Friday, November 17, 2006

The Cyber Scene ~ November 17, 2006

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD! Yes, folks, my dear ol' Pop has turned another turn around the sun. Many of you may remember him, as he helped out at many (almost all) of the New York City Cocktails with Courtney events. He's been a great supporter of me and my endeavors and I'm lucky to have such a great friend in him too. Many more Dad! :) (You can wish him Happy Birthday too, if you want: arthur@pulitzer.com)

Well the month started off busy--foretelling of the bursting holiday headiness--with Tracy Reese opening her boutique on November 1st.for a 1-night-only shopping event and debuting her Sunburst-T, benefiting the American Legacy Foundation, which promotes tobacco-free generations. [americanlegacy.org] As someone who suffers from the negative effects of cigarette (and other substances) smoke from my superintendent and his son (coming up from the basement of my building), I know how harmful this is and how sad that the son is following his father's footsteps.

At the swanky Stone Creek, Ad Femme hosted an Ad:Tech mixer and VIP soiree on November 6th, mostly to benefit the good cheer and lives of those who attended--at least for a few hours! The next night, on November 7th Kobemail sponsored the Coreg Insider and Active Response Group Ad:Tech after-party at 320 Studios. So--plenty of parties for ad-aficionados and "autres" for amusement.

For the more brainy-types, NYU's School of Continuing and Professional Studies hosted a discussion on The Human Brain: Cutting-Edge Research from NYU. Talk about touting your own horn. And the brain certainly is a hot-topic since even network TV has a whole show about it! (http://3lbsshow.com/)

While everybody was out either damaging their brain with alcohol or enhancing it with stimulating discussions, I was busy with final preparations for my trip to Mexico, which was lovely. First at an all-inclusive resort (Secrets Capri Riviera) and then for true R+R at Cabanas Copal (cabanascopal.com), I spent several delicious days just lounging, sleeping, sunning, swimming and reflecting! My final night I got a revealing and very rewarding full astrological reading (maps, charts, everything!) from the amazing Jeremiah of HiDreamers.com. Now I understand that while I'm a sun sign, I'm actually ruled by the moon! Go figure! It actually explained a lot. Well, (true to my moon-nature) I won't get into more details, but I will say I cannot state enough how so absolutely amazing the EcoTulum.com spas are!

Also, another treat was that due to my profile on Airtroductions.com, I was matched with a very pleasant fellow traveler who was on the same flight to Cancun from NY. If you're tired or cautious of online dating, this is definitely an efficient and harmless way to meet fellow like-minded travelers!

Anda report in from the West!
Tery Spataro wrote in to mention how the Social Media Club is progressing in Phoenix.

Phoenix held its first Social Media Club last night at La Madeleine's. The wine room was completely packed with over 50 people eager to learn about the Social Media Club, co-created by a number of people, including Chris Heuer and Howard Greenstein, in the social media community. Francine Hardaway of Stealthmode Partners organized the meeting and brought together a great group. The energy in the room was electrifying. Smart discussions ranged from the meaning of social media, creativity, purpose, platform, and desire to cooperate and support each on the endeavor. Interest was expressed by newbies as well as experienced and established experts. As an "old timer," memories of the early beginnings came back to me as I saw a new resurgence of spirit in a media intended for sharing and collaboration. Chris and Howard are certainly resurrecting that movement through the Social Media Club. Francine Hardaway, Ed Nusbaum and Amanda Vega will host the next Social Media Club - Phoenix on December 14 at 6:30pm at the Foundation for Blind Children's Facility. If your in town, come on by!

Tery also wrote in that she took former New Yorker Nick Boris (ex-ABC) to meet Tim Westergren, the founder of Pandora. She said, "he's awesome. I took the photo on the stage!" http://www.dailyeats.com/2006/11/very-special-evening-with-pandora-tim.html

Don't forget! "Cocktails with Courtney" is coming up! Save the Date!
Monday, November 27th from 6:00 PM - 7:30 at Pulse Restaurant (45 Rockefeller Plaza, 3rd Floor)

"Cocktails with Courtney" ~ Paris
New Date to be Set!

Thursday, November 09, 2006

"Cocktails with Courtney" ~ Halloween

And then the very next night was a different story altogether (here's the "camp" part) with the Groucho Marx-themed "Cocktails with Courtney" soiree on Halloween at Pulse Restaurant. Guests arriving in Groucho Marx masks got their admission price waived (treat!) and those who didn't...well, no tricks but let's just say, "they paid the price." Among the guests (in costume) were: Propanda Marketing Communications Inc's president Amy Krakow and her notable husband, Gary Krakow, who's seen the insides of the Microsoft beast since the early days. Other guests ala Groucho were: Andi Jompole (theperfectpresent.net) and her four friends including Gerit Quealy and Susan Kaufman, David Glackin, John Joseph Bachir (formerly of the fabulous ibiblio.org and all-around-cool-guy) (http://blog.johnjosephbachir.org/) and Richard Allen Charles Leider who's had the whole shtick since high school!

[HERE ARE THE PICTURES!]

While every guest is near and dear, some other notable mentions are: TMGI's Angelina Jao (http://www.tmgi.us/), Vantage Point Venture Partners' Howard Yeh and AOL's Ken Gawrelski. Then the dueling Larry's showed up (separately and without a duel): Larry Aronson brought me up to speed on his programming efforts and Larry Kesslin on his burgeoning entrepreneur consulting business. Martin White, TJ Walker (mediatrainingworldwide.com) and Shehzad Daredia rounded out the fun-loving, comic and effervescent guests that the CWC events are known for!

Come to our next 'Cocktails ~ Monday, November 27th from 6:00 PM – 7:30 at Pulse Restaurant.

And with that ~ Olé and see soon!

October's Events: Classy, Campy and everything inbetween

Well, as Groucho Marx said, "Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana." And time has been flying these past few weeks! For me personally, it seems like Thanksgiving's already here and then there's the other holidays and then whoosh! 2007! It could be, perhaps, because I am leaving tomorrow for a week sojourn in the Mexican Riviera. Yeah, that's probably it.

It's been a busy few months, what with my graduating from an innovative self-defense program (well, a single girl traveling the world's gotta have her street-smarts) at Prepare, Inc. Check out this amazing and innovative program (http://www.prepareinc.com/) and my continuing studies at NYU's Continuing education program in French...

...which will serve me well when we do our next European "Cocktails with Courtney" in Paris on January 9th, 2007! That's right, folks, you read it here first. Now, go tell all your amis et amies! :)

Among other highlights of the month include the Art Directors Club's "Fall 2006 Ping Pong Challenge," held on October 19th where teams of men and women (mixed doubles) competed and feted. Synapse Productions completed its compelling and thought-provoking "Ignite Festival" in October (http://www.synapseproductions.org/index.html). iBreakfast's social at the Time Warner Center, also held on the 19th, featured the "new breed of Web 2.0 companies" in the New York area. Dozens of giveaways including MP3 players, jumpdrives and tickets to "important new events" added incentive to those who still had their doubts.

October's end went from classy to campy. On October 30th was Trader Monthly's (tradermonthly.com) first "Women in Trading" celebration at Le Cirque with gentlemen and women in proper business attire, sipping fine wines and cocktails and nibbling on hors d'oeuvres, all adding to the air of refinement.

And then the very next night was a different story altogether (here's the "camp" part) with the Groucho Marx-themed "Cocktails with Courtney" soiree on Halloween at Pulse Restaurant. Guests arriving in Groucho Marx masks got their admission price waived (treat!) and those who didn't...well, no tricks but let's just say, "they paid the price." Among the guests (in costume) were: Propanda Marketing Communications Inc's president Amy Krakow and her notable husband, Gary Krakow, who's seen the insides of the Microsoft beast since the early days. Other guests ala Groucho were: Andi Jompole (theperfectpresent.net) and her four friends including Gerit Quealy and Susan Kaufman, David Glackin, John Joseph Bachir (formerly of the fabulous ibiblio.org and all-around-cool-guy) (http://blog.johnjosephbachir.org/) and Richard Allen Charles Leider who's had the whole shtick since high school!

[HERE ARE THE PICTURES!]

While every guest is near and dear, some other notable mentions are: TMGI's Angelina Jao (http://www.tmgi.us/), Vantage Point Venture Partners' Howard Yeh and AOL's Ken Gawrelski. Then the dueling Larry's showed up (separately and without a duel): Larry Aronson brought me up to speed on his programming efforts and Larry Kesslin on his burgeoning entrepreneur consulting business. Martin White, TJ Walker (mediatrainingworldwide.com) and Shehzad Daredia rounded out the fun-loving, comic and effervescent guests that the CWC events are known for!

Come to our next 'Cocktails ~ Monday, November 27th from 6:00 PM – 7:30 at Pulse Restaurant.

And with that ~ Olé and see soon!

Tuesday, November 07, 2006

The Cyber Scene ~ November 7, 2006

Well, as Groucho Marx said, "Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana." And time has been flying these past few weeks! For me personally, it seems like Thanksgiving's already here and then there's the other holidays and then whoosh! 2007! It could be, perhaps, because I am leaving tomorrow for a week sojourn in the Mexican Riviera. Yeah, that's probably it.

It's been a busy few months, what with my graduating from an innovative self-defense program (well, a single girl traveling the world's gotta have her street-smarts) at Prepare, Inc. Check out this amazing and innovative program (http://www.prepareinc.com/) and my continuing studies at NYU's Continuing education program in French...

...which will serve me well when we do our next European "Cocktails with Courtney" in Paris on January 9th, 2007! That's right, folks, you read it here first. Now, go tell all your amis et amies! :)

Among other highlights of the month include the Art Directors Club's "Fall 2006 Ping Pong Challenge," held on October 19th where teams of men and women (mixed doubles) competed and feted. Synapse Productions completed its compelling and thought-provoking "Ignite Festival" in October (http://www.synapseproductions.org/index.html). iBreakfast's social at the Time Warner Center, also held on the 19th, featured the "new breed of Web 2.0 companies" in the New York area. Dozens of giveaways including MP3 players, jumpdrives and tickets to "important new events" added incentive to those who still had their doubts.

October's end went from classy to campy. On October 30th was Trader Monthly's (tradermonthly.com) first "Women in Trading" celebration at Le Cirque with gentlemen and women in proper business attire, sipping fine wines and cocktails and nibbling on hors d'oeuvres, all adding to the air of refinement.

And then the very next night was a different story altogether (here's the "camp" part) with the Groucho Marx-themed "Cocktails with Courtney" soiree on Halloween at Pulse Restaurant. Guests arriving in Groucho Marx masks got their admission price waived (treat!) and those who didn't...well, no tricks but let's just say, "they paid the price." Among the guests (in costume) were: Propanda Marketing Communications Inc's president Amy Krakow and her notable husband, Gary Krakow, who's seen the insides of the Microsoft beast since the early days. Other guests ala Groucho were: Andi Jompole (theperfectpresent.net) and her four friends including Gerit Quealy and Susan Kaufman, David Glackin, John Joseph Bachir (formerly of the fabulous ibiblio.org and all-around-cool-guy) (http://blog.johnjosephbachir.org/) and Richard Allen Charles Leider who's had the whole shtick since high school!

While every guest is near and dear, some other notable mentions are: TMGI's Angelina Jao (http://www.tmgi.us/), Vantage Point Venture Partners' Howard Yeh and AOL's Ken Gawrelski. Then the dueling Larry's showed up (separately and without a duel): Larry Aronson brought me up to speed on his programming efforts and Larry Kesslin on his burgeoning entrepreneur consulting business. Martin White, TJ Walker (mediatrainingworldwide.com) and Shehzad Daredia rounded out the fun-loving, comic and effervescent guests that the CWC events are known for!

Come to our next 'Cocktails ~ Monday, November 27th from 6:00 PM - 7:30 at Pulse Restaurant.

And with that ~ Olé and see soon!

Wednesday, November 01, 2006

3LD Re-Birthday Party

Almost six years and a month later, I visited 3LD Art & Technology Center for their first Annual Re-Birthday Party.  Why a "First Re-Birthday Party?" Well, because their initial opening party was to be in October 2001, and it was to be produced by "Cocktails with Courtney."  We are all familiar with the tragedy that hit New York City (and the nation) in September of that year.  3LD was especially hard-hit.  Their studios were at 30 West Broadway and suffered complete damage from the destruction at the World Trade Center.

Their new home, as of Spring 2006, is located at 80 Greenwich Street in Lower Manhattan, just 3 blocks south of the WTC site.

They are the first producing arts group to sign a lease in the Liberty Zone and the first to rebuild downtown. A cultural anchor for the Greenwich Street Arts Corridor, their new center will provide complete production and presentation facilities for emerging and established artists and organizations that create large-scale experimental works, many of which incorporate and create new tools and technologies.

One of the elements that's so pertinent for readers of this publication, is the fact that the company has always had an integration of technology.  The founder also owns a software company. So.  Now, onto the party!  There were performances by Stephan Earnhart, Joshua Fried and the Curse of the Mystical Renaldo.