At San Francisco’s St. Regis Hotel on Friday evening Wired threw its annual Rave Awards reception, and the Conde Nast-sponsored scene was literally hopping with talent that have made names for themselves in online video.
While California’s own Governator, a Rave Award winner and bona fide Hollywood star, declined to make the trip over in his Hummer, his absence didn’t dampen the festivities, as attendees danced to the musical stylings of musical bricoleur Gregg Gillis, AKA Girl Talk.
I made my way over from Yahoo’s similarly rave-y open house for its new Brickhouse space (which was the old Wired space) just down the street from the St. Regis, where Eddie Codel and Irina Slutsky were filming an installment of Geek Entertainment TV while Jumpcut and Yahoo! Video team members mingled with D7TV‘s Sarah Myers and Wink‘s Leah Culver.
When I arrived at the Wired party, and spotted award winner Michael “The Web is Us(ing us)” Wesch, it became clear that the explosion of online video is playing a large part in fueling the new optimism south of Market.
Then I witnessed Craig “Craigslist” Newmark and Tim “Heroes” Kring introduced themselves. The exchange went something like this: “I’m a big fan!” “No, I’m a big fan!” “No, no, I’m a bigger fan!” “Seriously, I’m the bigger fan!” A bit later, I asked Newmark how his bird-cam project was going. “People do like to watch birds,” he declared in his characteristically understated manner.
It wouldn’t be an geek event in San Francisco if Justin “Justin.tv” Kan didn’t show up, and he did. Wired contributing editor Annalee Newitz, who had previously egged on Justin to do the deed, suggested that next time he shouldn’t turn off the camera. Kan responded that getting a partner to go along with the plan wouldn’t be easy, though Newitz suggested that she might be able to find someone willing (though at this point, Kan is probably more concerned with having a place to sleep).
As Girl Talk took his place behind his laptop to mix dance hits from the eighties and nineties, there were some technical glitches with the audio. Guess who came to the rescue? None other than BitTorrent’s Bram Cohen. He and Wired editor Chris Andersen made for an amusing sight as they argued over how to fix the sound, with Cohen in a tie-dyed tee sporting a few days of beard and Andersen wearing a tailored suit and perfectly manicured.
YouTube co-founders and previous award winners Chad Hurley and Steve Chan were on hand, enjoying themselves. Jay Dedman and Ryanne Hodson were there early filming a piece about Gillis; Codel arrived from the Yahoo party, followed later by Slutsky and Melissa “The Future of Sex” Gira.
Happy days are here again in San Francisco if the catering at both the Yahoo and Wired parties are any indication. If you’ve got a blog and a video camera, your ticket is pretty much punched — no need to RSVP.
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