a bit, at the Marriott World Trade Center,

 Thunder Lizard Productions' Web Advertising '99 was filling the

 grand ballroom. I had a chance to speak with Steve Roth, co-founder

 of Thunder Lizard, and his vision of creating a conference that's

 content rich -- and not just a bunch of CEOs pontificating -- is clearly

 indicated by the panel topics and list of speakers. From Sunday, April

 25th through Wednesday, April 28th, people came from around the

 world to hear successful web ad/marketing related professionals like

 Thom Forbes, conference chair, Mara Lipacas (ChannelSeven) and

 Tom Hespos (K2 Design) speak. Hespos (who also publishes the

 On-line Advertising Forum) doled out practical advice on what web ad

 tricks really work with Brad Aronson (I-frontier) and Jeremy Haft

 (consultant).